But what we're going to do tonight in
the next forty five minutes to an hour or

so is I'm going to share with you.

The techniques that I've
developed throughout my life

when I'm stuck when I have
to come up with a big idea.

And you'll be able to use this
when you walk out the door.

In fact.

Usually people e-mail me within days
saying hey I tried it this way cetera so

I expect you to do that I'll be available
if you need help but at the end of

the day on one hand I'm a rocket scientist
which is very left brain analytical and

on the other hand I'm very creative.

So I'm going to help you sort of reconcile
how that works because I can't sing and

dance for the life of me.

So the first question I have for you is
what is who here thinks they're creative.

I know you don't really want the guy
next to you to know you said that.

So the interesting thing is
when I do this with kids.

Imagine this room is full
of second graders and

I ask Who here thinks they're creative
What do you think the room looks like.

Not just this is this right.

They're jumping out their
chairs who call on me.

The problem is when we get to be adults
this is usually the response I get if I

ask kids creative I get a few
people that put their hands up.

But my favorite ones are the ones that go.

Because they don't really want

the guy next to them to know that
they think they're creative.

All right so what is creativity.

I will come back to that think about it.

Some of you know you have it.

Some of you know you don't we
must know what it is right.

So if you think about it may have
to stand really close to this.

If you think about how to drive value
right at the end of the day you want to

invent something I would assume
that makes a lot of money.

Otherwise it's called a hobby right.

And if you want to be successful you have
to time your actions accordingly right you

have to know about the cycles and
time your actions accordingly.

But what I would argue is that the bulk
of the value goes to the person who

changes the Times not the guy
who just changes with the times.

I get lots of people that say I'm
flexible I can change with the times.

That's great.
You're always follow and somebody's right.

So I'm going to show you how
to actually change the times.

Here's a poster that I keep in
my room when it comes up slowly.

Hopefully it'll come up on my screen but
not yours.

Yeah.

Welcome.

But there it is OK so

these are the attributes of someone
who made the tenth grade history book.

These people change the times not always
for the good but they change the times.

Now the reason I like this poster
is if you look at some of these

attributes you would not have
gotten a star by your teacher

In fact you probably would
have gotten put in timeout.

If you exhibited some of these behaviors.

So some of these are yes they're
creative they're quirky but

these people are rebels they
piss a whole lot of people off.

They're completely irreverent
they challenge assumptions they

are not always popular.

So to make a difference.

It's not always what we would
consider good attributes right.

But these are important attributes if
you really want to make a difference

if you want to do something that
is truly innovative you have to be

willing to do these types of behaviors
not just the things that you were taught

in second grade get you in a on
the test to get you all the little

gold stars from your teacher.

So one of the things that I'd like to
challenge people to do I do a lot of

speaking at schools etc is I would
say if your goal is success.

You're thinking too small.

Because success is finite success

means you got an A on the test you got
the job you wanted you won the race.

You won the game but
significance is infinite.

That means you have changed the world
you have done something that has changed

the lives of people that either use
your product or interact with you and

the behavior that makes somebody
significant is not the same as success.

You have to be willing to be the contrary
and not always popular you have.

To be willing to challenge
assumptions not easy to

do when everybody says that's
the way it's always been done.

You have to be willing to get out of
your comfort zone not just stand up but

stand out.

That's not always fun to always
be the one that's different but

that's what you have to do to
change the way that you think.

And you have to be creative.

So we're back to that word is going
to tell me what creativity is.

All right.

Ability to see things in a different way.

What else and the body.

Yeah make something new in the else.

You know think outside the box the box

there's a stereotypical box that
we're all trying to get out.

I'm not sure who put us in there but
we're trying to get out of it.

My favorite definition is the ability
to look at the same thing as everyone

else but see something different.

The reason that is my favorite
definition is every single

person in here can do that it does not
mean that you can sing or dance or draw.

Right.

It's about problem solving.

There is no better place on this planet to
find problem solvers than the Georgia Tech

campus so creativity is about problem
solving looking at the same thing as

everyone else and
seen something different.

So next time somebody asks you who
is creative you better all put your

hands up immediately.

Here's the challenge we have though.

If creativity is the ability
to see something different.

Innovation means you have to actually
make something valuable out of it.

I know a lot of people that have offices
full of flip charts with really cool

drawings on it and they haven't
made anything they're creative but

they're not innovative innovation
means you created value.

Entrepreneurship.

Add something else.

What's missing.

So you can be creative.

But not be an innovator.

You can be an innovator but

not be an entrepreneur what do you have
to add to be an entrepreneur or risk.

Absolutely.

You have to add the element of risk.

So the first thing we're going
to do is a little exercise.

OK.

The challenge we have is
we are all creative but

it atrophies over time so
it's sort of like me going to the gym and

I only lift weights with one
arm the other arm with atrophy.

So the first thing I'm a little godlike
about the first thing I'm to do is show

you some exercises that I use one of the
things that I do these graphics just take

a lot of come up is the tests for

creativity are the same tests men
say uses for the genius society.

One of them is fluidity which is
the sheer ability to generate ideas.

So what I do every morning as soon as this
image pops up you'll get to see it as

I take an object and I give myself two
minutes to say what would I do with that.

All right so

what can we do with a box of baking soda
plain what else but that make a volcano.

Absolutely.

You want the science fair didn't you.

What else should teeth.

Well it's going to put in there for
a generator odors right.

What else that you all have ideas and
you're not shouting them out.

Do you know why because you're critiquing
your ideas right now shout them out.

Absolutely.

What else.

Yeah.

They can clean and
deodorizing that's a good thing.

They told us that yes snow
you can make Snow White House

so let me tell you when I
do this exercise with kids.

I can put a group of second
graders in a room and

we will come up with over one
hundred ideas in two minutes.

If I do this with a group of adults My
favorite was a group of accountants.

I think we really stretch to come up with
twenty five uses the interesting thing is

think of most of the uses besides
the snow and the cocaine.

Where did you hear about those uses.

There on the box right there on the box.

We've been taught that that
is what Baking soda is for.

So we don't notice what it could be but
if you asked children to come up with

uses my favorite is the little boy who
said he would mix it with vinegar gargle

with it and go as a rabid dog on
hollow Wein does a great idea and

another kid who said he poured all
over his front lawn go skiing.

Then you have people say well
I can make a castle out of it

because it's an orange box.

Right.
It's one square.

The problem is as adults we are taught.

We know what baking soda supposed to
be used for and we can't get around

that to notice that it's really just
an orange box with white powder.

What would you do with that.

So you have to get away from what
you know and get to what you notice.

That's where innovation lies.

Innovation is not on the back
of the box and believe me.

