The most important canvas you can innovate on is your own life. Let’s look at why.
Why Innovate in Your Personal Life?
When people think about innovation, they usually think about work settings. Whether it is a programmer writing code to make AI more efficient, a prototype chip made in a clean room, a physician developing new surgical techniques, a pilot realizing that the controls could be improved in a certain way, or any of the millions of work-related improvements, it all flows in Edison-like fashion. You innovate for work.
But that leaves out the easiest, fastest, and most impactful way to innovate: Improving your own life and that of those you care about. A new approach to conflict resolution might save your marriage. An insight into how to improve the organization of your home. A tangible example from my life might illustrate it: A microprocessor-controlled LCD display and multi-color LED sitting outside of my home office that I can change from my computer so that my family always knows if I can or can’t be disturbed while in my home office.
The great news is that improvements to your own life don’t need to be patented. They need not be protected as trade secrets. They are almost always in non-patentable subject matter areas, so you usually don’t need to worry about patent infringement (and as a practical matter, it is unlikely that a patentee would find out what you’re doing, come up with a theory of infringement, and sue you personally for your personal use of the patented claims — but please, support innovation by not infringing).
You can kick your life into a higher and better gear simply by looking at the world around you and asking “why should I have to live with [whatever you’re bothered by]? Can’t I make it better?”
Final Thought
Innovating in your personal life is perhaps the most impactful thing you can do for yourself, your friends and your family.
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