A brilliant chief executive said to me recently: “How many ideas do you have sitting at your desk?” We all know the answer: to be inspired you have to get out and about. It was a reminder that I should do it more.
Communications technology has fooled us into thinking that being there doesn’t matter. But it does. The internet, videoconferencing – these are all substitutes for the real thing. If you want to understand what’s happening, you need to really connect with people – then you need to leave your office and mingle.
All genuine innovators possess an urge to discover, an inquisitive temperament. They tend to rove around, questioning, networking, observing, constantly on the hunt for a new venture to launch, something different to try.