Armand Hammer is not an expert on the only
things you can do with baking soda right.

So you have to challenge the assumptions
which is what you're taught you're

supposed to do with it.

So here's a little exercise
everybody has to participate.

I'm going to give you a quiz.

And what I want to ask you to do is on the
next slide to give you a series of words

I want you as a group to read me the words
out loud I will tell you ahead of time

that your left brain reads words so yellow
and blue your right brain reads color.

OK So the first thing I want you to do
in the next slide as a group outloud

I want you to read me the words.

OK ready.

We did

that about eight seconds.

Now as a group out loud.

I want you to read me
the colors ready to go.

OK.

Took three times as long.

If you do this with a second
grader they will do it

in the exact same amount
of time because in.

Second grade your left brain and your
right brain are still equally developed

our challenges our left brain is way more
developed right we flew through the words

but we had trouble with
the colors because it is hard for

us to say the word yellow when our
left brain sees the word green right.

So what we know gets in the way of what we
notice we notice it's written in yellow we

know the color but
our brain says no that's green and so

part of the key to innovation and

creativity is to get the dominant side
of your brain to check out right.

It's got to stop dominating and
that's what I want to give you these

techniques to help help you do if you walk
away with I'm going to give you two or

three things that you have to
remember when you walk out one is

what you know versus what you notice
it is the key to all innovation

innovation does not come from what
you know and that sucks doesn't it.

Here we are we're spending all this
money to be great engineers but

innovation comes from what you notice.

I notice that there's a need in
the market that's not being filled.

I notice that I would design
my toothbrush differently.

I notice that this is a pain to use.

That's the key to innovation.

What you know is usually what
gets in the way of innovation.

It's the way we've always done it so

the key is to get beyond what
you know to what you notice.

The challenge we have is we all reach
our peak of creativity at age five.

By age eight we're down to thirty
two percent by age forty four.

We're down to two percent.

It's not real optimistic right and

what are most companies run by five
year olds market might be doing better.

What was the good thing is it
goes up when you retire but

what happens at age five something
happens to all of us why does it drop.

So significantly.

We start school right.

We start school and all of a sudden there
are how many answers to each question.

One who has it.

The.

Teacher where the teacher get
it back of the book right.

You were taught to find the answer and
then you're done.

That's why they call it a final exam
right Dr Vito you don't have to know it.

After that it's final.

Yeah yeah.

So let me show you an interesting
observation I have a five year old so

that's why you hear a lot of
examples of five year olds.

When I was little and you bought Lego
is they came in a box a big bucket.

They were made of little squares like
this with lots of different colors.

And you had to if I wanted to
make a castle How did I do that

I had to imagine what
a castle looked like right.

If I wanted to make
a flower what I have to do.

I do make up what a flower look like.

Who's been a target.

Recently and looked at LEGO is can
you buy boxes and I know you have you

have a five year old two can you
buy a box of like those anymore.

Now.

Legace now come in kits and

you can buy this this set of
Lego's which has the one thousand

one hundred thirty two pieces that
you need to build this castle.

OK And the pieces are even
carved to look like that castle.

And in that box is an instruction manual
about this thick you think that's for

the four year old.

That's for me that's for mom right.

And I'm supposed to build
something that looks like that.

So the first time I started to build
something I mean I'm an engineer.

Right.
I know how to follow instructions but

I didn't want to follow the instructions
so I put the instructions aside and

I started to build something that my
son set up you're doing it wrong.

I said How do you know he said
because it doesn't look like that.

That is scary.

That's not problem solving.

That's following instructions.

If we're going to teach people how to
think how to do critical thinking and

creative thinking we can't give him the
instructions we have to let him imagine

a castle.

So then he told me.

OK let's make a dragon and I said great.

You said we don't know how because
when the instructions for that right.

So this is the world that we're going
to and I think this is a challenge for

all of us to sort of fight that.

So we all started school at five right.

Quiz every Friday there's always ten
questions that makes it easy for

the teacher to grade one answer
to each question teacher has it.

It's in the back of the book
once you get out of school.

I can tell you for sure that when you get
your first job and you're given a task.

You will be woefully disappointed to
find that there is not a right answer.

There's not even a formula and
if you find the right answer.

What most likely is going to happen is
your boss is going to say Great find

me another right answer.

Another right answer.

Right.
I just spent twelve plus years trying

to get my hands on the teacher's
edition to get the right answer.

But innovation is only evident in

the tenth right answer the fifteenth right
answer the fifth right answer the first

right answer is NEVER innovation and
that's a challenge for

those of us that have been taught
to get to the right answer.

Now please don't go tell your civil
engineering professor that I said

there's not a right answer and then you
get your bridge upside down because

I remember that from a get in trouble for
that.

Here's an example of

a first grade question which of the
following does not belong with the answer.

So everyone

in here would not get one hundred on
their kindergarten first grade test

the answer in the back of the book is
an orange because the rest are red.

But I could argue that at least when I
was growing up a tomato was a vegetable.

Now that's a fruit I know
we've all been misled and

you could argue that a strawberry is the
only one with the seeds on the outside.

Right.

All the other ones have to
have seeds on the inside.

So there is not one right answer and

the challenge is to always
question when you get.

To the right answer.

If there's a better one.

So let me show you an example of
what we do every day when we're

faced with a challenge.

These are the bad guys rushing to town.

Right.

So this happens to us every day we're
riding to the desert somebody puts

a tollbooth in front of us and
we stop and go back and get dimes.

But it doesn't look like a tollbooth What
does it look like what it looked like and

what could be a railroad What
else could be a problem right.

Your set with your study group and
you say hey I got a great idea and

the guy next to you says that won't work.

We've already tried that.

That's a tollbooth.

So the answer is not to say You're
right let me go back and get a dime and

say well how would I get around it so
we have to find a way to get around

the barriers that we think are stopping us
but that's really the key to innovation.

Right.

So there are four barriers
to innovation and

I'm going to give you a technique
to get over each one of them.

The first one is visibility.

It's in your head.

It's an individual barrier.

It's why none of you were
talking earlier when I said what

we can do baking soda because
you're thinking us a dumb idea.

Sunanda like that one right.

The second one is expression that's
what keeps us from sharing the ideas.

The third one is the most
important it's reality.

That's we're going to spend the most
of the time because that's why.

You know versus what you notice and
the last barrier to

action which is all of you that have great
ideas and never do anything with it.

It's a group dynamic.

So there's companies all over that say
lar we come up with great ideas but

we never seem to make it happen.

That's because of the action barrier.

All right so the first one is visibility.

Where do you come up with your
best ideas in the shower.

