Innovation is about seeing things differently. We often get stuck seeing things only one way because of years of experience of doing it the same way.
And because of that, we don’t consider… there’s got to be another way! (Spoiler alert: there’s ALWAYS another way).
Having an innovation mindset saved Valentine’s Day for me since I’m currently in Atlanta for clients and my wife is home in Toronto.
Yesterday, my wife and I were talking on FaceTime and she told me this was the first Valentine's Day Dinner we'd be missing since we've been together for over 17 years. That really bummed me out.
In the morning, I told a friend of mine that my wife and I were going to do a makeup Valentine's Day dinner another time since we weren't physically together.
In my mind, Valentine's Day dinner could only be done one way... in person. That's the way it's been for the past 17 years!
But after she shared that thought with me, I thought... there's got to be another way. And then it dawned on me - I was literally looking at the solution as I was talking to her - FaceTime! We could do a virtual dinner date!
I got excited. I told her, "Hey! I've got an idea! I'm going to go grab dinner and when I get back to my hotel, I'll call you and we'll eat dinner together, virtually!"
I was really stoked, giddy actually. The thought of not missing Valentine's Day thrilled me because I felt so bad about being away for Valentine's Day this year.
And so when I got back to my hotel with dinner, my wife heated up her food and we did Valentine's Day dinner, virtually. We each put our phone on the table and ate together and conversed... just like we would have in real life.
She could see me and my food, I could see her and her food. It was lovely. I truly enjoyed our time together, celebrating Valentine's Day, virtually.
When's the last time you were stuck on something and thought there wasn't a way forward? Maybe you've said "no" too soon and all you need to do is to look at the situation differently. The answer might be right in front of you.
Remember, there's always other ways to solve problems. Always. With an innovation mindset, anything is possible.
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