Innovators Who Inspire Innovation
The Henry Ford Museum has a wonderful new website called OnInnovation, where some of today’s (and yesterday’s) great minds “think out loud” and talk about their work—and breakthroughs—in on-camera interviews. These are people, says the site, “who have challenged the limits of what’s possible, developed bold solutions to big problems, and transformed the world.”
Included are designers Don Chadwick and Bill McDonough, architect Toshiko Mori and automotive designer Carroll Shelby, as well as numerous others in various fields, who all have fascinating things to say.
Chadwick, for example, talks about how he and Bill Stumpf, co-creators of Herman Miller’s Aeron chair, had a lot of common interests that influenced their work, like toy collecting and jazz. He explains how they came up with the idea for the chair’s suspended elastic fabric by studying woven cane, “the idea of something that’s porous and breathable and stretched…”
He also tells us that the Equa chair was actually a by product of a larger project they had been working on for Herman Miller: Designing the “Office of the Future.”
It’s all great stuff, so sometime when you’re looking for inspiration—or maybe just needing a break—have a listen to what some real innovators have to say.
Video via OnInnovation.com
I really appreciate the last statement in this video. “Ordinary people can choose to be Extraordinary.” If I may make a statement to hopefully spur on some conversation, I think that something that these people have that “Ordinary” people (like me) need to develop is the willingness to fail and the confidence to take risk. I find that the fear of failure can hold me back. That is why I am choosing to face it head on, so that I can be extraordinary and do big things that positively affect people’s lives.
So in order to encourage conversation, what do other people have to face head on to become extraordinary?