Where else in your dreams when you're
sleeping fall asleep wake up where else

in the car.

And where else shower sleeping
car before falling asleep

kind of right in that in-between
time running with that.

Before class.

It's OK.
It can be during class you don't have

to be painted as in.

All right.

How many of the things you listed
happen during a workday or class.

None of it happened in an office building.

They don't happen in all the places
we say we're going to brainstorm.

That's not where your best ideas happen.

Some to give you the David Letterman top
ten of all the years I've done this.

This is where the top executives in the
country come up with their best ideas in

the long run as the big one listening
to a church sermon the good thing is

I've actually had a minister.

Say he comes up with his giving
the sermon So you're forgiven.

The next one is during a boring
meeting that is the only

one that happens during a work
session during a boring meeting.

So in your case that would
be a boring class right.

What do you do when you're bored in
class you doodle doodling is the first

sign that your left brain has checked out.

It is not interested in
what the professor saying.

And so your right brain takes over.

That's why you draw you
probably draw shapes and

you probably draw the same thing over and
over.

Triangle colored into another triangle
colored in your doodling will

standardize by early thirty's and
if you want to change that.

Try doodling with your other.

Hand.

It'll be completely different.

Listening to music exercising
some I said running

falling asleep dreaming waking
up driving is a big one.

These are the people you don't want to be
behind because they do not remember how

they got to work or to school because
they're thinking of their ideas

the shower reading like leisure reading.

The toilet the bathroom is
an amazingly creative place right.

Toilets and showers are two of
the top ten and playing with children.

What is common about all
of these activities.

That there's no stress what that.

You're left brain is not interested
in what you're doing right

last time I checked you don't go for
a run and say Right left right left right.

So you're left brain checks out it
is not interested in the activity

that's what frees your right brain which
is slightly less dominant to come out

and start participating.

So the challenge we have is these
are not the activities that

you're usually doing when
you're trying to be creative.

Right.
You're with your study group we've got

to come up with an idea we've got
a flip chart out we've got a brainstorm

you're probably not in the shower right.

So how do you force your brain
to check out and there's ways

to do that now part of it is to know
this activity like for me if I'm stuck.

I will go for a run.

I mean I'll just go out and walk I've
got to get up walk around that's why I'm

always walking around the office and
never sit in my chair.

But if you think about
where we spend our time

in your case it's probably somewhere
between where you live in class and

group meetings etc In my case it's
in an office or in a meeting room.

The thing I would challenge
you in your personal space.

Whether that's an office or a dorm or
an apartment is what do you

have that represents your goals and

I'll show you one of the things that
I keep which is this very large shoe.

I had to start.

A company with Shaquille O'Neal
this is actually his shoe

man must have really big luggage
right how would you ever travel and

this reminds me of two things
one it reminds you to think big.

That's for sure but there's an interesting
story when I first met Shaquille O'Neal

was the year that he had won all three
M.V.P. trophies regular season and

finals and I went to his house and I was
so excited I thought this is so cool.

I'm the see all three M.V.P.
trophies right.

And I walk in and there's pictures
of Michael Jordan and him there's

pictures of him doing everything
that there's no trophies anywhere.

It's like man was the trophies and

he said when I was growing up my dad
had a rule that if you won an award or

a trophy you could keep it in
your room for two weeks and

at the end of the two weeks you had to put
it in the basement because if you were so

focused on celebrating what you did
yesterday you couldn't possibly be focused

on what you were going to do tomorrow and
I thought that was so interesting because

I thought about my office with my diplomas
and my a war and my speaking tour and

things like that and there was nothing
in my office that showed my dream.

What I wanted to do now that
can be a long term dream.

Should it be the dream home
you want to have it could be

the vacation you want to go on or it could
be the project that you're working on that

you've got to come up with a great
idea in the next two weeks right.

But whatever it is have it in front of
you because if it's not in front of

you you are not thinking about it.

That's the stimuli that gets your brain go
and so the second place that we spend time

is in groups right trying to come
up with ideas and brainstorm and

most people have no clue how to brainstorm
when I go into a group and we say

well we're going to brainstorm now we're
going to put out a flip chart we're going

to take a few minutes and we're just going
to dump everything we know on a piece

of paper that is called brain dumping
there's nothing innovative about that.

That is taking everything on
the top of your brain and

putting on a piece of paper and
then when you kind of start to go and

you quit having gotten
a brainstorming yet.

What does a storm have in it.

Lightning right.

It's got rain.

It's got electricity that
is not in most brainstorms.

Now a lot of people say well if we want
to brainstorm better we should have

a facilitator.

Right.
We get the person in there that's going to

pull the questions out now ask
questions and that helps a little bit.

The challenge is statistically fifty
percent of the people in a group

are extroverted and fifty percent
are introverted introverts are not shy

introvert simply have a different process
between formulating the thought and

expressing it verbally they're about eight
seconds slower than an extrovert and

doing that extroverts like me have
absolutely no filter between our brain and

our mouth and
it all just flows out the challenges

introverts score higher
on all creativity tests.

So if you're going at a fast pace
the way most facilitators go you

will miss the fifty percent of
the population that actually scores higher

on most creativity tests.

So the way to do that is to start
I always put up flip charts and

I give everybody a marker and

whatever we're going to brainstorm we just
start writing ideas spelling doesn't count

grammar doesn't count pictures are great
and then we start talking about

it because everybody can write their
ideas at the same the same speed.

So let's think about a brainstorm.

This will be an easy one and

I'm not going to give you two minutes
because we don't have that much time but

I want you to if you have a piece of paper
and work with the person next to you.

It's not called cheating.

I want you to list for
me all the fast foods you can think of.

I How many do you have come up

ten six ten twelve.

It's like an auction who's got more.

Anybody.

All right let me give you
a couple pictures and

see if this adds anything to your list.

Anything to make you think
of anything different.

You know.

All right let me show you the challenge
with brainstorming remember our first test

the baking soda test that was fluidity
which is how many ideas you can

come up with the second test for
creativity is called Association.

Most of us when I do
this with a big group and

we give the full two minutes almost at a
minute on the dot the room goes from being

very noisy to very quiet and
all of the words are replaced with.

And people are saying well is
that really fast food on the.

And you're trying to think
you're sort of done dumping and

now you're not sure what
to come up with right.

So most of you if you think about your
lists how many people's list started with

hamburgers hot dogs McDonald's Chick fil
A PIZZA AND cetera everybody's got that

on their list right that's probably
your first ten or fifteen.

That's not innovation
you all have it right.

How many people got to food that
is fast to prepare anybody.

OK.

Fast food food that's
fast to prepare soups.

