Ch. 7 & 8
Connection: The quote, "Indeed, one might say an innovation is successful, it redefines the landscape in which it has emerged, assuring that its immediate success is short-lived even as the foundation has been laid to take on new challenges" stood out to me in our reading (Pg. 205). This quote reminded me of the process of getting an education. High-school students always have their eyes fixed on one goal: graduation. Every class a high schooler takes brings them a little closer to graduation, and eventually, the goal is met and graduation arrives. Success has been reached, at least until the following August, when the educational process starts over again as one enters into college. High school becomes a memory with only a diploma to represent it. I went into college with a similar mindset from high school: get the credits, graduate, receive a degree. But now I am beginning to see that success is not a fixed location. Once I graduate college, I will move on to graduate school. Once I finish grad school, I will start my career. Once I achieve one goal, a new one will always arise. There will be no one point in time in which I can deem myself "successful." Just like the social innovators in the book, I'm beginning to learn to focus on the process of receiving an education, rather than on the end result. I'm learning to focus on how these years in college can help me fulfill my purpose, rather than constantly be waiting for the moment I receive some sort of esteemed degree.
Question: How can the lessons in this book apply to people who do not feel currently called to start some grand social innovation? How can the lessons in this book apply to students, people with regular careers, and people who don't feel called to start their own nonprofit? (not from a specific page, just a reflective question from the reading as a whole)