Gardening has a power that is political and even democratic. And it is a political power that can be applied constantly, whereas one can only vote or demonstrate occasionally.
—Wendell Berry
Because of disputes over land, access to green space, and equal rights to the city, urban gardens have become a symbol of community activism and empowerment, and they are part of a contemporary grassroots movement supporting environmental justice, collective action, and equitable access to nutrition and good health. Due in part to the current swell of interest in the local food movement, since the early 2000s there has been a remarkable surge in the prevalence of community garden initiatives.
But while they may be in the current media spotlight, the practice is certainly not new.
Welcome to Spice Up Your Life! Through this blog, I hope to express my movement through life. I love talking about life, personality, and emotion, but I also love talking about and eating food. So, welcome to my outlet where I can do all of that! I am a student at the University of Strathclyde in the Masters of Social Work program.
Community gardens have been part of American cities since the late-19th century. As a way to confront the congestion, economic instability, and environmental degradation that were part and parcel of turn-of-the-century urban life, residents began taking matters into their own hands—by planting school gardens, for example, or cultivating the vacant lots between buildings.
Most recently, after the 2009 recession, there was a 19% increase in the prevalence of community gardens as a strategy for supplementing food costs and cultivating local resilience. While their ability to improve food access alone, especially among lower-income and under-served communities, is proof enough of their enduring value, community. Food in Italy is love, then nutrition, then history, then pleasure, he says. An Italian child's first experience with food is not buns or rice or eggs, but probably ice cream, notes Bolasco. Status and wealth play less of a role in food than say, in China. Food as community. In Arab cultures, community is key to the food culture. Food waste: it has been estimated that between 1/3rd and 1/2 of all food produced around the world is lost or wasted (i.e up to 2 billion tonnes of food). In the EU, food waste is expected to rise to about 126 million tonnes a year by 2020, from a baseline of 89 million tonnes in 2006, unless action is taken to halt this trend.
Since then, the popularity of these gardens has seen ebbs and flows in relation to the social and economic climates of particular eras. During the World Wars and the Great Depression, for example, the practice became much more widespread (as a result of the 'Victory Gardens' encouraged by the federal government during WWII, Americans produced 40% of their own food!) only to diminish once again as the nation's devastated economy began to recover. The 1970s witnessed another economic crisis that made its mark on urban cores. As soaring food prices coincided with the birth of the modern environmental movementand the availability of open spaces as a result of failed urban renewal projects, community gardens began to reemerge as part of a movement to reclaim ownership of the 'public commons.' Most recently, after the 2009 recession, there was a 19% increase in the prevalence of community gardens as a strategy for supplementing food costs and cultivating local resilience.
Chromecast extension for mac download. While their ability to improve food access alone, especially among lower-income and under-served communities, is proof enough of their enduring value, community gardens are—and have always been—about much more than food. Indeed, they embody powerful placemaking strategies that are showing to have multiple and measurable impacts.
Here are some of the many interrelated benefits that that these collectively held (and sometimescontested) spaces can bring to urban neighborhoods:
Physical and mental health
Across many fields and disciplines, researchers are finally beginning to see the powerful connections between social capital and healthy places. Given the physical exertion that gardening requires and the increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, the connection between community gardens and physical health is clear. But recent research is has also underscored the links between community gardens and mental health. For city dwellers, connecting with nature—a proven remedy for stress and depression—can be quite difficult. A recent UK study shows that people who gardened for at least 30 minutes a week had lower body mass indexes (BMIs) as well as higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of tension and stress. 'With an increasing number of people residing in urban areas, a decline in the number of homes with gardens, and the increased risk for mental ill health associated with urban living,' researchers write, 'allotment gardening might play an important role in promoting mental well-being in people residing in urban areas.'
