Innovation, Not Just For NASA Engineers!

The recent landing of the robotic Mars rover Curiosity by NASA has me thinking about the magic of innovation.  Thousands of things had to go just right in order for those involved to achieve such a task.  Of course, years of planning, testing, learning by both mistake and success led to this outcome but the end result is certainly magnificent!

It's easy to believe that such innovation belongs only in the fields of science, engineering, computer technology, etc.  But as one who has a long history and a continuing connectedness in non-profit charity work, I firmly believe that we must appreciate and pursue innovation in the delivery of human services, health care and the like.  For example, I would ask, how have we been innovative in our approach to feeding the hungry, serving people who are homeless, educating kids with disabilities?  It would sadden me to believe that we can land a machine on Mars with almost pinpoint accuracy yet we still operate a homeless shelter the way it was managed 70 years ago.

Innovation does not need to manifest itself in the form of a gadget, although sometimes it does.  It can come in the form of a new process or a series of questions that lead to more useful information.  Sometimes innovation involves the merging of two seemingly different disciplines to produce a refreshing new and valuable byproduct.

A program in Lorain County, Ohio comes to mind where persons who are experiencing extreme poverty and even homelessness are introduced to the concept of entrepreneurship, starting their own micro-businesses in an effort to produce income and a degree of financial stability instead of waiting months or even years for someone else to hire them.  Contact me for more detailed information about this program if you are curious - excuse the pun.

Many such stories of innovation in the "caring industries" do exist but I would encourage even more innovation.  I ask my colleagues in non-profit, are you a change agent in your organization?  In your community?  Do you feel free to offer innovative ideas within your organization or is the environment in which you work stifling to new ideas?  If so, how can you tactfully change such an organizational culture?

Some folks scoff at the notion that we (humankind) spend too much time, energy and resources exploring the universe while many still suffer here on Earth.  And while I do "get that", I also suggest that many still suffer here on earth because we (humankind) have neglected to be innovative in our care for others.  Do practitioners in the charities wake up each morning with a spirit of innovation and the craving to do better as do our friends in the sciences?  Some do, for sure, yet regrettably many do not and they are still running their shelter as if it were 1942.

I don't believe in change just for the sake of change itself, that philosophy can be harmful.  But I do believe that purposeful innovation can and should happen throughout the vast spectrum of human endeavor, including the work of so many non-profit charity organizations.  I offer my congratulations to the innovation offered by those who work at NASA to make the Mars landing possible and equally to those in the non-profits in Lorain, Ohio who are teaching the homeless to start their own micro-businesses!  Inspirational Video & Space Exploration