SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft launches on the mission to the ... [+] International Space Station.

How to overcome common obstacles to innovation

On August 2, SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico, ending a historic two-month mission that demonstrated that a relatively small private company could successfully take people to space and back. As CNN reported, this mission has paved the way for the United States to once again become a world leader in human spaceflight.

Yet, SpaceXs success was anything but preordained. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, who wanted to make affordable spaceflight a reality. Despite these grand ambitions, most experts doubted the company would ever be successful. According to The Washington Post, one industry veteran dismissed SpaceX as a long shot by saying, you know their rockets are put together with rubber bands and sealing wax. Its not real. It wont fly.

Congress was also skeptical as some members wondered why NASA would bother awarding contracts to two companies to build capsules to fly astronauts to the International Space Station under NASAs Commercial Crew Program. Just let Boeing do it.

Even Elon Musk himself had doubts about SpaceX and initially gave the company a 10 percent chance at succeeding. Yet, this prognostication never stopped him from trying to create a better future. When he was recently asked about those that doubted the company, he said their probability assessment was correct. Fortunately, fate smiled upon us and brought us to this day.

The lesson from this: If you want to innovate, focus your energy on doing what others say cant be done because that is where the best opportunities lie.

Impossible is relative

Innovation can be described as the pursuit of the impossible, but who decides what is and isnt possible? The story of SpaceX underscores the idea that everything seems impossible until somebody proves otherwise.Impossible is a static perception of the current situation when, in reality, we live in a dynamic world - one continually being redefined by innovation.

The story also demonstrates that this limited view is often reinforced by so-called experts, who use their specialized knowledge to make judgments on what is and isnt possible. Come to find out, experts have a pretty bad track record on imagining the future. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the bestselling author of The Black Swan, said that the problem with experts is that they do not know what they do not know.

SpaceX is just one of many examples where the experts were wrong. For instance, it was once believed that it would be impossible for humans ever to fly. In 1902, physicist and the Director of the US Naval Observatory, Simon Newcomb, said, flight by machines heavier than air is impractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible. Yet, only a year later, in December 1903, the Wright Brothers took off from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in what would become the first-ever successful heavier than air flight.

And again, in 1949, John Von Neumann, who was widely regarded as the foremost mathematician of his time and himself a computer scientist, was quoted as saying, it would appear that we have reached the limits of what is possible to achieve with computer technology. To his credit, he was aware that peoples understanding of what is possible is relative, and went on to say,although one should be careful with such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in five years.

These examples reinforce the point that what seems impossible today is relative, and you cant allow it to limit your vision of the future; otherwise, you are likely to find yourself looking back at the missed opportunities for innovation along the way.

Nelson Mandela may have summed it up best when he said: It always seems impossible until its done.

When pursuing what has never been done before, you will likely encounter many perceived limitations that get in your way but you cant stop. So here are some strategies you can use to overcome these common obstacles.

Scientific or Logical Limitations

During my time at Cree, we were often told that what we were trying to do would never work. Early only, a prominent LED scientist said to me that the material system Cree was developing could never make a reliable LED. He noted that the physics simply wouldnt work. Fortunately, the scientists at Cree didnt listen to the experts. And they eventually proved them wrong by developing a blue LED that would not only disrupt the LED business but transform the lighting industry as well.

It is crucial to keep in mind that science is always evolving. And if you go into any problem with the belief that it cant be solved, then it will likely become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This idea is captured in the French proverb that says, to believe a thing impossible is to make it so.

So, next time someone tells you that you cant do something because its scientifically impossible, just remember thats only true if you choose to believe it is.

Human Behavioral Limitations

When working on a new product or disruptive idea, it is common to be told by more experienced industry veterans that nobody will want your new thing they will claim that people are happy with what they have today.

Human behavior is indeed hard to change because most people find comfort in the way things are todaypsychologists how shown that most of us are wired to resist change.However, great innovators dont stop there; they go beyond peoples initial resistance and find a way to reset what they are comfortable with.

Consider that if you went back ten years and tried to convince someone that people would take out their phone, push a button, and a stranger in a car would pick them up at their current location and drop them off without ever exchanging cash, you would likely be laughed out of the room. Most people would be adamant that this situation would be not only impossible, but also undesirable.

Yet, this is now what is happening all across the world where more than 14 million Uber trips happen each day. It has become our new normal.

So when someone tells you that nobody would ever want to do that recognize that it is your opportunity to show them and the customer that there is actually a better way.

Self-Imposed Limitations

How many times have you said to yourself, I could never do that!

In my experience, it is quite common for people to react to new challenges with thoughts about whats not possible.Whether this self-doubt comes purely from our personal concerns or is fueled by others, you have to overcome this limitation if you are going to innovate.

The key to doing this is to reframe how you think about yourself. Simply put, you have to believe in you. Glenn Reid, the founder of Marathon Machines and creator of iMovie and iPhoto, described his journey this way: Early on, I kind of realized, whatever my life is, Im going to decide it. And its up to me to do something.

If you want to innovate, dont allow self-doubt to get in your way.Instead, take responsibility for what you choose to believe and recognize that anything is possible if you set your mind to it and are willing to work hard enough to make it happen.

So the next time someone says something is impossible, recognize that the best ideas often come from what others say cant be done, and take it as a signal that its probably the next thing you should pursue.

Read more:
Why You Should Do What Others Say Cant Be Done - Forbes