Educational opportunities and community partnerships
The educational programming that takes place at many community gardens can give neighbors the opportunity to learn about everything from nutrition and culinary skills to environmental sustainability, business principles, and job skills. The Sustainable Flatbush Healing Herb Garden, for example, holds hands-on demonstrations to highlight basic urban agricultural techniques, and it offers community workshops on using herbs in culinary practice and as medicine. As detailed on the garden's ioby funding page, the project sought to provide volunteer and internship opportunities, while also pursuing partnerships with community members, neighborhood schools, and social service organizations.
Land for community gardens can be publicly or privately held, and the programs often involve partnerships with outside entities such as nonprofits, youth or senior programs, prisons, housing developments, or schools. The national farm-to-school network is a large-scale model of how gardening can be an educational tool, an economic catalyst, and a vehicle for strong public-private partnerships. There are farm-to-school programs in every state, where the fruits and vegetables grown on school grounds supplement meals served in the cafeteria.
Idea To Life: Community Through Food Stamps
Safety and crime reduction
There is evidence linking community gardens to improved safety in neighborhoods – showing that crime decreases in neighborhoods as the amount of green space increases. Two reports in the Journal of Environment and Behavior studied (1) the impact nature has on mental fatigue (often a precursor of aggression and violence), and (2) the relationship between green space and inner city crime rates. The research determined that aggression and violence was 'significantly lower among those people who lived near some green space than those who lived in more barren conditions.'
Echoing Jane Jacob's now-famous idea of 'eyes on the street,' a 2012 study in Philadelphia comparing two clusters of vacant lots—one that was cultivated and one that wasn't—showed that greening the vacant lots made nearby residents feel significantly safer, and the newly cultivated lots could be linked to a decrease in gun crimes in the area.
'Our theory is that transforming vacant lots from a space overgrown with vegetation and filled with trash to a clean and green space may make it difficult for people to hide illegal guns and conduct other illegal activities such as drug use in or near the space. Additionally, green space may encourage community cohesion.' – Eugenia C. Garvin, MD, lead author of Penn Study on greening vacant lots to reduce violent crime
Cultural Heritage and Exchange
Shared gardens have played a powerful role in helping communities who have experienced the traumas of displacement, such as new immigrants and refugees. For these populations, shared gardens can be a vehicle for re-establishing a sense of place, building new social ties, and celebrating and maintaining cultural traditions. Little Haiti Garden in Miami, for example, enables the area's Haitian community to use traditional farming techniques in producing often-unavailable crops such as callaloo and calabaza. Community gardens like Little Haiti Garden, which is located in one of the poorest districts in the country, also maintain a strong economic development component. By holding gardening and nutrition workshops, teaching retail skills, and selling produce to the neighborhood, local markets, and restaurants, the garden helps brings additional money and food into the households that need it.
In Fresno, California, seven state-funded community gardens seek to boost mental health within the area's large refugee, immigrant, and low-income populations. 'The thinking of community leaders and health professionals,' writes Patricia Leigh Brown of the New York Times, 'is that gardens can help foster resiliency and a sense of purpose for refugees, especially older ones, who are often isolated by language and poverty and experiencing depression and post-traumatic stress. Immigrant families often struggle to meet insurance co-payments, and culturally attuned therapists are in short supply.'
***
Wendell Berry once quipped that it may be too easy to underestimate the power of a garden. 'A garden,' he continued, 'is a solution that leads to other solutions. It is part of the limitless pattern of good health and good sense.'
Since their origin in US cities at the end of the 19th century, the popularity of community gardens has tended to increase during periods of crisis. And as we face new challenges such as the rising rates of chronic health issues like obesity, heart disease, and depression, along with socioeconomic issues like high unemployment rates and increasing food insecurity, it makes sense that community garden initiatives are experiencing a nationwide resurgence.
Even beyond issues of food access, community gardens are about building social ties, sharing skills and experience, learning about nature and culture, and taking proactive measures to improve our physical and mental well-being. One thing is certain: As our urban environments become home to more and more people, community gardens will continue to be a powerful, place-based tool for creating local connections and enacting positive global change.
