In the race for influence and audience attention sometimes we forget to take time for disconnected tranquility. Such was the case with a recent visit to a local Barnes and Noble, an ideal location for inspiration, critical thinking, and self exploration. After all, it's good to know thyself!

A recent article from strategy + business caught my attention and is based on the idea of How to Make a Region Innovative. With today's talk of innovation, creativity, cause, impact, and progress across industry, the time to talk about real fundamental building blocks of creating real genius and thriving environments is now.

The following are a collection of tidbits from the outstanding article that are sure to prove vital for those interested in building a thriving community and one in which ideation breeds innovation, technology fuels growth, collaboration adds to creativity, and regions are changed.

Clusters can be vitally important to a country’s innovation and prosperity, but when they are misunderstood, they do not realize their potential.

To generate one groundbreaking technological development after another, innovation must be embedded within long-lived social institutions and networks.

Four different sectors must be linked together: government, business, civil society (not-for-profit organizations), and academia.

This is called the quad.

In most communities, this quad alignment can be deliberately developed if leaders put three measures into effect. First, they should construct cross-sector networks that are richer, more diverse, and more deliberately structured than those of the past.

Think synergy.

We now know how to accelerate the process by drawing on the collective efforts of leaders in all four sectors of the quad.

Second, these leaders should continually reform the way their organizations are managed — creating a climate that fosters innovation, and adjusting the incentives and organizational structures to reward creativity and collaboration.

Reinforcement breeds solutions.

Third, leaders should invest in talented, innovative individuals, attracting, retaining, and empowering the right mix of people who can foster serial innovation.

Always hire people better then yourself.

To build a thriving community requires the collaborative efforts of several entities. Here's where it gets really interesting and should capture the attention of most visitors to this blog. Business.

Businesses provide the cluster with its economic engine. Because they will close down if they fail to innovate successfully, they take the many risks that innovation entails. The private sector furnishes a large part of the capital needed to fund strategic innovation. 

What does this mean for business? Does this confirm the work and efforts of your organization? Where can we add value to this equation of building an innovative region? 

The answers are inspiring and thought provoking helping to shed some light on the power of people, press, process, and product the four fundamentals of creativity.

To be original or not to be…that is the question. In the world of new media communication...content is king. The value of quality information cannot be overstated in an arena where audiences are seeking insightful, novel, and useful material.

The blogosphere and world of new media in general is inundated with mediocrity in terms of game-changing and original content that resides on the cusp of innovation. This type of thinking is validated when we consider the fact that many of today’s leading curators pull material from the same well.

We can talk about the concepts of tribes, social graphs, and our sphere of influence but the real excitement comes from those moments in time where we discover the potential of building our own well and content silos.

The paradox of originality exists because we fail to recognize the value of noise reduction. Sharing information from the same well or visiting similar silos magnifies the noise that exists in the digital space.

Original content isn’t only king…it dominates.

The subject of creativity is a highly debated and studied topic of interest and for good reason.

An effort to define and understand the concept of creativity can be quite valuable as we embark on the path to becoming students* of innovation and pioneers of positive advancement.

*We are all students despite how much we think we know and understand. To not be on a lifelong journey of learning is counterproductive.

Creativity = A popular formula for innovation and advancement.

Let’s breakdown this formula and consider one of the key components of creativity.

Knowledge | the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (Merriam Webster).

The key word here is “experience”.

We can grow in knowledge simply by experience. When we read a blog post, listen to a podcast, or read a book…we learn and add to our collection of experiences.

This gives me powerful confidence in knowing that if I build my experience by learning new ideas that I can increase my capacity for creativity.

The old adage holds true…Knowledge is power!