Innovation and Fear of the Unknown

Animals typically have a hard time with the unknown. The immediate reaction is fear. Intelligent animals then show curiosity, which sometimes wins over fear.

We humans are no different, and the uncertainty that sometimes lies in front of us can force us into sticking to a well-known, understood path. We ignore the new road, and continue with the old. That’s understandable, even on a rational level. Why go outside when you can stay inside your little cozy garden? Why risk when you can live happily where you are now?

One word: innovation.

I understand that this is a rather broad topic, and you could write an entire book on it. I don’t claim to understand human nature that well – quite the opposite in fact, but I have a bit of anecdotal evidence.

There’s another variable in the equation though: peer influence. The more an individual is experienced, the more she will influence others, and the less she will be influenced. This is probably a gross oversimplification of human nature, but I believe it’s true in most cases. A corollary to this assumption is that innovation cannot be driven by too old experienced individuals. That’s simply because they will have too much influence on their peers, and they will promote their own ideas instead of embracing new ones (I guess this is also related to reinforcement). I think this holds true even if some hard data shows that, in many fields, innovators get better with age. The problem is that in our society we often mix scientific and technological innovation with business and commercial success. Those are not, however, necessarily related.

What makes young inexperienced individuals good at innovation, especially in the IT field, is precisely their lack of prejudice. They are mentally free to do whatever they like, plus they have much less career history to protect (which is a mundane but significant aspect of our lives!). They make mistakes, but keep pushing the bar with new stuff. In the past 10 years, innovation in IT has been driven by and large specifically by new-comers, and not by existing players.

Perhaps I’m pushing it a bit too far, but I think that today’s IT landscape is not unlike what was happening in 1968. It was a different context, with different goals and agendas, but it was mostly about young generations trying to get free from older ones.