In one of his recent presentations, Frans Johansson explained why groundbreaking innovators generate and execute far more ideas than their counterparts. After watching his presentation The Secret Truth About Executing Great Ideas, my thoughts began to surface about how meaningful the presentation was—regardless of a person's industry, culture, field or discipline. Anyone can come up with an amazing idea but how you execute the idea will determine your success.
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
Ideation: Idea Conception
Coming up with an innovative idea will require some methods of generating ideas from brainstorming to mind mapping that can help conjure up useful ideas. During this process one must make sure to keep focused on a goal. If you have no goal, how will you know when you have reached the finish line and are ready for refinement? Start out with a few thoughts or themes and see what you can come up with.
Don't get stuck on trying to come up with different variations of the same idea as you will want to develop ideas further later. While there is no exact path in ideation or other creativity techniques from start to finish, creating an idea you are happy with and feel has innovative potential is the key. Believing in your ideas innovative ability will give the confidence you will need later on during pitch time.
Is this new disposable cup holder an improvement or an innovation?
Many people have tried to innovate, but because something similar had already existed, it's merely an improvement. When designing within familiar bounds, you can still create something amazing but your audience will not likely be astonished at the sight of it. It is easy to see the particular innovative idea as something that was so simple to come up with but if that's the case, then why didn't you do it? The trick is to come up with them before. That's the challenge. Once you find that special seed of an innovative idea, try to avoid key mistakes that will stop your idea from ever seeing the light of day.
As interesting as some ideas may be, that is not always enough for consumers. Getting the message out that your new idea is imperative will gain more consumer attention, especially in more difficult economic times. Always having a short and clear value proposition with an inescapable feeling of necessity can help gain capital, exposure and consumers. Do not wait until everything is 'perfect' as they may never be and this will only further delay your ideas release. Act, do not sit idle!
Nurture New Ideas
Think of your typical cup holder from a fast food restaurant or coffee house made of cardboard. They are rigid with no handle and have been cause of drink spills and panic attacks for years. Recently a new cup holder has come about that is more mobile and has a handle (see image above). These changes have made it easier to transport drinks and prevent spills. This idea in itself is only an improvement on what was there previously.
To truly be innovative, you should take opposing thoughts and combine them, which increases the innovative potential of your idea (see image below). Think of the invention of the Burqini that combines the idea of a burqa that Muslim women wear and the flexibility of a swimsuit at the beach. Innovative ideas can sometimes be explosive but many potential barriers will arise and just having an innovative idea is not always enough.
Groundbreaking and innovative ideas come from combining ideas from different industries, cultures, fields, and disciplines.
In order to take an innovative idea from the embryo of a concept to market, you need to have the determination to push through failure. The odds are against you no matter the idea and statistics say you are going to fail a few times on your road to success. Knowing this, you have to hedge your bets more effectively so you can adjust your path and continue forward.
Don't be intimidated by the perceived brilliance of innovative designs, because you are typically seeing the last iteration that has changed compared to its original concept. This happens with adjustment through failure. As Johansson mentioned, Picasso had made around 20,000 (as high as 50,000) works of art in his lifetime and Einstein published 240 papers with a short number of successful creations. Innovative success happens in volume (see image below).
Stevens, G.A. and Burley, J., '3,000 Raw Ideas = 1 Commercial Success!'
How To Pick A Successful Idea
Don't put everything behind your first idea! You wouldn't go to the racetrack and put your life savings on 1⁄3000 odds, would you? Even though we are taught that all innovations come from a visionary who predicted a need for the future, this is usually not the case. Naturally, most inventions come from necessity and others from creative spark. When executing a creative idea with the resources you have available, you will have to make adjustments along the way that may not have been accounted for originally. Johansson suggests that you take the smallest executable step (smallest bet) so you don't risk everything on your original idea.
Once you define the smallest step, you know your scope of risk. This is very important because you can then take baby steps to overcome challenges and utilize resources more efficiently on your road to success (see image below). While strategy is paramount, one shouldn't get lost in planning and take too long to execute. Stay motivated to move forward, because forward motion even through failure is the key to success.
