"Limerence is a term from the psychology of romantic obsession, the psychopathology of loving too much-intrusive thoughts, emotional dependency, and an unbearable hunger for reciprocation. In romance, the fixation is a person. In innovation, the fixation is on an idea. And the parallels are uncanny. Innovation limerence starts with a spark. Then the spark becomes destiny. The founder becomes fused to the imagined success of the idea."
"You can imagine the contours of obsessive-compulsive fixation in the way the mind behaves. The idea loops endlessly in the mind, replaying itself in a kind of private mental churn. This is a form of forward rumination, and your mood lifts or crashes with every tiny signal of progress or setback. You find yourself craving reassurance, as if someone else's approval could stabilize the uncertainty inside. Then comes the drift into a fantasy future where everything aligns perfectly... but this is all to soothe anxiety."
Limerence is a psychological state of romantic obsession characterized by intrusive thoughts, emotional dependency, and hunger for reciprocation. In innovation, limerence transfers to fixation on an idea, not a person. A spark becomes destiny as founders fuse their identity to imagined success, producing a reality-distortion field that dismisses market data and customer feedback. The idea loops obsessively, producing forward rumination and mood swings tied to progress signals. Craving reassurance and drifting into fantasies soothes anxiety. When reality resists, mood collapses and the idea becomes a refuge, not a project. The fixation dissolves when the founder stops using the idea as a mirror.
Read at Psychology Today
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