Why is it that once you find your keys, you stop looking? Because you have already found them. In a busy fury to get stuff done, most people make daily choices to do things the way they are always done. We stop looking for a better way.
Worse we often get into a pattern of putting out fires and reacting to problems. Trouble is, if all we do is focus on diminishing the bad we don't aim for more than this.
The cult of the average taught by society is to follow the norm. We look for the trend and try to get people to fit into that norm. This misguided approach looks at averages and taylors workplaces and classrooms to that average.
Averages are an easy way to assess performance but they box you in to mediocrity.
As a humorous motivational speaker I like to get leaders to spend more time every day looking for ways to be innovative and do things differently.
Keys to be innovative...
Keep Learning. Keep searching for new and better ways to do things. If you feel stuck, the best thing to do is learn from others.
Question everything. Daily routines are efficient; however if you don't question these routines you may find you're not doing the most efficient or effective routine. Don't accept things the way they are.
Ask for Feedback. Some of the best ideas come from others. Better yet, they often evolve from a customers experience that went wrong. Often simple changes can boost better results. Telling people things they already know is boring. Asking for what people want to hear will offer a unique perspective.
Take Risks. Many years ago I was asked to be a humorous motivational speaker for a group of 1,000 CEO's. I accepted the motivational speaking engagement knowing it was a bit of a risk. I had never presented for this type or size of audience before. With a lot of preparation and audience research, the motivational speech was successful. Years later, I see how this risk got me alot of gigs as a humorous motivational speaker and helped me approach more diverse audiences.
Have fun. When people play, laugh and have fun, we are more open new ideas. Laughter puts you in a better mind set to solve problems and think outside the box. The endorphins released from laugher also set you up to think positively.
Keynote speaker Frans Johansson in his motivational speech to the Human Resources Professionals Association suggested the following keys to be Innovative..
1) Create unexpected connections.
All idea are combinations of existing ones and not all combinations are created equally. Explore unusual connections to find ones that stand out
2) Place more bets.
The people who really change the world try far more ideas- eventually one of them will succeed.
3) Execute fast and small steps.
Use the smallest executable step to test the market
4) Pay attention to surprise.
Because people are not good at predicting what will work, we have to put it out there and see where people surprisingly pay attention.
5) Do something, anything and put it out there.
The keynote speaker pointed the discussion towards the drug industry. In the 1990's, Pfizer developed a heart drug that was not successful but it was driving some demand. This unexpected sideline success was hinged on the fact that it did seem to help some men to "rise to occasion". They repackaged it and created Viagra, the worlds number one selling prescription drug.