'Nearly every major breakthrough innovation has been preceded by a string of failed or misguided executions.' — Frans Johansson.
When implementing strategy, whether it is used to free up resources or define a path to move forward, do not plan on coming up with the ultimate plan that will carry your idea to the finish line. Coming up with a base and enabling yourself to act will help to get things done and eventually discover the final solution that goes to market. You will need to bring yourself to an idea intersection where you can pick and choose the best ideas. This intersection can be used to generate extraordinary, electrifying and trendsetting ideas.
Exploring Innovation Deeper
The Devotion of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish artist that had a unique talent in painting by combining different techniques, theories and ideas making him one of the most well-known figures in 20th century art. Picasso had always shown a passion for art from a very young age and was determined to express his passion to the world. Overcoming high and low barriers, he achieved much success and fortune in his life. As Pablo Ruiz Picasso said, 'action is the foundational key to all success.' Continuing to move forward by taking action and not sitting idle will create momentum for success.
Early in his life, Pablo Picasso slept during the day, worked at night and persevered through poverty, cold and desperation. He was known to have burned much of his early work just to keep warm at night. Picasso motivated himself through passion to push forward and eventually made luxurious connections. Constantly updating his style from the Blue Period, to the Rose Period, to the African-influenced Period, to Cubism, to Realism and Surrealism, he was a pioneer with a hand in every art movement of the 20th century.
Picasso was extraordinarily abundant throughout his long lifetime. A skillful self-promoter, he used politics, whimsicality, and harassment as a selling tool. The total number of artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000, comprising 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics, roughly 12,000 drawings, many thousands of prints, and numerous tapestries and rugs. From all of these works, only a few dozen have been regarded as a great success, leaving thousands in museums for viewing after his death and even more collecting dust. Picasso dedicated his life to art and has very influential with his portrayal of Cubism.
Frank Epperson's Juice on a Stick
Frank Epperson was an average American who at a young age discovered a 'frozen drink on a stick' that would later become an innovative idea. In his life he dabbled in real estate before discovering how to take his idea to market.
At the age of 11 Frank Epperson invented the 'Epsicle' that is now known as the 'Popsicle'. He was mixing powdered soda with water to make soda pop and accidentally left the mixing bucket outside on an unusually cold night. During the night the mixture froze solid, with the wooden stirring stick standing straight up. There was one huge problem: you can't start an Epsicle production line on your back porch because the weather didn't allow for such a thing. Epperson overcame this hurdle by gaining access to a commercial freezer, stamped his name on the sticks and wanted to sell his idea.
Unfortunately for Epperson, ice-cream makers were not interested and he did not share his idea again until a fireman's ball years later. He pushed through rejection and failure without burying all of his resources until he had achieved a solid idea. While he discovered this wonderful treat early on in life, it took him 16 years to introduce the idea and 7 years more to sell his Popsicle patent. The popsicle can be credited for the entrance of tasty frozen deserts into the mainstream and happy children's faces around the world. Today hundreds of millions of Popsicles are eaten in the United States each year, and there are more than thirty flavors available.
Alexander Graham Bell's Modern Communication
Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist from Scotland (originally) that had always had a natural curiosity for the world. This resulted in experimentation with inventing at a young age, most notably a simple dehusking machine at age 12.
Due to the gradual deafness of his mother starting at a young age, he was led to study acoustics which eventually led to the invention of the telephone. Bell's telephone grew out of improvements he made to the telegraph. He had invented the 'harmonic telegraph' which could send more than one message at a time over a single telegraph wire. His path to success was not as clear as one might think and is surrounded by past failures and controversy.
Idea To Life: Community Through Food Web
Bell's first serious work with sound transmission used tuning forks to explore resonance. Unfortunately, this groundbreaking undertaking had already been completed worlds away in Germany. A short change in path led Bell to transmit sound through electrical means. He experimented first by trying to transmit musical notes and articulate speech.