How many people got to food that
actually moves fast anybody.

Yes put in the back and they are both
hands up who they're that moves fast.

How many people came up with any foods
that are fast when they move through you.

Anybody.

Now.
All right so here's the interesting thing.

Innovation is stewed prunes.

It's not hamburgers and hot dogs so to get
to that you have to stretch your thinking.

Now the challenge I have is a lot of times
when I say I want you to brainstorm fast

food there's always one guy in the room
that says what do you mean by fast food.

What do you think that is your
left brain talking I'm sorry I

can't brainstorm until you define it for
me right.

That is your left brain talking the other
thing is if you look at most of your

papers you all have a column of words
going down the left hand side and

if you ran out of room you started up
at the top again that's your left brain

organizing your thinking OK so
you're left brain is still dominating but

if you want to get to innovation you have
to get to Stude Prinz Now when I put

the last piece up what did
you all do you laughed.

Right.

If you know brainstorm and
somebody throws out an idea and

someone else laughs we stop everything and

we focus on how to make that idea work
because when you laugh at something.

It's because something is true and
it made you uncomfortable.

That's why you laugh.

That's your visceral reaction.

It's true and it made you uncomfortable.

The innovation is to figure
out what is true and

it's not always easy but
if something makes you laugh.

That's the innovative idea.

You've got to peel away the things that
don't make sense to get to the part that

made you laugh.

And I'll show you some examples
of how how we've done that.

Now the second barriers expression how
many people remember the first time you

how to write a book report.

Remember.

Third grade what I used to say
what do you have to do first and

they say read the book.

OK What do you have to turn in first and

outline how many people wrote the book
report and then faked the outline

to match anybody that's the way your
brain works OK if you think about it.

It's a little bit nuts to say that you
should organize your thoughts before

you have them write it
doesn't make any sense.

It's if you were to go to
third grade classrooms today.

They don't teach outlines
the way we learned them

if I wanted you to write a paper
on what you did for vacation.

I would tell you to write the word in
the middle of the topic in the middle of

the paper and fill the paper with
the first thing that comes to your mind

what did I do for
vacation What activities did I do.

Who did I do it with where was I.

What were the activities
what were the surroundings.

Now once I've filled that piece of paper.

I can go back and
I can group like create my outline right.

So the second thing I would tell you is
next time someone asks you to brainstorm

something and
it's probably not going to be fast foods.

Don't start with your paper up right in
the upper left hand side turn the paper

sideways write the word in the middle
write all over the place and

angle everything that will change the way
you think because you're left brain

can't find order in it it will drive
your left brain nuts to create a piece

of paper that looks like this but this is
what your brain storm should look like.

Not a list of things.

My favorite is when people say
they're going to brainstorm and

they have three flip charts and
they say over here we're going to

brainstorm this but then over here
we're going to brainstorm this right.

You're organizing You cannot organize
before you have the divergent

thinking which is the brainstorming so
the minute you're brainstorming if you

start to question what you're doing
critique your ideas that means

your left brain is trying to fight
its way back in the control and

you've got to get it out some of
the ways that I do that when I'm

in groups is to have things in the room
that cause your left brain to check out so

it can be you know you see people with
toys or things that they just sort of play

with the Get your left brain to check
out a really good one is magazines.

That's why I put those pictures up.

Scenes.

If you're brainstorming about
an electrical device don't have a double e

magazine and the room that
will not get your left brain.

Check out In fact your left brain will
find that particularly interesting.

The other thing with magazines
is you cannot flip through them

from the front to the back.

Because again your left brain will
find an article that's intriguing.

It will start reading it.

That's distracting.

I had a group one time they
called a week after a session and

they're like we tried the magazine
thing and everybody got distracted.

If you flip through a magazine
from the back to the front.

You will be amazed at how many ideas you
come up with because you're left brain

cannot find order if it's going backwards
it can't attach itself to anything.

So next time you're on an airplane or
next time you're at the bookstore

pick up a magazine that you have
no interest in could be cooking.

Pick it up and look at the back and flip
through it and if you have a problem in

mind it could be a very technical problem
you will come up with ideas by flipping

through the magazine because the images
will trigger something else in your mind

that you will relate to that that's where
innovation comes from it's where would you

never look at the third barrier which
I told you is the most important

what I say you have to remember what
you know versus what you notice

what you know is reality all
innovation happens in opposites.

That's the key word know
versus notice opposites.

Every innovation happens in opposites.

I can take any industry any product
any company any service and

I can trace its history through opposites.

It's like a spiral staircase.

Because every time the industry
becomes competitive and

that commodity is something the only
way to innovate is to do the opposite.

If to go in the opposite direction.

Pretty soon everyone will follow
that will become commodities.

And you'll go again in
the opposite direction.

You don't go back.

It's not like a pendulum you go forward.

So it's very much like a spiral because
that's the image that should be

in your mind.

So there's five.

Or ways actually that I apply and
I'll show you an example of each one

the first one is if you are trying to
brainstorm the solution to a problem.

Most of us start out saying
how do I solve that problem.

That's the wrong question.

The question I ask yourself is not
what would I do but the opposite

question what would I never do I always
challenge people when where in the office.

What would you get fired if you did.

What would you never do
see some as laughing.

It's funny it's uncomfortable to
brainstorm what would you never do.

It's hard.

That's a harder question to answer when I
work with people on a mission statement or

a business plan and I say What do you do.

That's easy and usually they have such
a broad statement that it's a nice way of

saying I do everything.

Who do you serve I serve
everybody who do you not serve.

Or do you not want and what is your
product not do that is a harder

question to answer but it is the more
valuable question answer the second

thing is I always tell people if you throw
out statistics show that if you come up

with an idea with an eight second somebody
will tell you what's wrong with it.

Ninety percent of the time it's you you
tell yourself What's wrong with it and

you kill it.

When you hear an idea.

Give it eight seconds to
say what's right with it.

You've got all day to figure
out what's wrong with it and

we're good at that right.

Engineers are taught to be very
critical thinkers we can kill

any idea in five seconds flat.

Give yourself eight seconds say what's
right about it then think about what's

wrong with it.

But what I always tell people
is the greatest gift you can

give me is to tell me that
won't work because that is for

darn sure what I'm a spend the rest
the day fixed on to prove you wrong.

So when somebody tells
you that won't work.

Ask yourself what one thing would
I have to change to make it work.

Now the one thing could be big.

It could be the customer's right I
mean could be a big thing that's.

To change but what one thing could you
change the third thing I do is you can

take any product any industry any company
break it down into its components or its

assets take each one of those assets and
say what would happen if I took it away.

I woke up tomorrow and
I don't have it anymore.

