Isn’t innovation great? It sure is, right? I mean it must be, every single business today seems to be so fixated with it. Stop me if you’ve heard this before: «Our innovation department…», «… truly a huge leap in innovation and technology…», «We feel very proud of our curious and innovative staff…». Here’s the thing though, most of every single one of those type of statements is actually referring to Creativity, not to actual innovation.

I’d like to share with you a brief story, of when I was a student. Way way back one day ago, me and my classmates took part in a game that tested our innovation skills. The game was simple: we were split into six teams and each team was tasked with drawing as many pictures under a minute of time. However, there was a catch. Each of our paper sheets were filled with circles, and we had to incorporate the circles into our drawings (like turning them into planets, into sport balls, etc.) We got points for each drawing but got extra bonus points if our drawings were always different or if they involved more than one circle. Basically we got points for being creative. Psst, by the way, remember that last detail, because I’m gonna do this thing, where I blow your mind later on. Cool? Cool.

So at the end of the game there was a winner team that had accumulated the most points, buuuuut, there was another winning team. Ah yes, the good old fashion plot twist. You see, during the game, there were some participants known as «buyers». They were looking for specific products among the drawings. Each team had the opportunity to spend some of their already earned points in exchange of some hint that will tell them what kind of drawing are the buyers looking for. So, those teams had to focus on making the most out of the circle format, while constantly drawing new things, while connecting the dots, while making sure that their drawings could be useful and attractive for the buyers and they had to make each of their «products» different enough of each other to ensure that there are no repeated drawings and that they have a better chance of getting picked. Managing all of these factors while under a strict time limit and coming up with something completely new that (under the context of the game) has a real practical and attractive use… now THAT is innovation.

So where am I going with this story? Well, I think real world works just the same way. Sure, we can all call ourselves «innovative» and wear that batch under the assumption that having a creative outlook on the world makes us worthy of it. And yes it is true that creativity is a key component of innovation, but it goes much further than that. It’s about pushing the boundaries and limits of human intelligence to come up with new solutions to problems that aggravate us, in a sustainable, reachable, doable and time constricted way. It’s about winning the game, not because a lame score says we did, but because in the end, our work and effort made someone else’s life easier, better… happier.

See? I told you I would blow your mind.

Imagine, if you will, a hotel. Not a particularly modest nor a remarkable one, just a normal hotel. All of its rooms are booked, so there is no way to accommodate any more guests. However, this hotel has a peculiar attribute. It has an infinite number of rooms. Not of much help though, when all of said infinite rooms are filled.

However, one day, a man comes to the lobby and asks to book a room. The manager personally apologizes, and explains that he does not have an unoccupied room to offer. But the man is cunning, and suggests that every single current room holder moves to the next one. Meaning that the resident of room 001 moves over to the 002; the one from 002 to 003; the one from 003 to 004, and so on and so forth. True, the hotel is already filled, but being that it has an infinite number of rooms, it should have no problem accommodating the same amount of infinite guests plus one.

This is Hilbert’s Hotel Paradox, a mind game that deals with infinites, and the many wonders that come with them. An infinite number of possibilities to be experienced in an infinite number of different ways. It is a problem that requires lateral thinking, creativity and an open mind to appreciate, just as I hope the many topics that we’ll discuss here will do. Let’s imagine the road we are about to undertake this semester as a small visit to the many rooms of endless possibilities, and let us do it with curiosity, desire to learn and to find new ways to innovate and learn about problem solving. After all, we only have infinite-plus-one rooms ahead of us.

A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man

— Jebediah Springfield

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
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• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.