Never Doubt That You Are Innovative

If I tell my daughters that I am making dinner, they are horrified.

Now, in my day job, I am considered to be one of the most innovative people around. But, when it comes to making dinners that are creative, healthy and taste good or “innovative”, I suck and have always known, and believed, that I suck.

When I get home after picking up the kids from school it is often late, I am tired, hungry and very mission oriented. The kids are asking me homework questions as I prepare the meal.

All I want to do is get the kids finished homework, fed and on to showers as quickly as possible so we can spend a little time together at the end of the evening.

My girlfriend on the other hand, is a brilliant cook. She can create a masterpiece from the most boring leftovers (which are typically something that I have made…).

When she arrives at home, she is never worried or stressed. She knows that she can come up with something good. She sits down, takes her time, thinks of food combinations that would never have even occurred to me and always puts a brilliant meal on the table.

In the food domain, she is incredibly innovative and trust me, my kids are always very relieved when they hear that she is the one doing the meal.

Now I mention this story to make a point. If you don’t have the right mindset, are in a rush, constantly interrupted and just want to get something done, as we often are at work, the odds of you seeing and implementing an innovation solution to anything are very low.

Because this happens so often in our work environments, many people come to believe that they are not “innovative”.

Simple test. Think of something that you love to do. It could be gardening, home renos, cooking or just about anything else. If you have found new ways to do things betterfor those activities, thatis what being innovative is all about.

I talk about some of the things that you can do to be more innovative in your work environment on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3iS2HDTxfVmuGXFPv921Ug).

Don’t ever fool yourself into believing that you are not innovative. You innovate in all sorts of different ways and aspects of your life.

If you are not innovating as much as much as you would like in your professional environment, it’s probably because your workplace is a lot like my kitchenis for me at dinnertime.