I still have to build the product
I still have to make money.

What would I do something
would have to change

then ask yourself the opposite question
what would happen if I woke up tomorrow.

That was the only component or

asset that I had to work with I've
built a whole company around it.

What would it be.

And I'm a show you examples so this is
the last one is where when you never look.

There's nothing I hate more
having been a consultant myself

than the words benchmarking and

best practices if you ever hear
someone say that call B.S. on them.

OK.

Think about that I have benchmarked
myself against the competition and

I've looked at the best practices.

OK that might help you keep up.

But how in the world does
that help you get ahead.

It doesn't that helps you be one of
the followers not one of the leaders.

So what I would argue is the answer to
every problem you have already exists.

It's just not where you're looking for it.

And the innovation in a particular
product or industry is not to look at

things that look like it but to look
in places that look nothing like it.

So if I'm trying to develop
a consumer product.

The answer to my innovation might be
in healthcare or entertainment and

I have to find who does that well and
apply it back to myself.

So you should always be comparing yourself
against things that look nothing like you

and again I'm going to give you examples
now of all of these so the first one.

What would we never do.

I was working with a group that did air
freshener and I know what air for us.

As glade makes things smell nice and
we're trying to come up with new products.

So what would we do we had lots of ideas
we could put in all the products they have

the best selling scent of
Glade by the way it's called.

And so the first idea we had was we
could put potpourri in window cleaner

right that could smell good too.

And so we came up with some ideas none of
them were really that groundbreaking and

then finally we said what would you never
do what would you get fired if you did and

there was a man in
the back of the room and

he said I would get fired
if I put Popery in raid.

This is when their products rate.

Really you would get fired for that.

Well Ray that is tough.

Right.
Kill bugs can be Popery that's for

fruit right.

We did a lot of market research that
ultimately went behind this but I will

tell you today the best selling version
of raid is called outdoor fresh and

between you and me it's actually Popery
that a marketing person got ahold of and

renamed it so that was tolerable to men.

But it turns out you can be tough and
kill bugs and not smell like crap but

we wouldn't have gotten there if we
hadn't said what would we never do.

That's how we stretched the thinking I
was also working with a company in Boston

called Bay State gas gas company and
we took their products and

we put the team in a group and
we said we give everybody an asset and

we said what would happen if you took it
away and what would happen if if that was

all you had one of the largest assets
that this company has is vans and

automobiles vehicles because
between the hours and nine and

five they drive around neighborhood
streets and they read your gas meters and

that was one of the assignments.

Was this group got assigned
the vehicles the fleet of vehicles and

we said what would you
never do with them and

one guy said I would NEVER rent
them out for bachelor parties.

And I buy laughed.

So remember we had to stop OK
that's what we're going to make

work we are now renting out all
your vehicles for about parties.

Well it took us a while to think of.

At it and the bachelor party part was
what made every day a laugh and so but

when we peeled that back what we realized
is that all those vehicles sat in

a parking lot between the hours
of five pm and nine A.M..

What else could we use them for so
they now use those vehicles for

delivery they rent them out to other
companies to deliver dry cleaning and

groceries and all these other things.

The bachelor parties made us laugh but
it made us think of night time

we had thought about night time before and
that's where the ideas were.

Here's another example which
you may see some of this pretty

soon coming out Valvo I
did something interesting.

They created the first ever all women's
design team to design an automobile they

put a group of women engineers together
and said What would you do with a car.

Now the interesting thing about this car.

What I find the most interesting
is the hood does not open.

Unless you're a mechanic.

Why would I open the hood.

Why do most people open the hood

to put windshield wiper

fluid in what else do you open your
hood for when she changed the oil.

Fix it.

To pretend like you're fixing
it right it looks good.

If you stand on the side of the road and
look at everything in there and

look at how dusty it is and
they have no clue what you're looking at.

But most people open their hood for
two reasons to check the oil

to put in a freeze and

to put windshield wiper fluid and those
are the three things that people do so

on this car the nozzles to put in or
freeze it when she wiper fluid or

on the side next to the gas
tank when they're up front but

if you're putting them in
a nozzle just like the gas tank.

There's no need to open your hood to do
that you can put it in just like you put

gas in there's other things in this car
as well in terms of the seats swivel so

that it's easier to get in now.

With kids etc This group of women looked
at cars totally differently and they

came up with ideas that one might think
are only useful to women but in fact.

Truth be told.

Most of the people in here probably do
the exact same thing when they open their

hood as a female does which is stare at
it and wonder what they're really doing.

But they changed the paradigm.

Here's another example.

This is further up here in Midtown I used
to run a real estate development company.

If you were to go up Peachtree or

West Peachtree you know when you get
to the point where the statue of all

the naked guys around the globe is right
there before the Invesco building.

And it's where West Peachtree
impeach street come together or

you get on the Buford Highway connector.

OK So that's this little piece
right here the statues and

this little piece of property this
traffic is going eighty miles an hour.

Right because that's getting on the
highway and I know that because there's

a little eighty year old woman that
lives in this apartment complex and

she volunteers at the museum from
Peachtree Street and it is like watching

a game of Frogger every morning
when she crosses the road right.

She starts across and
you see the traffic accelerating.

Well the interesting thing is you see the
big red arrow that sort of quarter circle

where the square building is we owned that
property the real estate company that

I worked for and we wanted to build
something on it but we had a challenge.

We had eighty mile an hour traffic going
right by the front of the building.

Not really inviting for a hotel.

What we really wanted was
to be on Peachtree Street.

Right because that's that's the high
dollar address and it's also

a much more enjoyable environment but
we needed to come across that piece for

the statue is which is owned by
the federal highway system by the way.

So we went down to the Georgia Department
of Transportation.

Most Some went to Georgia Tech
a roomful of engineers and

we said we have an idea we want to
build a building but we want to

build a walkway across the eighty mile
an hour traffic to Peachtree Street right.

And they said you can't do that.

And so I said why.

Interesting thing remember that
chart I said creativity we reach our

peak at age five.

By age eight it goes down.

The average five year old asked
ever three hundred questions a day.

What do they start with why write until
some adult says because I said so.

The average adult asks less than a third
of that number of questions a day.

What do they start with.

What.

When WHO how much.

Right.

Think about that.

What when who How much are facts that is

what do you know why
is what you notice but

as we get older we stop asking
why because we're embarrassed

to let somebody know that we don't know
something we think it's more impressive

just to show that we know things the
challenges all innovation comes from why.

And you have to ask why fifty times.

Right.
It's that little five year why why why why

why good because I said so but
we have to get back to why if

you haven't asked why at least fifty times
you have not gotten to the right answer.

