I went to Hob Nob yesterday (it’s the Mississippi Economic Council’s signature event). Think Neshoba County Fair without red dirt, harness racing and cabins. There are speeches from politicians, gobs of banana pudding and more importantly, the opportunity to shoot the bull with folks you haven’t seen in a while. Right before lunch, the Governor spoke. Say what you will about Governor Phil Bryant, he’s a very good speaker. He gives an excellent “rah rah” stump speech. And yesterday’s was classic Phil.
Especially the part about how he is declaring November “Innovation Month.” It received strong applause from the business-oriented crowd. Buttons and copies of the proclamation were passed out. There was a rousing AMEN from the congregation.
And I was one of those who cheered.
Hooray innovation! Innovation good! Hooray!
But part of me wanted to cry out, “What about the other 11 months of the year? We had better darn well be innovating every single day.”
The world is changing around us. Rapidly. We know that in Mississippi. After NAFTA, the local textile mill disappeared. And while the Internet has brought us so many blessings, it has disrupted so many of the institutions that we once took for granted. The last 20 years have shown us that we have to reinvent ourselves at an ever-increasing frequency. As Red said in Shawshank Redemption, we have to “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
Get busy living or get busy dying. That’s innovation. We can no longer sit in our comfort zones. We can no longer depend on things being the same. They won’t be. And we will be left behind.
The Governor stepped off the stage and lunch was served. As the business men and women filed out of the Coliseum, I wondered if they were thinking the same thing I was. If not, they have better start soon. Innovation is more than about a proclamation. It’s about our very survival.
I could not agree with you anymore on your call to innovate each and every day. Amen to that! Innovation can be in small, incremental steps and it can come in one giant leap that shatters existing norms. Both types are needed depending on the situation and organizations like Innovate Mississippi and others are working hard to keep the ball rolling…often times uphill! Thank you Marshall.