Alexander Graham Bell had not set any clear destination and became overwhelmed with his experiments. After many sleepless nights he created a harmonic telegraph which became the first stepping stone to the creation of the telephone. After entertaining other possibilities such as the phonautograph and sending multiple telegraph messages on a single line, Bell refined the idea of acoustic telegraphy.
By recognizing progress and changing his path, Bell (with the help of Thomas Watson) was able to invent the sound-powered telephone. By starting with the idea of transmitting a voice through electricity, Alexander Graham Bell was able to, through a series of refinements, invent technology that is used around the world even today. Bell continued to test out new ideas involving kites, airplanes, tetrahedral structures, sheep-breeding, artificial respiration, desalinization and water distillation, and hydrofoils.
Jack Dorsey's Micro Communication
Jack Dorsey is an American software architect that had an interest in making 'instant messenger' updates available for friends to see. This was a refined concept that eventually grew into what we now know as Twitter. Three guiding principles of this innovative idea are simplicity, constraint and craftsmanship.
Jack had an early fascination with cities and how they work, so he would always carry maps around with him. His attraction with mass-transit and how cities function led him to taking advantage of public transit databases in Manhattan. He built off of his original idea that gave meaning to his overall concept. His idea make clear though working on dispatch software, programming real-time messaging systems for couriers, taxis, and emergency vehicles.
Jack Dorsey's experience helped him see his idea in a completely new perspective. Taking his seedling of an idea that would update friends of his status, Dorsey completed several field tests before recognizing that the technology available didn't support his innovative idea. There are times when putting off a project is irrefutable. Jack Dorsey originally came up with his idea in the year 2000 but wasn't able to execute effectively until 8 years later. Jack was effective in not letting his idea sit for too long but instead taking action when technology would let it thrive.
Conclusion
Making ideas happen isn't easy and requires patience, determination and hard work. The most important part of it is not just coming up with a promising concept, but rather rethinking it over and over again, implementing it and then putting it to practice.
As interesting as some ideas may be, that is not always enough for consumers. Getting the message out that your new idea is imperative will gain more consumer attention, especially in more difficult economic times. Always having a short and clear value proposition with an inescapable feeling of necessity can help gain capital, exposure and consumers. Do not wait until everything is 'perfect' as they may never be and this will only further delay your ideas release. Act, do not sit idle!
Nurture New Ideas
Think of your typical cup holder from a fast food restaurant or coffee house made of cardboard. They are rigid with no handle and have been cause of drink spills and panic attacks for years. Recently a new cup holder has come about that is more mobile and has a handle (see image above). These changes have made it easier to transport drinks and prevent spills. This idea in itself is only an improvement on what was there previously.
To truly be innovative, you should take opposing thoughts and combine them, which increases the innovative potential of your idea (see image below). Think of the invention of the Burqini that combines the idea of a burqa that Muslim women wear and the flexibility of a swimsuit at the beach. Innovative ideas can sometimes be explosive but many potential barriers will arise and just having an innovative idea is not always enough.
Groundbreaking and innovative ideas come from combining ideas from different industries, cultures, fields, and disciplines.
In order to take an innovative idea from the embryo of a concept to market, you need to have the determination to push through failure. The odds are against you no matter the idea and statistics say you are going to fail a few times on your road to success. Knowing this, you have to hedge your bets more effectively so you can adjust your path and continue forward.
Don't be intimidated by the perceived brilliance of innovative designs, because you are typically seeing the last iteration that has changed compared to its original concept. This happens with adjustment through failure. As Johansson mentioned, Picasso had made around 20,000 (as high as 50,000) works of art in his lifetime and Einstein published 240 papers with a short number of successful creations. Innovative success happens in volume (see image below).
Stevens, G.A. and Burley, J., '3,000 Raw Ideas = 1 Commercial Success!'