So we went in there and
they said you can't do it so I said why.

And they said well because we can't
figure out how to value the air rights.

OK so I went back to my office and I dug
up all different examples of valuation

of our rights came back a week
later solve the problem.

We still can't do it.

What I say why.

Right well it turns out we can't give
the private access on public property.

So I started thinking about all
the buildings I know that go over public

property right the financial center in
Buckhead four hundred goes underneath it.

I went back in use that
as an argument they said

well the building was
there before the road.

So we still can't do it
why we can't figure out

how we would value giving you access so
then I said well wait a minute.

I still live in Boston when I want to.

A school and there is a grocery store
that goes over the Mass Pike and

they came up with a reason
why that wouldn't work.

So after about the fifth
meeting I came in and

I said you know what if
you go up forty one.

Cobb Parkway to work Cumberland Mall
is there is a walkway that

connects Cumberland Mall
to the galleria right.

Forty one is a federal road and

they said well that's different because
that's a public walkway honest to God you

know what I did I walked out
of the room I shut the door.

I walked back in and
I said I want to build a public way for

my building to Peachtree Street and

you know what they said that is
a great idea and so this got approved.

The wrong question the answer
was there but I had to ask

why enough times to get them to realize
that the question wasn't about money and

it wasn't about permits and it wasn't
about public versus private do you know

the difference between a public walkway
and what I originally wanted to do.

It's just where the security
desk is that's easy but

most people would have viewed
the first meeting as a toll booth and

they would have gone back to the office
and said you know we can't do it but

you can do it but the key is the question
you got to ask the right question and

you got to ask it over and over.

So remember the third one.

So I told you the first one.

What would we never do.

That's what won't work.

The third one is I can take any product or
industry and trace it through opposites.

So think about the grocery industry
when my parents were little food came to

the house chips came in a can diapers
came in a bag milk came in little glass

jars and a little metal thing at some
point that business became too competitive

somebody decided to do the opposite and

said you know what we're going to put
the food in one place and you come in.

What it looked like what it looked like
grocery stores right we have bricks and

mortar now that became more and more
competitive started to come out of ties.

Somebody said you know.

We're going to do the opposite.

We're going to put the food closer to you
now it doesn't look like the old thing.

What it looked like what was
the next evolution in grocery.

It's now all over the place close to you

distribute a comedian stores right there
is a seven eleven on every corner.

That became more competitive started
to come out of ties somebody said no

we're going to do the opposite.

Again put it all in one
place you have to come in.

But it looks like.

Sam's Club right now you have to own
an S.U.V. to go grocery shopping right.

That became more competitive.

We're going to distribute it again.

What does that look like.

Online shopping right we've
got streamlined Peapod etc

Every industry goes through opposite
think about the computer industry.

It was bigger faster more memory bigger
faster more memory somebody said

let's make it smaller.

The P.C. was born every industry.

So when you go home tonight think about
the area that you're interested in see if

you can trace the opposites figure
out which extreme you're on

because the innovations going to be in
the opposite direction figure out what you

would change to go in
the opposite direction.

I can take any product right so

this is a product I was working
with a company that does soda.

Does anybody remember
the clear soda that came out.

Pepsi free whatever it's
called huge failure.

The team panicked what are we going to do.

That's a huge failure we've got to
come up with something innovative.

So we brainstorm for a long time.

Nothing really innovative we said
All right let's just break down so

what goes into it.

We've got coloring we've got sugar we
got water preservatives cans trucks etc

what would happen if I took just
pick what would happen if I

took all the preservatives out.

What would I have.

There's no preservatives right
how long would it last an hour.

This could be bad.

What who would buy that.

Who would buy that.

People on the beach.

Who else would buy something
that goes bad really quick.

Needs it directly you all things
that go bad really quick.

What are they with that.

Disposables think about when you go in
the grocery store while you're in college.

Maybe you don't buy it.

It's not in a package.

What does it look like it's
part it's an apple right.

It's fresh.

It's healthy.

There's a whole industry
around healthy beverages now.

Odwalla fresh Samantha
you pay a premium for

a beverage that will go bad in a couple
of hours if it's not refrigerated right.

What would happen if I did the opposite.

Let's double the preservatives you know
what the dang thing would last forever.

Who would use that college kids.

Who would use that but
that campers absolutely outdoorsman who

else military who else astronaut's NASA.

With that.

Doomsday theorists They're stockpiling.

Who else.

Red Cross absolutely disaster
relief third world countries.

So all of a sudden we started to really
stretch our thinking what could we develop

in the world of beverages that
addressed all these different users.

What if we took the water
out what do we have.

We have syrup.

What are we going to make.

We can cook with it.

Sure why not sell the syrup wealth
can we do with that with that

instant mix right sell the syrup shoot.

I've got water and

I use my eyes will give me a carbonation
then let me make my own right.

What else.

That's out now by the way.

What else.

I've got syrup.

I can make candy right and be a heck of

a lot cheaper to ship than all the in all
the cans and bottles already filled right.

What happens if I double the water.

It's really watery with
a little bit of flavor.

That's what Gater it's doing right now
it's got just a hint of flavor right.

Spritz or.

As flavored waters there's a whole
industry that's grown out of that

what would happen if I took the sugar out.

When taste good diet right.

What would happen if I doubled the sugar.

Energy drinks right.

One of the things we got into is we played
around with sugar right sugar can take

a number of forms of glucose fruit sucrose
one of the things that came out of this

brainstorm is actually the highest
margin product on the market.

It's called Blue Cola it's for
diabetics very specialty market but

very high margin.

What would happen if we
took the coloring away.

What do you think they said when we
asked that because we just did that it

failed and then let's do the opposite.

What if we doubled the color.

Different color she came by
ketchup that's purple these days.

Right.
I mean what if we doubled the color what's

the opposite of clear black What's
really dark that you buy with

that in this beer but really dark coke.

What else coffee.

What's really dark coffee.

Spreads So who makes going to suppress So
Starbucks the outcome of

this brainstorm is a product that you now
know is Frappuccino it's a joint venture

between Pepsi and Starbucks because
that's where we started stretching.

But if you just started
thinking of new beverages.

You're only thinking about you.

Right.

It's hard to think about what would
an astronaut use what would a diabetic use

what would a camper use that cetera.

The only way to force your brain
out of your comfort zone is

to stress it by taking things away and

then saying what would happen if
I doubled it create the extremes.

Because the extremes are where
the innovation comes from.

The last one is where would we never
look remember this is anti benchmarking

and best practices.

So I know hands on Atlanta.

I mean no hands on Atlanta.

Hinson Atlanta is
an organization here in Atlanta.

