Soul lies midway between understanding and unconsciousness, and its instrument is neither the mind nor the body, but the imagination.

—Thomas Moore
Author, Care of the Soul and related books.

I've been incredibly fortunate to have traveled extensively both nationally and internationally and have been inspired by what I've learned and seen. I always return to my cocoon in slack-jaw amazement at the glimpses of innovation that results from man's/woman's imagination and creativity. More than ever, I see vividly why ideas are the currency of the 21st century—enriching economies, deepening our understanding of the value of cities, and improving the human condition.

The power of ideas is widely appreciated. What is less understood is the necessary precondition to unlock that power: the ability to foster an innovative cultural environment in a practice, such as yours or mine, and in a professional association, such as the AIA. Yet such an environment must be present in a consistent and obvious way before we can hope to reach our potential as form-givers who literally shape the stage on which the human pageant plays.

While words such as creativity and innovation are used loosely and defined differently, there is a fairly broad consensus that if imagination is the vital impulse that is in every person from their first glimmering of awareness—the divine spark, if you will—then creativity is the expression of imagination, the "engine." Once that engine is engaged, the destination is innovation, which shapes nations, defines history, and advances civilization.

What fosters innovation?
An understanding of what imagination, creativity, and innovation are still does not answer the deeper question of what makes it all happen, what exactly fosters innovation? My own observations and experience tell me there are at least four essential traits that ultimately determine the degree of innovation:
• Timeliness of response to a perceived or expressed opportunity
• Perspective for looking at something in a manner that others haven't; perhaps more expansively than narrowly
• Risk taking and knowing how far differentiated something is from the norm while not exceeding what can be tolerated
• Will to go beyond the imagination and creativity; to have the requisite intelligence and political will.

Timeliness is of the essence
There may be other traits. However, these four are essential, perhaps none more critical then time and the rate of change. I am grateful our profession is not as subject to the radical pressures of other industries. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore what is happening around us. I'm struck when I learn that:
• 37 percent of 3M's revenues are from products less than four years old
• 77 percent of Hewlett Packard's revenues are from products less than two years old
• 88 percent of Macromedia's revenues are from products less than one year old.
• In 1990, U.S. companies took an average of 35.5 months to bring products to market; by 1995, new products were being introduced in 23 months; and by 2000, that number dropped to 11 months.
• Cars that took six years from conception to production in 1990 now take less than two years to produce.

The temptation is to ignore these statistics because they aren't about what we build, how we design, or the lifespan of our buildings. However, we do so at our peril. Shaped by this environment, our clients are placing an ever-increasing premium on imagination, creativity, and innovation. I'm not talking about novelty for the sake of novelty, but on the power of truly new ideas to advance design and construction—a power that is increasingly being asked to turn on a dime.

The courage to pursue "perhaps"
I've focused on timeliness, but similar examples of perspective, risk taking, and will can be drawn and related to the future of our profession as well as our ability to deliver on imagination, creativity, and innovation. When I stand back and look at my 34-year career, I wonder just how much we have changed as a profession. There have certainly been changes at the edges of "how we work" (the use of computers, for example), but have there been changes of similar significance in "what we do" that have substantively influenced society rather than our businesses?

Perhaps it's time to take a fresh look at architecture education and its ability to lead the future direction and contributions of practice.

Perhaps the article entitled "25 Ideas for a Changing World" in the August 19–26 issue of Business Week may inform us about the importance of imagination, creativity, and innovation.

Perhaps the AIA needs to grab Objective Seven (Governance) of our AIM Strategic Plan by the throat and redefine our operational model.

Heresy? Perhaps. Needed? Perhaps. But then, isn't the process of imagination, creativity, and innovation about the courage to pursue perhaps and what ifs?

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.