Fishing and Innovation - They have much more in common than you think

Innovation and the Art of Fishing

"The critical capability isn't knowing how to fish, or having all the answers; It's knowing how to go about finding the fish and discovering the answers we need." 


Dennis Stauffer makes an analogy for innovation using fishing, and the 'learning to fish', which I found very interesting.



The Ten Lessons Dennis Stauffer took from fishing and applied to innovation:

Lesson 1: To be successful, you have to keep putting your line in the water.

• Persistence is key to innovation. It is not common to get it right the first time, as it is not common to catch a fish the first time you cast your line.

Lesson 2: The where and the when are just as important as the what.

• Skill, time, and being all have are as important to each other. Many great ideas are too soon or too late to be successful, or simply were tried in the wrong place... you can't always forecast and hit a success in business...or fishing! (See Lesson 1) 

Lesson 3: When it isn't working, or it didn't work when you tried before, that doesn't mean it won't ever work.

• Circumstances and times change, and not necessarily what didn't work yesterday won't work today. Every fisherman and innovator knows that sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. (See Lesson 2)

Lesson 4: When it works, don't assume it will keep working.

• Success and failure are both temporary. Track you successes and try them again later when timing is considered right, but don't assume they will work well every time. That is why a fisherman knows, and an innovator should know, a variety of techniques to use in appropriate times. (See Lesson 3)

Lesson 5: Failure is part of the process

• Learn from failures, they come with the process.  It is key for innovators, as well as for fishermen, to accept and know how to apply what they have learnt from past failures to discover success. (See Lesson 4)

Lesson 6: Uncertainty is a given

• The surest way to stop learning is to assume that you already have all the answers. Thinking to be certain exactly when and where the fish will be biting is an assumption that will probably lead you to stop the kind of systematic exploration needed for practice. (See Lesson 5)

Lesson 7:  Patience can be your greatest asset

• In fishing and innovation, time will be spent far more on the 'pursuing' than on the 'catching'.  Enjoy the process, that will be key to be successful (See Lesson 6)

Lesson 8: Stay humble

• An innovative idea can come from anybody, so it is key to be humble and to be open to receive ideas from everyone. As former U.S. President Herbert Hoover said "All men are equal before fish". (See Lesson 7)

Lesson 9: You can't control all the variables

• We need to become comfortable living in the uncertainty and become skilled at coping with the unknown. Challenges and every possible influence on the outcome cannot be controlled - in fishing, or in life - (See Lesson 8)

Lesson 10: When fish are biting, keep fishing... and don't be surprised when they suddenly stop

Please find the full article written by Dennis Stauffer on: http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2012/02/29/innovation-and-the-art-of-fishing/