It's a nonprofit and very often I know it.

Tech the organized groups to
go maybe paint a mural or

clean up a playground or
something like that.

So I was working with the board of
hands on Atlanta and they said.

The market's down we can't raise money.

What do we do.

We've benchmarked ourselves
against all the competition and

I said Well who did you benchmark
against other non-profits OK.

I said well what do you really do and

they said we're a nonprofit
I said well that's nice.

That's a structure but
what do you really do.

That's a hard question to answer.

Because if you peel back what they
do at the surface which is organize

all of these community service groups and

have activities at the end of the day
what they really do is they take

people with needs and
people with resources and they match them.

That's what they do neighborhood
playground needs painting for

eternity group has extra time they need
community hours but I gather right.

That's what they do.

Who else does that who else
takes people with needs and

people with resources and
put them together.

Have others do that right.

Jobs people together who else but that.

Dating websites absolutely matts dot com
right people with needs matching together.

Who else you laughed by the way I'm going
to tell you why that was important.

Real estate brokers.

Absolutely.

Craigslist.

So what we did ends on Atlanta is
I said Stop looking at nonprofits

look at Match dot com or
whoever is the best online dating service.

Why are they the best they do something
really good or they wouldn't be the best.

The key is to figure out what they do and
then apply it to the world of nonprofits.

That's innovation.

Nobody else in the nonprofit
space is doing that.

What we ended up doing actually was
looking at a group called Outta they

may place tennis.

How to manage just to take one hundred
thousand people in the city of Atlanta and

get them at the right.

Tennis court with
the right fried chicken and

the right time on
a Saturday afternoon right.

Is this amazing logistics
organization around tennis.

But what we figured is there were things
that Al to have done amazingly well

that they could learn from so

hands on Atlanta actually improved
itself based on the Tennis Association.

But you can also think about for
example I was talking with the C.E.O.

of Coca-Cola Enterprises one time and

he said how many companies do you know
can get any new product onto the shelf of

every store every vending machine every
gas station around the world and six.

Just like that.

Why assume the answer is nobody but
you are all she would have said it so

in fact Lee right.

But the question I asked him was.

Why did you build that capacity.

Why did you build that skill to
be the best right to beat Pepsi.

We built it to be the best.

Who else would use that I've
never thought about it.

Who would pay you to use that.

I know people that would pay a killing to
get access to that distribution system and

it doesn't have to be a competitor.

So you could take that ability
that you built to be the best and

that could become a whole
new revenue stream.

One of the I was working with
a cigarette company at one point and

when we broke down their assets.

One of the things that they had on their
balance sheet that we couldn't ignore was

the class action lawsuit.

Hardly an asset right.

But we had to that was the challenge
got to make a business around it.

What are you going to do and

what they realized is that they had
created a series of processes to

deal with a class action lawsuit that
would not put them out of business now.

It didn't help them win the court issue
but what it did help them do is NOT go out

of business just process
seen the transaction or

they were dealing with the process.

Who else would pay for

that they ended up creating a whole
separate business that if a company goes.

They're a class action lawsuit.

They can hire them to help
them organize the in from

the questions deal with the issues and

not divert the C.E.O.'s time in
a way that they go out of business.

Termites are fairly fragile animals.

Yet the temperature swings greatly and
the way that they serve is that air flows

into these termite hills through all these
channels and when it needs to be cooled it

goes down into the mud and when it needs
to be heated it comes up to the top or

a constant temperature even though
everything around it's changing.

He did the same thing in that building.

There's no AC or heat but
they move air through the skin of

the building in a way that it maintains
a constant temperature day and

night and it saved a rich amount of money.

The other question I have is Did you
know that peacocks are actually brown

they're not any of those colors that you
see their feathers are actually made out

of a material that reflects light
differently and creates prisms and

there's researchers now looking at
could you take that concept and

come up with a new environmentally
friendly paint for automobiles.

So someday you and I could all
be driving around brown cars but

yours might look red and
mine might look blue.

Where would you never look.

How would a peacock influence a car.

The last barrier is the action and
remember I am an engineer so

there is a formula for everything.

If you want to increase your ability
to come up with that next big idea

you have to increase the numerator and
decrease the denominator right.

So we have to come up with more
ideas goes back to the baking soda.

The more ideas you come up with the better
chance you have of getting a good.

You have to multiply that by
the number you implement.

Plus the failures not minus

a failure is not a negative as long
as you fast and you fail forward.

The earlier you fail the better
because you can recover that

people have is when they get that
first failure they ignore it.

They don't want to deal with it.

It's a little embarrassed.

It will not go away.

It will become very
expensive to deal with.

So when you're starting your projects
over the next couple months you will fail

a bunch of fun but

when you fail to address it
immediately figure out how to fix it.

That is a positive not a negative.

You have to have a shared vision otherwise
you got creative creative people running

all over the place and they run amok.

And the last thing is the penalty for

failure has to be less than
the penalty for doing nothing.

That's the part most companies
fail at if the penalty for

failure is greater than the penalty for
doing nothing.

I wonder why executives are shocked
that nobody comes up with new ideas

because it's more painful
than just doing nothing.

So you have to allow yourself over
the course of the next several months

to realize that the penalty for
failure is no big deal.

Fail fail a bunch trust more new things.

It's no big deal in fact
you should celebrate it.

So let me give you an example.

This is a picture of
a good friend of mine.

Her name is Sara Blakely.

Sarah is the founder of
product called Spanx which

most people destroy may not know.

Although there is Spanx for men now.

Spanx is a company that
does paint a hose and

things like that she started this company
with a thirty thousand dollars loan from

her grandmother she got a local mill in
Georgia to agree to make a few of them so

that she could go to Saks Fifth Avenue and
test it out.

So they are now owns and

over two hundred million dollar company
that has never had a penny of debt beyond

the thirty thousand dollars that
she paid her grandmother back.

She is the sole owner of the company.

The interesting thing about
Sarah is when I met her dad for

the first time she told me a story.

And when she and her brother were growing
up every Friday at the dinner table.

Her father would ask them what
did you fail at this week.

And if they didn't have an answer.

They got punished.

They got punished for not failing
at something that's interesting.

Men.

Parents would punish their child for
failing at something.

Her dad punished them if they didn't
because he said if you didn't

fail at anything this week.

You couldn't possibly
have tried anything new.

The challenges most of us weren't raised
that way she was raised in a world where

failure was celebrated not punished.

So now that you're on your own you've
got to enforce that on yourself.

It is OK to fail it is not embarrassing.

It is not negative.

In fact it shows that you have
the courage to push the envelope.

Because if you don't push it.

How will you ever know where it is if you
run around in the middle of a bubble.

