Aghhh, the beauty of contemplating calm waters: you can see far and wide, you can see deep inside… You can also see images reflected on top of smooth water– although they are just a rendition of reality… Yet, the water only catches on fire on the crests of ripples and waves!It was while being out rowing when I got the realization: the collision of water waves and light waves was necessary to obtain the mesmerizing effect of jumping sparkles. Crests form as a result of the phenomenon know in physics as “constructive interference”, when the amplitudes of two or more different water waves are adding up. Add the interference with the light waves and you can now observe the miracle of a sparkle!
This beautiful visual illustration of the phenomenon made me realize that sparkles only occur when distinctive waves interact constructively. The stunning visual cue also helped me crystallize the thoughts I have had about life and work circumstances that reproduce the “constructive interference” effect. This phenomenon I believe is a key driver for innovation. It was then and there when I also decided this should be the title of my blog about innovation.
While it seems that we are constantly on a quest for consensus and we generally avoid direct disagreement, throughout my life and career I have observed and appreciated many times the positive effect created by the mixing of between different opinions and schools of thought. While mixing people and activites, sometimes created "ruffles", it always resulted in something fresh and valuable. As a fitting example, my outdoor physical activity, allowing me to marvel at the beauty of nature, engendered thought clarity and the focus I had not achieved earlier while apparently fully engaged in a mental activity (sitting in front of my coputer). I might have exercised harder if I had been solely concentrating on rowing, but I felt more exhilariated gaining my insights in the same time. Once again my rowing it’s not all play, it is also my high quality thinking time as well…
While it seems that we are constantly on a quest for consensus and we generally avoid direct disagreement, throughout my life and career I have observed and appreciated many times the positive effect created by the mixing of between different opinions and schools of thought. While mixing people and activites, sometimes created "ruffles", it always resulted in something fresh and valuable. As a fitting example, my outdoor physical activity, allowing me to marvel at the beauty of nature, engendered thought clarity and the focus I had not achieved earlier while apparently fully engaged in a mental activity (sitting in front of my coputer). I might have exercised harder if I had been solely concentrating on rowing, but I felt more exhilariated gaining my insights in the same time. Once again my rowing it’s not all play, it is also my high quality thinking time as well…
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