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(c) Jessica Hagy, 2011

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First one with a press release wins the fellowship! But this isn’t news, this competitive marketplace of ideas. A hundred years ago, we have the sad case of Nicola Tesla entwined with the epic success story of Thomas Edison.

Tesla was brilliant and innovative in a way very few men have ever been or ever will be. Then Edison started doing shocking things like electrocuting elephants (how horrible: both that pun and the elephant murder) to show how dangerous Tesla’s flavor of electricity (alternating current) was. Tesla died alone in a dingy hotel room, with not a penny to his name. Edison died with over 1000 patents to his.

This quote is a good reminder that an idea not shared is just an idea that someone else will take credit for. Great minds often think alike, unfortunately.

(c) Jessica Hagy, 2011

According to the theory of creative destruction, one company feeds on the corpse of another, and then once it has outlived its usefulness, the organization dies and provides the nutrients for the next generation of companies to feed upon. One a macro level, that sounds pretty good: healthy and natural. But look at the process from a human perspective, and you’ll see some grisly cannibalism.

The recent destruction of so many careers (or more honestly, so many jobs) left people hungry for something else and clawing for replacement roles. Hopefully better, smarter—more meaningful. A function less habitual and more magical.

So many of us (employed or not) are yearning for a new source of economic nutrition, because the creative destructiveness all around us is turning out to be pretty disgusting. We’re not so willing to be financial cannibals anymore. We want something healthier, tastier, and less morally repugnant.

Now is our chance to figure out what that could be.

(c) Jessica Hagy, 2011