How To Pick A Successful Idea
Don't put everything behind your first idea! You wouldn't go to the racetrack and put your life savings on 1⁄3000 odds, would you? Even though we are taught that all innovations come from a visionary who predicted a need for the future, this is usually not the case. Naturally, most inventions come from necessity and others from creative spark. When executing a creative idea with the resources you have available, you will have to make adjustments along the way that may not have been accounted for originally. Johansson suggests that you take the smallest executable step (smallest bet) so you don't risk everything on your original idea.
Once you define the smallest step, you know your scope of risk. This is very important because you can then take baby steps to overcome challenges and utilize resources more efficiently on your road to success (see image below). While strategy is paramount, one shouldn't get lost in planning and take too long to execute. Stay motivated to move forward, because forward motion even through failure is the key to success.
'Nearly every major breakthrough innovation has been preceded by a string of failed or misguided executions.' — Frans Johansson.
When implementing strategy, whether it is used to free up resources or define a path to move forward, do not plan on coming up with the ultimate plan that will carry your idea to the finish line. Coming up with a base and enabling yourself to act will help to get things done and eventually discover the final solution that goes to market. You will need to bring yourself to an idea intersection where you can pick and choose the best ideas. This intersection can be used to generate extraordinary, electrifying and trendsetting ideas.
Exploring Innovation Deeper
The Devotion of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish artist that had a unique talent in painting by combining different techniques, theories and ideas making him one of the most well-known figures in 20th century art. Picasso had always shown a passion for art from a very young age and was determined to express his passion to the world. Overcoming high and low barriers, he achieved much success and fortune in his life. As Pablo Ruiz Picasso said, 'action is the foundational key to all success.' Continuing to move forward by taking action and not sitting idle will create momentum for success.
Early in his life, Pablo Picasso slept during the day, worked at night and persevered through poverty, cold and desperation. He was known to have burned much of his early work just to keep warm at night. Picasso motivated himself through passion to push forward and eventually made luxurious connections. Constantly updating his style from the Blue Period, to the Rose Period, to the African-influenced Period, to Cubism, to Realism and Surrealism, he was a pioneer with a hand in every art movement of the 20th century.
Picasso was extraordinarily abundant throughout his long lifetime. A skillful self-promoter, he used politics, whimsicality, and harassment as a selling tool. The total number of artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000, comprising 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics, roughly 12,000 drawings, many thousands of prints, and numerous tapestries and rugs. From all of these works, only a few dozen have been regarded as a great success, leaving thousands in museums for viewing after his death and even more collecting dust. Picasso dedicated his life to art and has very influential with his portrayal of Cubism.
Frank Epperson's Juice on a Stick
Frank Epperson was an average American who at a young age discovered a 'frozen drink on a stick' that would later become an innovative idea. In his life he dabbled in real estate before discovering how to take his idea to market.
At the age of 11 Frank Epperson invented the 'Epsicle' that is now known as the 'Popsicle'. He was mixing powdered soda with water to make soda pop and accidentally left the mixing bucket outside on an unusually cold night. During the night the mixture froze solid, with the wooden stirring stick standing straight up. There was one huge problem: you can't start an Epsicle production line on your back porch because the weather didn't allow for such a thing. Epperson overcame this hurdle by gaining access to a commercial freezer, stamped his name on the sticks and wanted to sell his idea.
Unfortunately for Epperson, ice-cream makers were not interested and he did not share his idea again until a fireman's ball years later. He pushed through rejection and failure without burying all of his resources until he had achieved a solid idea. While he discovered this wonderful treat early on in life, it took him 16 years to introduce the idea and 7 years more to sell his Popsicle patent. The popsicle can be credited for the entrance of tasty frozen deserts into the mainstream and happy children's faces around the world. Today hundreds of millions of Popsicles are eaten in the United States each year, and there are more than thirty flavors available.
Alexander Graham Bell's Modern Communication
Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist from Scotland (originally) that had always had a natural curiosity for the world. This resulted in experimentation with inventing at a young age, most notably a simple dehusking machine at age 12.
