The “I” word….
Innovation is often an overused word.
Many people in this day and age feel that in order to be innovative, they must design, develop and launch a new product or service in the market. In essence, though, innovation is simply a new way of looking at an existing problem.
With this in mind, one question I started to think about was, “What would happen if someone was asked to create music, using a limited number of instruments? What would they do?”
Most people would automatically think, (maybe even mathematically), of every possible combination of instruments they could use to create multiple layers of music in a given setting. The truly innovative way to think about this challenge, though, is to not use any instruments at all.
This video — which is a cover of Toto’s song, Africa, by Perpetuum Jazzile — truly represents innovation. Rather than use traditional instruments, they have created multiple layers of sound, using only their vocals and body parts, to create music collectively. Essentially, this really is the most basic sense of innovation. When we approach challenges, we should always think, “How can we do more with less?” In the long term, simplicity will lead to sustainability.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. (Leonardo da Vinci)
