Why you never want to use a light bulb as a symbol for Innovation again…
In our work we teach people to turn their lights on, to activate their genius, to spark their creativity, and to become productive on a whole new level — allowing them to come up with new ideas and make them a reality.
Every day we inspire individuals, teams and organizations to become ever more innovative.
…and we would never use a light bulb as a symbol for that.
Why?
Three simple reasons…
- It’s super cliché
- Light bulbs are a symbol of planned obsolescence, one of the great evils of our time
- Light bulbs are linear, point A to B, while the world seems better represented through fractal networks
It’s super cliché
I mean, c’mon, do we really need to talk about that?
How creative and innovative are you really when you are using a symbol for innovation that everyone else uses ad nauseam?
While commonly understood (to the point of ridiculed PowerPoint clip art), it‘s a bit like using a stone wheel as a symbol for mobility.
Planned Obsolescence
In case you have never heard of it, planned obsolescence is one of the key tenets of mass production and consumption business of the last century.
Planned obsolescence is based on the idea that in order to keep the factories running and create continuous profit, you need to make sure your products don’t last too long.
At the beginning of the century, we were already able to produce light bulbs that could last decades. A small number of light bulb producers realized that this might not be good business, so they decided to purposely limit the lifetime of a light bulb in order to create repeat sales (you can read more about how a cartel purposely reduced light bulbs from over 2500 hrs to 1000 hrs “industry standard” in this IEEE article.)
The concept was soon picked up and explored with many other products, from razor blades to handkerchiefs, from crappy plastic pieces in VCRs and other high-end electronic devices, to our current marketing-driven annual version update cell phone craze.
Planned obsolescence is what ultimately causes us to have mountains of trash, oceans of plastic, and a world with exponentially depleting resources.
So, in light of sustainability, a core requirement for any future business, using a light bulb as a symbol for innovation seems like celebrating darkness, profiteering and greed.
From linear to fractal
The cognitive construct of linearity is a super helpful one. It lets us understand movement, changes from point A to point B on any given dimension.
In a light bulb, electricity travels from point A to point B through a wire that illuminates as that happens. Awesome technology. It’s a closed, controlled circuit.
There aren’t many in nature.
While we can see linearity in any system, we have to limit our view in order to do so.
As soon as we expand our view, we realize that we live in a universe that is more akin to a fractal interconnected system.
Linearity still makes sense, just as a linear supply chain makes sense as a model. In reality, if we expand our view, we can also see entire multi-dimensional supply chain ecosystems.
In order to create solutions for the 21st century we require systemic approaches that can understand, evaluate and adapt to multi-dimensional evolution and shifts in our social, business, ecological and technological environments.
A lightbulb might not quite cut it as a symbol to represent that.
So, let’s use a better symbol…
How about at least a Tesla coil?
Equally ancient in terms of its origin and thus still honoring the past, but already back then projecting the promise of a future world (one we still get to deliver on):
A world one were every individual has access to practically free energy, the resources and the connections to have all their needs met, and where everyone works in the understanding that — while separated to have individual experiences — we are all part and parcel of an integrated whole.
An even more ancient idea, but with our new technologies and planetary integration, maybe finally an idea whose time has come?
The future belongs to those who create it. That is why I serve as a culture catalyst and planetary strategist for visionary leaders.
Through my work with LUMAN and other projects, I provide frameworks and operating metaphors to support leaders around the world in their individual evolution and in growing innovation capacity in their teams and organizations — all with the aim of a planetary society.
I have worked with startups, NGOs and with global Fortune 500 organizations in a variety of industries around the world. More at http://philiphorvath.com.
How can I be of service to you?
