What George Carlin Taught Innovators—The Virtues of Vuja Dé
Fans of edgy comedy—and critics of the political establishment—are mourning the death of George Carlin. Most of us know this game-changing comedian through his riff on the "seven words you can never say on television." (Warning: This "Seven Dirty Words" clip on YouTube does indeed contain some pretty dirty words.)
But George Carlin made another contribution to the language—believe it or not, to the language of business and innovation. The term he coined was "vuja dé"—and it's become a battle cry of sorts for innovators who aspire to make big change by identifying opportunities that others don't see.
We all know déjà vu—looking at an unfamiliar situation and feeling like you’ve been there before. But what's valuable to innovation is vuja dé—looking at a familiar situation with fresh eyes, as if you’ve never seen it before, and with those fresh eyes developing a new line of sight into the future.
Let's face it: Most companies in most industries have a kind of tunnel vision. They chase the same opportunities that everyone else is chasing, they miss the same opportunities that everyone else is missing. It’s the companies that see a different game that win big. The most important question for innovators today is: What do you see that the competition doesn't see?
Answering that question requires vuja dé. And vuja dé requires a radical shift in perspective—which is why outsiders often see the future first. It’s also one of the big limitations of benchmarking. The most creative CEOs I’ve met don’t aspire to learn from the “best in class” in their industry—especially when the best in class aren’t all that great. They aspire to learn from companies far outside their field as a way to shake things up and make real change.
I first heard the term from Tom Kelley of IDEO, in his book The Ten Faces of Innovation. Tom reports that he heard the term from Stanford Professor Bob Sutton, who explores it in his book, Weird Ideas that Work. And Bob reports that George Carlin was the original inventor. This blog post from Tom gives a pretty good history of the term.
And now you've heard it from me! (Actually, in psychological circles, the more formal term is jamais vu, defined as "a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing a situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before.")
So the next time you feel stuck, like you're cycling through the same tired thinking about the same old problems, figure out a way to look at things fresh—to apply the virtues of vuja dé. It just might unleash a new approach to innovation—and prevent you, in your frustration, from using one of the seven words you can can never say on TV!
Thanks for the laughs, George, and thanks for helping us see the world with fresh eyes.
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William C. Taylor is an agenda-setting writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. His new project, Practically Radical, chronicles the radical shifts transforming business and the practical steps that will determine who wins. His most recent book,Mavericks at Work, has been a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestseller. As cofounder of Fast Company, he launched a magazine that earned a passionate following around the world. He is an adjunct lecturer at Babson College and a former associate editor of Harvard Business Review.
Comments
I agree.
It's amazing how many times companies overlook obvious opportunities.
It's fascinating how many good ideas come from customers, or even better, potential customers!
Jeff Whitton
Founder,
SuggestionBox.com
- Posted by SuggestionBox.com
June 24, 2008 2:13 AM
The suggestion of non-conventional approaches is what the great entrepreneurs have always done. The question in any organization is how do you move the enterprise without being moved out.
- Posted by sanford millar
June 29, 2008 5:05 PM
perhaps in seeking to promote and benfit from vuja dé, companies should attempt to hire outsiders and newcomers to the industry. Young people and those with different backgrounds are more likley to exhibit vuja dé as they are not viewing the situation from the same platform.
If you want to innovate and benefit from fresh thinking, you must first look to freshen up the talent in your organisation. But as has been discussed ad nauseum in other blogs - to innovate you must be prepared to take a risk. Same goes in recruiting for innovative thinking; you MUST be prepared to risk hiring the wrong person in order to hire someone truly fresh.
how many inspiring innovators have come from alternative backgrounds, often without formal qualifications, or appropriate resumes??
- Posted by C.Simson
June 29, 2008 9:37 PM
Thanks Bill Taylor,
Full of Wonder,
Was'nt this story available the day before yesterday as well ? As a franchise and mgt. consultant. I am always, as Carlon would say filled with wonder at how easily we can find the problems, its the real solutions finders and enablers who occasionally work a Magic worth the discovery price.
Simply, by not overthinking and applying an execution stategy the entity already knows sub-consiously is the right course of action.
- Posted by Ben B. Swift
July 3, 2008 9:35 AM
This may be true of other businesses but it isn't true for advertising agencies.
The problems with agencies, for the most part, look, sound and act just the same. When you are just like your competitors what makes your service any more attractive? Chemistry? Price? Proprietary processes? Great creative? Diversity?
Branding and positioning is about sacrifice. Who you aren’t going to attract. It is exclusionary. You aren’t for everybody. But when you have a position, that is of benefit to your primary target audience, you have strong appeal.
From an agency new business perspective diversity isn’t a strength.
- Posted by Michael Gass
July 23, 2008 10:42 AM
William,
Great post! Very.... refreshing?
A great resource for creativity and "freshness" is Roger Von Ouch, author of "A Whack On The Side Of The Head" and inventor of "Ball of Whacks".
John
- Posted by John Haydon
July 23, 2008 10:53 AM
William,
Nice tribute to George Carlin. Thank you for sharing! I wholeheartedly advocate to the idea of looking into what is common place in "other" industries as a means to innovate.
I didn't quite get Michael Gass' point.
Michael,
Do you mean to say Advertising Agencies don't have problems innovating? Or that focusing is more important than innovating for advertising agencies? Maybe I misunderstood your entry...
As a former Director of Marketing for a global manufacturing company, I was frequently disappointed, if not plain out frustrated, when a new agency pitched their business to us. They all too often sang the same song. Few were the agencies who seemed to understand that they too are businesses needing to act differently than the competition--if they are to thrive.
In fact, I've only met one such agency in my 17 years in marketing.
LMonica
- Posted by LMonica
July 23, 2008 11:25 PM
William this an inspiring write-up. In this century do we have creativity, innovativeness in the same manner during the era of rapid industrialisation. I realise technology is faster changing but the magnitude of innovation and creativity is that good, if I assume that we should have clean replacement/substitute of crude oil by now looking at challenges facing the world. We need to innovate to find solutions to crude oil and means of cleaning the environment.
Radical thinking is discouraged in certain cultures and why business act in the traditional sense, it is what is just acceptable.
I enjoyed reading the article.
- Posted by Hamadzashe Mudavose
July 26, 2008 4:51 AM