Obvious Innovation
Sometimes we miss the big stuff
The most obvious innovations are often right in front of us, yet we fail to see them. Let me give you an example I just heard about.
Two weeks ago, I was at Cru, speaking to the Residency on Innovation (an innovation itself). There were about 45 ministry workers there. After the session, a woman came up to me that I knew from a church we both went to about 15 years ago. As we got reacquainted, she told me about a project that she had been working on at Cru.
Now, before I spill the beans on this, ask yourself a question. As you think about the Bible, is there a missing piece out there that you have most likely never considered? Stop and think about it. Is there a glaring gap that has never been addressed? Let me make it easier for you… how about in the area of recorded Bibles?
My friend went on to tell me about a new Bible which is narrated by women.
Folks, the last time I checked, women make up about half of the world’s population. They have never had one of their own narrating the sacred Scriptures. Does it make a difference? You can be assured it does. Bible translators labor hard to make sure that the Bible is in the “heart language” of the people. Why not do the same for women’s voices?
her.Bible is one of the first ever Bibles recorded entirely in women’s voices. There are thousands of male-voiced Bibles, stretching back to the dawn of recording technology. Why is it that we have had to wait until now for a serious attempt at a Bible voiced by women? To be fair, there is at least one other female-voiced Bible, called “The Courage for Life Bible,” but I had never heard of it.
Obvious innovation seems obvious in retrospect but not before the innovation happens. Then, it is so obvious to us that we struggle to see how it could have been missed. her.Bible is a good example of this. So obvious! Yet, it must not be that obvious or we would have had it earlier.
To innovate in this way, you must learn how to see past the conventional assumptions of the world around us. It takes empathy to see something from a perspective we do not have. One exercise that can help with this is to write out the various people that might engage with something.
What does it look like through the eyes of a ___________________?
Make a list of people, using roles like gender, job, stage in life, and so on. Then look at the thing as realistically as you can through their eyes. Somebody did this with Bible recording and a gap was obvious. A Bible voiced by women.
This is a form of reframing, when one creates new assumptions to gain perspective. Post-it® notes came about when the inventor looked at his (failed) glue from a new perspective. Velcro happened when an engineer saw how cockleburs stuck to his pants. Bubble wrap was supposed to be wallpaper but that did not work out and it was repurposed as packaging.
Framing and reframing are the innovator’s primary tools.
So obvious, right?