a little out of sync with my buddies, but that was okay. I was doing what I loved.
Sometimes innovators come across as arrogant, stubborn, or unreasonable. I’m sorry to say that I probably did, too, while working as an astronaut. Think of people such as Elon Musk, the driving force behind SpaceX, the company upon whom America is currently relying to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Or think of Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon.​com, or Steve Jobs, the whiz behind Apple’s success. As young men, they were out of sync with many of their peers; they saw things differently, wanted to do things differently. They refused to simply accept the “usual” way. Rather than seeing the world with a “that’s just the way things are” attitude, they developed an intense, indefatigable desire to improve the world by radically changing the way things could be done. We relish their successes today, acknowledging that these innovators and others like them have changed our world to fit their vision of how life can be better.
Average people tend to think about merely maintaining the status quo; unsuccessful people think about simply surviving. Innovators and explorers think about what might be possible.
PARENTS AND EDUCATORS OFTEN ASK me, “Buzz, how can we help foster the sort of innovation that took you to the Moon?”
First and foremost, it is important to understand that whether by nature or nurture, innovators approach the world differently. Keeping that in mind might help you to regard your boss with greater respect, or your artist friend, or the kid who wants to sit around playing his guitar all day long. Certainly, some people are born with innovation in their veins. I think I was. My father loved flying and exposed me to the possibilities of flight early in my life, but something inside me responded far beyond what my father might have imagined.
I also think that innovation can be encouraged when parents and educators understand that innovators often do not fit “the norm.” Innovators whose minds are open tend to have personality traits that others might regard as quirky or sometimes even “weird.” They are dreamers, and I am definitely one of them, so I know that innovators are rarely content merely to dream. They won’t stop there—especially if they receive some encouragement. They will become doers; they will make things happen. Innovators are usually much more self-confident than their peers; they are inner directed and willing to march to the beat of their own drums. But it sure helps having someone lay a hand on a shoulder or look the innovator in the eye and say, “I believe in you; you can do it.”
Often innovators are courageous and resilient, sometimes because they have had to develop such qualities in the face of adversity or opposition to their ideas. Almost always, they are risktakers, willing to try something new.
So understanding that the innovator’s personality causes him or her to be out of sync with others is tremendously important, especially when it comes to encouraging exploration of new concepts or new ways of doing things.
Second, it is important to understand that innovation usually takes time. Great ideas rarely move from the mind to the Moon, or to the marketplace, overnight. They need time to percolate, to improve, to develop. At NASA, we were constantly working to make improvements on our spacecraft, as well as ourselves, as we pursued our goals. Innovators need a place to do that, and in most cases, nowadays, great innovation necessitates somebody providing a physical place and the financial resources that allow creativity to thrive. Personally, I love living at the beach; the environment itself helps stimulate my thinking. For me, dull, drab, gray walls are not normally conducive to my creativity. But whatever your preferences, recognize that your physical space will be an important component in stifling or fostering your creative juices. Even if you live in a small, one-room apartment, create a space around you where creativity can thrive.
Innovators must be encouraged to experiment with new ideas, new ways of doing things. Rather than being punished for mistakes or failures, they should be applauded for attempting to go where human beings have never gone before. That means innovators must be given the freedom to challenge the status quo. Certainly, this requires a great deal of patience and trust on the part of parents, educators, and CEOs, but as you look around our society, businesses as well as scientific cultures that encourage innovation are