Little ideas lead to big innovations – It’s not about "thinking outside the box." It’s time to trash the box altogether, and never crawl back in.

Back at about 200 B.C., the great Carthaginian general Hannibal came up with a good definition for creativity: "We must either find a way or make a way."

Hannibal led thousands of infantry, cavalry and a few dozen elephants across the Pyrenees Mountains and on through the Alps. He really had to find a way.

By Harvey Mackay

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2004/04/18/business/bus03.txt

Sometimes it might feel like you are leading thousands of co-workers and large mammals over rough terrain, and that’s when your most innovative, creative ideas are essential. Unfortunately, it’s also the time when the creative juices seem to flow the slowest.

Being able to think on your feet is a huge asset for any employee or manager. When Mark Twain was asked to name the greatest of all inventors, he replied with one word: "Accident." I might add a few more: Necessity. Emergency. Keeping your company solvent.

I can’t teach you in a few short minutes how to think on your feet. I can tell you, however, that there are a couple of questions that might get you started thinking in a different way. Faced with a new challenge, ask what needs to ultimately be accomplished. Creating a new product? Re-marketing an old one? Selling a new account? Trying to retain a long-standing customer?

It’s not about "thinking outside the box." It’s time to trash the box altogether, and never crawl back in. A study by economist Burton Klein looked at 50 major innovations developed in the American economy over the latter part of the 20th century. None of those innovations came from a company that was an industry leader at the time. In fact, several came from unexpected places, such as the undertaker who invented the dial telephone.

The entrepreneur finds a need and fills it. The innovator anticipates or creates a need and fills it. Forget about putting together a "to do" list. Instead, come up with a "to create" list. Look for the new possibilities; redesign existing ones — even when they are working right now. Tomorrow could be a different story. How can you breathe fresh air into a stale market?

Innovative thinking can save your corporate skin, as witnessed in the tale of the dachshund and the leopard: A man goes on safari in Africa and takes his pet dachshund with him. The dog starts chasing butterflies through the fields, and before long, gets lost. He wanders around, trying to find his way back to camp, and notices a leopard heading his way, looking at his potential lunch.

The dachshund smells trouble. Noticing some bones on the ground nearby, he starts to chew on them with the leopard still approaching. Just as the leopard is about to pounce, the dachshund exclaims loudly, "Gee, that was a delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here?"

The terrified leopard retreats to some nearby bushes. "That was close," he thinks. "That dachshund nearly had me!"

Clearly, the dachshund is following Peter Drucker’s advice: "Don’t try to innovate for the future. Innovate for the present!"

Truer words were never spoken. What are the most talked-about cars at the Detroit auto show? The concept cars. Will they actually be available for sale? Maybe, maybe not. But the ideas generated from them will be in your next ride.

The innovative worker doesn’t go to work because she is inspired, but gains inspiration because she is working. The great composers are marvelous examples of that: given eight notes in a couple octaves, can you begin to count the number of songs they’ve created? Or the various harmonies? They really didn’t have anything new to work with; they just found a new way to use what they had.

Mackay’s Moral: Follow the crowd and you will never be followed by a crowd.

Harvey Mackay is the author of the New York Times best seller "Pushing the Envelope" (Ballantine Books). He can be reached through his Web site: http://www.mackay.com; or Mackay Envelope Corp., 2100 Elm St., Minneapolis, MN 55414.

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