What If Going to the Wrong Places Is Good for Growing Innovation?
What if innovation does not only happen at unexpected times but in unexpected places?
What if, it is not just about getting out of your comfort zone; it is about getting out of your physical location?
And what if, in your search for innovation and insight, you do not just go somewhere different or new, you go somewhere you should not go?
Can you make yourself more uncomfortable than being where you are not supposed to be? For example, as a university student, I went to Spain to study French. Then, I spent two years living in the crater of an extinct, Balkan volcano as a Peace Corps volunteer where every day — from cold, bucket showers to reading and writing in Cyrillic — was an adventure of navigating discomfort. Later, when I was working as an English Professor, I attended a conference on business innovation. Today, I am an entrepreneur working in Colombia using the Spanish I learned in Spain. What I am doing today was not my intention when I went to Spain to study French and it is way better than anything I could have planned.
What if, by going where you are not supposed to go, you open yourself up to opportunities you would never have discovered by only going…
