When you look at great geniuses like Newton, for example, it can be easy to imagine that their ideas and work came exclusively out of their minds. But that is seldom how it works.Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Regardless of how unique a work seems, if you look a bit closer, you will always find that the creator mastered what other people had already figured out.

Innovation at work

We get to see further than our predecessors, not because we have a greater vision or greater height, but because we are lifted on their gigantic stature.There are giants in every field. Don't let them intimidate you. Take from anywhere that resonates with you and inspires or fuels your imagination. Build upon it and improve it. Doing this will make your work authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent.

Everyone gets a lift up

'Not invented here syndrome' is a term for situations when we avoid using ideas, products, or data created by someone else, and instead develop our own even if it is more expensive, time-consuming, and of lower quality.The syndrome can also show up as a reluctance to delegate work.Creating a new solution may be more exciting, but new solutions create new problems.<ul><li> </li></ul>

The "Not invented here" syndrome

Why can't people come up with their own ideas? Why do many people come up with great ideas but don't profit from it?Each new innovation or idea opens up the possibility of additional innovations and ideas. At first, there are limits, but those limits are continually expanding.

The adjacent possible

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it. They just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while; that’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

Technology, art, and other advances are only possible because someone else has laid the groundwork.Shakespeare could write plays because other people had developed the structures and language that became his tools.What new doors can you open, based on the work of the giants that came before you? What opportunities can you see that they couldn't?

Laying the groundwork

Much of Shakespeare's plays came from prior works.<ul><li>Hamlet took inspiration from Gesta Danorum, a twelfth-century work on Danish history by Saxo Grammaticus, consisting of sixteen Latin books.</li><li>Holinshed’s Chronicles likely inspired Macbeth and King Lear.</li><li>Parts of Antony and Cleopatra are copied verbatim from Plutarch’s Life of Mark Anthony.</li><li>Romeo and Juliet was built upon the 1562 poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet from Arthur Booke.</li></ul>He took these texts rather un-popular texts and turned them into works of literary art.

How Shakespeare got his ideas

Steve Jobs is often shown as a revolutionary figure who changed how we use technology. In reality, he stood on the shoulders of the many unseen engineers, students, and scientists who worked for decades to build the technology he improved upon.

Building on other inventions

Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Doers and thinkers from Shakespeare to Jobs, liberally “stole” inspiration from the doers and thinkers who came before. Here’s how to do it right.