Due to the gradual deafness of his mother starting at a young age, he was led to study acoustics which eventually led to the invention of the telephone. Bell's telephone grew out of improvements he made to the telegraph. He had invented the 'harmonic telegraph' which could send more than one message at a time over a single telegraph wire. His path to success was not as clear as one might think and is surrounded by past failures and controversy.
Idea To Life: Community Through Food Web
Bell's first serious work with sound transmission used tuning forks to explore resonance. Unfortunately, this groundbreaking undertaking had already been completed worlds away in Germany. A short change in path led Bell to transmit sound through electrical means. He experimented first by trying to transmit musical notes and articulate speech.
Alexander Graham Bell had not set any clear destination and became overwhelmed with his experiments. After many sleepless nights he created a harmonic telegraph which became the first stepping stone to the creation of the telephone. After entertaining other possibilities such as the phonautograph and sending multiple telegraph messages on a single line, Bell refined the idea of acoustic telegraphy.
By recognizing progress and changing his path, Bell (with the help of Thomas Watson) was able to invent the sound-powered telephone. By starting with the idea of transmitting a voice through electricity, Alexander Graham Bell was able to, through a series of refinements, invent technology that is used around the world even today. Bell continued to test out new ideas involving kites, airplanes, tetrahedral structures, sheep-breeding, artificial respiration, desalinization and water distillation, and hydrofoils.
Jack Dorsey's Micro Communication
Jack Dorsey is an American software architect that had an interest in making 'instant messenger' updates available for friends to see. This was a refined concept that eventually grew into what we now know as Twitter. Three guiding principles of this innovative idea are simplicity, constraint and craftsmanship.
Jack had an early fascination with cities and how they work, so he would always carry maps around with him. His attraction with mass-transit and how cities function led him to taking advantage of public transit databases in Manhattan. He built off of his original idea that gave meaning to his overall concept. His idea make clear though working on dispatch software, programming real-time messaging systems for couriers, taxis, and emergency vehicles.
Jack Dorsey's experience helped him see his idea in a completely new perspective. Taking his seedling of an idea that would update friends of his status, Dorsey completed several field tests before recognizing that the technology available didn't support his innovative idea. There are times when putting off a project is irrefutable. Jack Dorsey originally came up with his idea in the year 2000 but wasn't able to execute effectively until 8 years later. Jack was effective in not letting his idea sit for too long but instead taking action when technology would let it thrive.
Conclusion
Making ideas happen isn't easy and requires patience, determination and hard work. The most important part of it is not just coming up with a promising concept, but rather rethinking it over and over again, implementing it and then putting it to practice.
Most inventions come from necessity, so pay attention to small problems in your environment and find simple solutions to these problems. Do not sit idle on the idea — act instead. Take opposing thoughts and resolve them in your innovative designs. And keep innovating all the time, one step at a time. The time will pass, and if you have some luck, you will see your idea growing, flourishing and maybe even turning into a real success. …So what are you waiting for?
Further Resources
Here are further articles and related resources:
- Five Tips For Making Ideas Happen Creative types have a problem. We have so many great ideas, but most of them never see the light of day. Some creative people and teams are able to defy the odds and make their ideas happen, time and again.
- 99 Excuses For NOT Making Ideas Happen If you're NOT doing something, what does it matter why? See what their readers feel are the most common excuses for NOT making ideas happen.
- Executing Ideas Often is Difficult for Leaders Strategy is too often just a bad joke (with allusions to Dilbert's pointy-haired boss) among the working-level people who actually produce the products, provide the service and generate the profit.
- How Do You Keep, Develop and Execute Ideas? There are so-called serial entrepreneurs who are fond of jumping from one great execution of an idea to another. And more often than not, they gain much experience–and money–in the process.
- The 3 Most Common Mistakes When Growing an Idea into a Business Sometimes this energy and excitement can be blinding. Some people are so tremendously passionate, yet lack the ability to take ownership and really get things done.
