Innovation

This morning at the office, we had our monthly communication meeting. Usually the primary messages encompassed in the PowerPoint slides are all about EBIT, making the numbers and other financial gobbledy gook that makes my eyes start to glaze over.

However, while there was some of that today, a pleasant surprise in the presentation included a short discussion on innovation.

Innovation is a new way of doing something or "new stuff that is made useful."

The gentleman leading the talk gave two examples of innovation. The first, about an employee of Johnson & Johnson who invented a product that failed miserably, but when he thought he would be fired, instead he was asked by senior management to make some tweaks to the original formula. The next attempt was very successful. The second person he mentioned was the entertainer Chris Rock. Apparently Rock goes to comedy clubs to try out his new material. And many of these jokes really bomb. But he keeps trying and eventually, he has some great material.

The true takeaway from all of this was, how can we be more innovative in our daily lives? What ideas can we try to make a reality even if they are looked upon with disdain or trepidation?

So now I pose that question to all of you. What have you done lately that was innovative? Or what can you do tonight, tomorrow, this week or even this year that is innovative, original, and really outside of your comfort zone?

You never know, you might change something or someone in a brand new way.