There is something about envy in the dynamic of intimate innovation – as there is in any relationship. The absence of something good can be experienced as the presence of something bad; the absence of something bad is experienced as the presence of something good. This tendency has tell tale signs – the things we get snagged on – caught by, that tip us into a loop, where we repeat ourselves in unhelpful ways. Envy ensures that I remain stuck in the kind of relating I am already in – we can therefore conjecture that envy is a form of intimate relating that prevents innovation. it leads to disconnection on both sides – both you and I feel crap.
What forms might it take? I was envious of…
- your originality …..
- the fact you had a new idea….
- the experience of how you connected things up….
- the sense that you were more attuned than I could be….to the context, to possibility, to me…and therefore to us…
The ‘ahha’ moment could be a stimulus to envy – and maybe virtual connectedness facilitated by technology reduces the risk that this will be so.
Slingshot