Innovation is a way of life...

When I was young I had come across a poster which stated, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.’ I heard Billy Ocean sing it and saw it being used as a line for television advertisement.

It was much later I realised that the line is actually attributed to Joseph P Kennedy father of the US President

John F Kennedy.

The words have great impact if you keep playing it in your head. In fact the line makes you look back on all those moments when the goings were tough. It is a collection of those moments that make you who you are.

Instead of pushing those tough moments we must celebrate them as it will remind us of our inner strength. Those moments when we could have given up but our conscience would not permit because there was a stronger voice in you which said — ‘try’.

Failures are temptations to give up but others might call us foolish if we do not quit at the right time. What is needed probably is a variety of plans instead of repeating the same method over

and over again.

Quite often when the economy toughens up there are some who continues to sustain. What is that allows them to survive when others are making plans to quit. Is diversification the only solution?

Do you have to be a businessperson to answer it? Not really, there are many times we are practicing innovation. We do not want to be the same person you were five years ago. We need to continuously evolve and if you think you are on an autopilot think again about how many times you have felt an uneasiness at the back of your mind and felt that you are not doing enough.

Children are innovative naturally. Where did we lose that instinct? The answer is very simple when we became conscious of other people and preferred to just be one amongst many. We feel it is easier to merge with the background at times. Yes, it brings less attention. But is it not fulfilling to emote your thoughts and make it happen by taking actions.

It is so easy to stand back and comment on others but it is so much more fun to execute your own ideas. That is why entrepreneurs have such good time. It is not always that your ideas could be accepted after all when a film is made it is usually the director who decides how the plot is portrayed. But from cinematographer to the actor to the light technician everyone at the set are all in their best of elements. There are teachers who, even after their long day exposed to heavy dose of chattering of their students, have the ability to stay calm and think of innovative ways to present their

subjects to the brood.

Eventually it boils down to passion. When one is smitten with passion toward the profession no obstacle can be challenging enough to make them give up. And just in case you are beginning to notice the nitty-gritty details that bring you down which you had not noticed earlier, it just means that you have begun to get bored. And why do we get bored? We have begun to stagnate. That is sign for one to stay alert and not fall into being redundant. Instead of stagnating it is time to indulge in an expanded session of self-discovery and you are back into being innovative.

In other words when the going gets tough it is an opportunity to get innovative. As the economy tightens up it would be an eye opener to step back and take a panoramic view to see the innovation taking place. The best will not just survive but thrive. It is all the best time to learn no matter how tough – this will pass too.

As the Sultanate celebrates Women’s Day on October 17, we get to see how women have taken various career paths. While many excel some individuals stand out and that is for their innovative outlook on life.

Happy Women’s Day Oman!