The Victorian era threw up some extraordinary characters, amongst them Charles Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carrol

Here was a man who is best known for a children’s story, one that has deep messages for adults together with the absorbing story for kids, but whose body of work includes hugely creative endeavors in  mathematics and photography, as well as writing in all its forms. 

Looking for something to use in a seminar on innovation a while ago, I stumbled across a wonderful quotation that encompasses the challenges many find when trying to build an innovation culture in their organisations, and it comes from one of Alice’s conversations with the cat.

 

“Can you tell me which way I ought to go from here” said Alice

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to” said the cat

” I don’t much care where” said Alice

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you walk” said the cat.

Seems to me to be a great explanation for the necessity of having a plan, with a worthwhile goal as the objective of a journey, and all innovation is after all, just a journey.