The Outsider Gaze: Catalyst for Creative Breakthroughs

The outsider gaze unlocks innovation and creativity through fresh perspectives.

Greetings, curious minds! Welcome to the next chapter of Code Uncovered, your journey into decoding the world's intricate layers of meaning. On this Cuesday, we dive into a concept that sparks creativity, fosters innovation, and unveils new horizons: the outsider gaze*.

In a world driven by specialisation, a treasure trove of creativity lies in the realm of outsiders. These individuals from different cultures, disciplines, or industries offer a unique vantage point that can catalyse groundbreaking discoveries.

Seeing beyond specialisation

Our modern world thrives on specialisation, but innovation doesn't adhere to silos. Think about it: Did a pioneer of skincare invent Vaseline? Was there a waste management expert behind pivoting waste into raw materials? The outsider gaze is a testament to the power of diverse perspectives in birthing novel ideas.

Transcending boundaries

Historically, nomads, migrants, exiles and expats have fuelled innovation by carrying ideas across cultures. Coffee, compass, and paper—today's basic necessities we take for granted—originated from cross-cultural interactions. We live in an era where intercultural and interdisciplinary approaches are valuable and essential. Yet, we still perceive outsiders as potential disturbances to the business as usual or our comfort zone.

In the last few years, the business world discovered the potential of refugees as entrepreneurs and innovators, and more institutions are investing in helping refugees become entrepreneurs in their new home countries.

And they are not wrong. Historically immigrants and refugees have been the more significant chunk of innovation and economic growth in almost all countries, including the USA, UK and many other Western countries. 

Immigrant entrepreneurs

• The Immigrant Founders of the Fortune 500 report by The Center for American Entrepreneurship shows that 43% of Fortune 500 companies worldwide were "founded or co-founded by an immigrant or the child of an immigrant." In addition, 52% of the Top 25 companies and 57% of the Top 35 companies on the same list were founded by first- or second-generation immigrants.

• "Migrant-founded companies employ 1.16 million people out of a total of 8.3 million people" in the UK, according to a 2014 report by Centre for Entrepreneurs and DueDil titled, Migrant Entrepreneurs: Building Our Businesses Creating Our Jobs. And that number has likely gone up since.

• Read the rest of the immigrant entrepreneurship article here.

The new report from The Entrepreneurs Network was published today as we prepared this newsletter. If you would like to see how these numbers changed since then, take a look at the report here.

Lessons from visionary outsiders

As I have stated before, the outsider gaze does not only come from outsiders of a country or culture. It could be directed from a discipline, industry, or field of knowledge or expertise.

• The Wright Brothers, bicycle mechanics by trade, revolutionised aviation with their outsider gaze. Their innovative three-axis control system, rooted in their unconventional background, led to the world's first successful powered flight, transforming transportation and shaping modern aviation.

• Red Bull's global reign began with an Austrian entrepreneur's outsider gaze on a local Thai product. 

• A Silicon Valley migrant founded a healthcare giant, Carbon Health, after experiencing gaps in the system firsthand. 

• The McDonald brothers created the fast food industry by applying their outsider lens to the assembly line in factory production. 

• And Wise, a fintech unicorn from the UK, emerged from immigrants' challenges in sending money across borders.

"Outsiders often bring fresh perspectives and unconventional ideas that can challenge the status quo, ignite innovation, and lead to breakthroughs."

Jane Doe, Innovation Strategist

Embracing the benefits

The outsider gaze reshapes paradigms, preventing blind spots and redefining strategies. It unleashes fresh perspectives that uncover hidden potential and reimagines business models. Don't overlook the power of a gaze that transcends boundaries—it could be the spark your venture needs.

Incorporating the outsider gaze is essential for your business to thrive. 

• It brings many benefits, including fresh perspectives that enable you to discover innovative value propositions, business models, brand positioning, and marketing strategies that challenge conventional thinking. 

• If you stick to dominant business practices, you risk operational blindness, implicit bias, and marketing myopia, which hinder progress rather than promote it. 

• The outsider gaze has been a catalyst for creativity and innovation for centuries and is a valuable tool for achieving business creativity and innovation today.

Looking forward

Just as Code Uncovered deciphers layers of meaning, the outsider gaze delves into layers of innovation. Next time, we will explore how language unveils reality's hidden codes. Until then, ponder this: Are you ready to embrace the outsider gaze and revolutionise your world?

Stay curious,

Serdar Paktin

*The outsider gaze: The perspective brought by outsiders, not just in terms of culture but also in fields, industries, or disciplines. Their fresh perspective offers a unique vantage point to foster innovation and creativity.