Gratitude + Innovation
Celebrating Good People and Great Ideas
Summary
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
G.K. Chesterton
Happy Thanksgiving! As you know, I write a lot about community and innovation. They are the twin drivers of a thriving association.
The most important things are the simple things. As we near the holidays in the US, I want to say thank you. Thank you for engaging with new ideas, thank you for taking risks, and thank you for being open to change.
As frustrating as life can get, our best selves emerge when we’re open and challenged to do hard things. This is how we learn and this is how we make progress. It is also when we experience the greatest appreciation for our colleagues, friends, and families.
I lead the product community, a product development learning community designed specifically for associations. Let’s compare ideas and build something great.
Gratitude Encourages Openness
“Creativity requires us to pay attention.”
Joey Cofone
While we might not naturally link gratitude with innovation, I think they go hand-in-hand. In fact, by experiencing an essential tension – things that don’t typically go together, but help us see the world with clarity – our perspective changes and we become open to new ideas, new people, and better outcomes.
Innovation isn't about choosing between opposing forces; it’s about holding these forces in a dynamic, creative tension. These tensions make me grateful while nudging me toward an innovative mindset. They help me navigate the delicate balance required for doing hard things in high-impact, collaborative settings.
Patience and Impatience. This tension speaks to the rhythm of innovation. Patience allows for deep observation, reflection, and understanding. It's about creating space for insight to emerge, for patterns to reveal themselves. Yet, impatience drives the urgency to act, to transform insights into tangible progress. The most innovative teams master the art of lingering just long enough to gain profound understanding, then pivot swiftly and decisively to action and execution.
Order and Ideas. Here I highlight the critical balance between structure and creativity. Order provides the necessary scaffolding—processes, alignment, and coordination that prevent chaos. Ideas, by contrast, are the disruptive force that challenges existing frameworks. True innovation emerges when robust systems are flexible enough to accommodate and nurture radical thinking. It's about creating containers that can hold both predictability and unpredictability.
Stability and Growth. This tension addresses psychological safety in innovation. Stability represents the foundational sense of security that allows individuals to take risks. When people feel fundamentally safe—financially, emotionally, professionally—they're more likely to venture into uncertain territories. Growth, then, becomes an organic extension of that safety, a courageous exploration beyond known boundaries.
Staying Quiet and Speaking Up. This tension describes a leadership approach that balances humility with courage. A leader who stays quiet is one who listens, learns, and creates space for others. This same leader can speak up to challenge comfortable narratives, introduce uncomfortable truths, and drive meaningful transformation. It's about knowing when to build others up and when to be the voice of necessary disruption.
Innovation isn't about eliminating tension, but about cultivating the wisdom to navigate it skillfully. It's a holistic approach that recognizes human complexity and organizational reality. Essential tensions illustrate how seemingly contradictory states can be both complementary and generative.
Gratitude is a fundamental innovation practice. By slowing down, paying attention, and giving thanks, we create the conditions for breakthrough thinking. Gratitude isn't passive; it's an active practice of recognizing current realities while remaining open to radical re-imagination.
Our Most Important Synergy
“Raise your glass to the hard-working people.”
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
Salt of the Earth
Innovation attracts impatient people who believe the world can be a better place. Innovative people take risks and experience failure. Along the way, the best ones build relationships that can both recharge and enlighten. Gratitude is a key factor in innovation as it helps us be more creative, consider new perspectives, and work effectively across boundaries.
Encourages collaboration. Leaders who are grateful can help their teams feel valued and safe to share ideas by asking for help, being open to learning, and being comfortable with mistakes.
Enhances problem-solving. Gratitude can help people be more flexible in their thinking and consider multiple approaches to challenges.
Promotes creativity. Practicing gratitude can help people get out of their heads and focus on the present moment, which can lead to more creative thoughts.
Reduces fear. When people are grateful, they are less likely to be angry or fearful, which can help them take action and achieve their full potential.
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for reading!
I lead the product community; we are a learning community because we believe great relationships help us create the value our members want. Remember, product-led growth fuels connection. Join the product community and flip your destiny.
About the Author
James Young is founder and chief learning officer of the product community®. Jim is an engaging trainer and leading thinker in the worlds of associations, learning communities, and product development. Prior to starting the product community®, Jim served as Chief Learning Officer at both the American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of College and University Planning. Please contact me for a conversation: james@productcommunity.us