How parents can raise children to become innovators?

Clayton Christensen explains the reasons why some people are more innovative and creative than others. Research shows that the experiences we are exposed to while growing up are key to defining how creative we become.

One of these key experiences is growing up in a household where parents are more inclined to fix broken things themselves. This results in the awakening of two key personality traits:

• Curiosity. When things are broken, you take them apart, understand how they work, and you figure out how to fix them. This develops analytical and problem solving capabilities in the kid's mind.
• Confidence. Seeing parents solve over and over the little things the stop working at home give kids the confidence that, over time and after trying and trying repeatedly, things can be fixed and improved.

Innovation follows the same patterns: it takes both the skills to understand and solve a problem as well as the confidence to persevere until a solution is found. 

This example clearly illustrates the role of personality itself, not just accumulation of knowledge. In order to bringing cool ideas to life you have to both have the right knowledge intelligence and the spirit to accomplish it. 

Parents of the world, start breaking things at home and pull your kids to watch you see how you fix it.

photo credit: Tim McPherson