“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
- Squire Bill Widener, in Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography (1913)
I was searching for a cornerstone quote to start this article on innovation and, in true form, Ian inspired me.
Ian is the oldest of my two boys. He is 18 and Alex is 16. Like other seniors at his school, Ian is preparing his exit interview and used Teddy’s quote to kick it off.
I love this quote because it really encapsulates who Ian is while also representing the countless individuals, groups and businesses that have risen above this pandemic to be creative or innovative.
Challenges and adversity have ways of bringing out the best in people and organizations. World War II saw the Arsenal of Democracy pump out bombers, tanks and machine guns. The Apollo 13 mission saw Earth-bound engineers solve a life-or-death situation aboard the space capsule. The COVID-19 pandemic is seeing individuals and companies converting their homes and business to make masks, face shields, ventilators and medical gowns.
In all instances, people did what they could, with what they had at that very moment.
What is it about innovation during times of crises? Why, when all seems so desperate, do we humans dig deep and rise up with solutions to the most vexing problems?
Countless books have been written about innovation. The Innovative Mindset, The Innovator’s Method and Ten Types of Innovation are just three of the books I have read during my career. I won’t go into findings and insights of these books. I recommend checking them out if you want to learn more from people who have studied the science of innovation.
What I want to do is talk about the emotion of innovation, the sense of urgency and panic during a crisis. And there is no better way to do this than through the eyes of my teenage boys.
For years, my boys received LEGO kits to build. They would make quick work of the official design on the package and then disassemble it to make something even cooler. This creative approach extended to FIRST LEGO League, VEX Robotics and then FIRST Robotics Competition.
It was during their time in FRC that I saw how adversity fueled innovation. It was painful to watch their designs and programming fail, but it was encouraging to see them come back time and time again with new ideas to test.
This was most apparent a couple of years ago when the team built and elevator-style robot to place cubes on a scale. The concept failed and the team had no choice but to bag the robot at the end of the six-week build period. It was frustrating and emotional. With two weeks before the first competition, they didn’t have a functioning robot.
But they did have two weeks and the team made the most of it, redesigning the robot to utilize a claw-style intake to pick up and deliver its cargo. The team even added a plunger-like device that allowed them score faster than most elevator-style robots.
Under pressure, the team delivered innovations that propelled them to state and world competitions.
Through it all, I watched Ian and Alex, intense and focused, doing their part to help the team succeed. Looking back, I can see how these experiences defined my boys. These weren’t easy times. Failure occurs more often than success, which oftentimes is harder on youth than adults. Still, the grand sum of these experiences is positive. The boys learned that adversity and failure are something to embrace because they can lead to great things.
Ian hit on this in his senior exit interview document.
“Yes, I chase success, but my failures do not become roadblocks. They become steppingstones and alternate routes, expanding my knowledge and helping me grow into a better person.”
I think this is an important lesson as we grapple with how the pandemic is disrupting our personal lives, society as a whole and the economy. Where some choose to politicize the crisis, demonize others or spread conspiracy theories, others are using this period to take chances, be innovative, fail and try again.
In the end, will we be defined as a nation divided or people choosing a path to make society, as we know it, better for all?
The choice is ours to make.
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