Getting Lost To Find New Opportunity :: 迷失中发现新机会

There is something to be said for wandering. Having no place to be, no end in sight, no final destination. Taking in the city you live with fresh eyes. Catching a glimpse of the old anew, spotting the minute, details that you had never noticed before on your daily walk to work.

Often wandering is frowned upon. I, by no means recommend a wandering mind in a meeting, or wandering into a dark alley at night, but the serenity and contemplative nature of being able to just let free of all your inhibitions and just go. It becomes about a journey of discovery, often enlightenment.

In A Field Guide To Getting Lost, author Rebecca Solnit explains "Losing things is about the familiar falling away, getting lost is about the unfamiliar appearing" she goes on to compare the city to "resemble a conscious mind, a network that can calculate, administrate, manufacture."  On a recent bout I found that in every tucked away corner of the city there was a true to life innovation. Small, incremental changes and adaptations of existing products to better suit the needs of its user.

A plastic bottle finagled into a funnel that dropped water from a leaking air conditioning unit into a sink, a plastic bag wrapped around a tree  to hang the coats of people dancing in the park. These do it yourself advancements are everywhere in Shanghai. Upon further reflection, I considered the teachings of Eric von Hippel and his concepts that end-users are responsible for a predominance of new innovations. That people's need to adapt to change and to create something that has purpose and meaning in their lives is the greatest aspect of human nature.

I considered the responsibilities we have as designers, researchers and educators to be truly innovative with the economic downturn upon us and I wondered does true innovation come from allowing yourself to get lost?

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生活中总有些闲逛的时候。没有要去的地方，没有要看的目标。用一双新鲜的眼睛重新发现你习以为常的城市生活。换一种角度观察旧的事物，描述出平日里每天上班途中没有注意到的事情。

通常闲晃不是件怎么受推崇的事情。我决不是建议在开会时开小差，或者是晚上晃悠进一个漆黑的小巷，我指的是可以忘却一切限制自由行走在所处的环境中时那种平静思考的状态。这种闲晃就可以成为一次探索之旅，而且通常充满启示。

在A Field Guide To Getting Lost一书中，作者Rebecca Solnit指出，“丢失东西使我们所熟悉的远去，而丢失自己使我们所不熟悉的开始显现。”她接着将城市比较为“好像一个有意识的思维，一个可以计算、管理、生产的网络”。而最近我也发现在城市每个被忽视的角落，都有着真实的日常创新每天在发生。对已有产品的细微的、循序渐进的改变或改造更好地满足着用户的需要。

将塑料水瓶用作把空调的漏水引入排水管的渠道，将塑料袋绑在树干上用作公园晨练人们放外套的架子。这些DIY的发明在上海随处可见。看到这些，我又想起了Eric von Hippel的课程和他所提出的一个概念，最终用户负责创新的普及。人们需要适应变化并创造出对其生活有目的和意义的东西，这是人类特性中最伟大的一点。

作为设计师、研究者和教育者，在经济衰退期做到真正的创新，是不容推辞的责任。我想是否这种真正的创新能够来自于允许你迷失自己重新发现新的机会呢？