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August 15, 2024

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"Did you smell that?"👃🏻

Every morning, I walked by that home and never noticed it. I've walked by that home hundreds of times, but there one particular reason why I stopped that day. 🛑

My wife. 👩🏻‍💼

It was a windy day and she was walking with me. "Did you smell that?"

"Smell, what?" I replied.

"Lavender!" She exclaimed.

"Lavender?? Where?" I asked.

She then said, "There's a lavender bush right there."

I turned around and there it was, a HUGE lavender bush.

👀 I approached and examined it closely... got my nose really close to the lavender and gave it a good whiff. I love lavender. It's a beautiful fragrance. 

I stood there stunned. How did I not see or smell this before? 🤯

I've walked by that lavender bush hundreds of time and it never caught my attention.

So, what's the big deal about this and why am I sharing it with you? 💡 

There's three important lessons about innovation we can draw from this:

➡️ #1 Collaboration drives innovation. 👊🏻

I stopped and smelt the lavender because my wife asked me, "did you smell that?" I walked by that lavender bush hundreds of times and never noticed it. My wife recognized it right away.

If you want to become more innovative, collaborate with others. Invite others into your work that have different experiences than you. People give us new perspectives and help us see opportunities we wouldn't on our own. They also help us reach outcomes we would never get to on our own.

It's why we say "I've never thought about it that way before..." or "I've never seen it like that before!"

I often share that I love getting my wife to give me feedback on my innovation work. She works in HR. I'm an innovation and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® guy. She's realistic. I'm idealistic. She's systematic, I'm not. We are very cognitively different. She gives me insights and perspectives I normally wouldn't consider. It's what helps me innovate. 💫

💡Consider this: How can you collaborate more on your work? Who will you collaborate with?

Collaboration doesn't have to just be on the big projects. It can be on the everyday work too. We often miss collaboration opportunities if we think it's just for the big things. The everyday are golden opportunities to invite collaborators! 🙌🏻

➡️ #2 If you want to innovate, make time to innovate. 🕝

Innovation takes time. It takes time to disrupt the status quo. It takes time to change the present. It takes time to create a new future. It takes time to see things differently.

There's countless innovation opportunities in front of you RIGHT NOW that you could be missing... and unless you take time to stop and see it, it'll pass right by - just like the lavender bush for me. Make time and pay attention. Metaphorically speaking, stop and smell the lavender bush, like I did!

💡Consider this: How can you create an intentional pause in your daily rhythms in order to innovate? 

Put innovation time ON your calendar. Make it part of your routine. Change one of your lunch breaks to an innovation break. 

➡️ #3 Make time for observation. 👀

As I stood at the lavender bush, I looked at the fine detail of it. I saw bumblebees flying around. I smelt the beautiful fragrance of lavender. Then, my wife and I conversed about the possibility of planting lavender in our home. Wouldn't it be nice if we had this lovely fragrance in our home?

Observation is a key activity of innovators. Innovators notice details. They see things others don't. They get in close and examine. Observation unlocks possibilities. 🔓

💡Consider this: How will you incorporate observation into your work?

Observation will lead to new insights. It'll help you see pain points and opportunities ripe for innovation.

It's time you stopped and smelt the lavender in your work. 

How will you adopt these three important innovation lessons? Comment and let me know. ✍🏻

If you enjoyed this article, please repost it to your network ♻️.

P.S. Learn how you can become a confident innovator with my innovation training curriculum: https://aboundinnovation.ca/build-innovation-capabilities/ 💫

About the Author

Leo is a people and heart-first entrepreneur who believes everyone can be an innovator. An innovator himself, with 55 US patents and over 20 years of experience, Leo has come alongside organizations like Chick-fil-A and guided them to unleash the innovative potential of their employees by transforming them into confident innovators.

Leo’s friendly, joyful and enthusiastic demeanour makes the journey to innovation exciting and attainable. Leo’s also a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® trainer & facilitator who believes unlocking innovation takes new approaches.

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