You don't know where the edge
is that comes really hard from

a kid to grow up as a rule follower right.

But you have to push the envelope.

So here's my final takeaways.

Your greatest strength is
your greatest weakness that

is true of every person every company
every city every country every entity.

Your greatest strength is your greatest
weakness that is opposites at work.

If you can figure out what that
is like I will tell you right now

if you ask my husband my greatest weakness
is he will very quickly tell you that I am

stubborn as can be but that is also my
greatest strength because remember I said

if you tell me some won't work for
darn sure what I'm going to focus on.

So use that as your strength
your weakness is your strength.

Most people hide from their weakness
because they don't like it you

should actually focus on it.

Your best ideas happen
when you lack resources my

favorite thing and one of my company's
People used to come up and say.

I can't do what you asked me to
that's my five year old kid.

I can't do what you asked me to
because I don't have enough fill in

the blank don't have enough time
I don't have enough budget.

I don't have enough help.

I don't have enough people you
values these I don't have enough.

My response is always good.

If you have unlimited
resources that is easy.

That's easy.

If I gave you all the time in the world
how long it's going to take you to get.

Done all the time in the world right isn't
it amazing how you can expand to fit

the time that you have right we call it
procrastinating but you expand to fit it.

I give you five minutes to do in five
minutes of a given twenty or twenty.

If you lack a resource you are forced

to do the opposite constraints to
come up with something creative.

If you have all
the resources that is easy.

You will not be creative.

You can even force creativity
on a group with resources.

So think about the economy that we're
in today we should be the most creative

people on earth we have
no resources right.

If you find yourself with resources

force yourself to imagine
that you don't have them.

That's where your ideas will come from so
scarcity is a good thing.

The last one is now there's two
more the power of the mayor.

When I was in business school I met
a woman who wrote a book called Women

world leaders and she was trying to study
women's leadership style through change

but she couldn't find enough C.E.O.'s to
do that and so she ended up interviewing

at the time there were eighteen women
who were current or for heads of state.

Not while T.

but they had been elected prime
minister or president of their country.

The most amazing thing that she found is
none of them have ever met each other.

So we're talking Margret That's
her big this from bog or

tonsil chiller never met each
other particularly right.

So she brought him out of Boston and
I was a student that helped host him for

three days so for three days I sat at
the dinner table with these women and

the most interesting woman that I sat
next to was a woman named biggest fan.

She has been the president of Iceland for
over.

You know I thought was interesting
about her is she told a story and

she said in my country little boys
ask if a boy can be president.

I thought that was funny.

Of course a boy could be president.

I would use turn on the television right.

She said But
that is not real because the power

of the mirror is exponentially more
powerful the closer it is to you.

President Obama is not
real to a little boy.

In Iceland who has only
seen a female president.

So in our country that is not real and
she said I challenge you

to realize that as you're coming up with
ideas you all have ideas for inventions or

things that are going to change the world.

The power of the mirror
is exponentially closer.

The closer it is to you.

You can change the world but you have to
do it one step at a time if you focus so

much on this you will trip over this and

the last one is the what versus the so
what all too often

what I find with with people in this
competition with other business plans.

Is it is easy to fall in love with your
what right you came up with a really cool

gadget you should see the things
that it is a whiz bang.

OK great.

What does it do.

You got to see it it's so
cool that is the what what's the world is

is riddled with what's that never created
value because they're called hobbies.

You will make money on this.

So what.

The so what is more important than
the what there are plenty of examples out

there of products that were better than
their competitors that did not succeed.

I think about videos right V.H.S.
was not the best technology.

But it one there
are plenty of technologies

that when they're not the best
the what did not win the so what one.

I mean Apple is a perfect
example of that right.

The minute the user interface the design
the so what is more important.

So if you're thinking about your idea.

And you get to be one of those final
groups that are on stage and you're

showing how cool your product is you will
not win if you don't understand the so

what the so what is who would use it.

Why do they care.

Why would they pay you for it.

That is as important if not more
important than the what you have.

Because people with equal What's
the person who gets the so

what right is the person who wins not just
your competition that's not what matters.

That's who wins in the market place is the
so what and think about that personally.

So the one thing I've helped a lot of
people with their resumes most people's

resumes are a bullet point list
of what I was in this group.

I held this office.

Great.

That means you had a chair.

But what did you do what was the so

what what impact did you have
that's what's important.

So this is everything.

I'm talking today is not just
about winning the invention prize.

It's winning the life prize which you're
going to do when you go on beyond here.

The so what matters more than the what.

So at the end of the day you have to
break through the barriers in the exact

order that I gave them to you because if
you can't break through the individual

barrier in your head you will never get
to break through the reality barrier.

At the end of the day this is one

of my favorite quotes don't ask
yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself What makes you come alive and

go and do that because that's what the
world needs is people who have come alive.

That's where innovation comes from
you can't fake it and force it.

And the one thing I will tell
you just from years past

in the open it up to questions.

It is very likely that your big
idea that changes the world

has nothing to do with your major has
nothing to do with your expertise.

That's OK I'm an aerospace engineer that
has a water company and a finance company.

I mean we could make it fly.

If we wanted to.

And we use that for all the rocket
science jokes but but it's OK.

Don't put the pressure on yourself
that says Gosh I'm a bioengineering

Major I've got it.

This has to be my breakthrough it doesn't.

When you walk out of these doors
tomorrow spend the day asking yourself

what do I notice.

What would I change about my life and
make it better and

it's usually the simple
Monday non sexy things.

The ones that work.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

Has got questions.

Wow I was that good.

I answered all your questions.

Yeah.

My biggest unfulfilled dream.

I want to be president.

Ited States.

Because I want to change the world.

Yes but that.

What would I do and I'm president
I would change a lot of things I

think that when this country was founded
The idea was that you played your role in

society whether that was a teacher a
doctor a lawyer etc And then when you were

successful you took time out to give back
to the community and after four years.

You went back for more you came and
we got that part wrong.

Politics has become a career and it
shouldn't be because the minute it becomes

a career your human instinct is career
preservation over doing the right thing.

So change.

It may also.

Yeah.

My biggest failure I've had
a lot of them they're good ones.

So take actually on the slide that I had

a tell you a couple failures
on the slide was Sarah.

These this nourish product is
a product that I patented.

And the idea was a spill
proof bottled water for kids.

Anybody that has a child knows why
you would want that because you

live your life with spills
all over the place right.

So I patented this we played around
with it for a while it was a hobby.

Right.

I did on the side I had my real job but
I worked on that and

then one day we ended up with
a customer some I said that's great.

We want to buy it and you know my
first reaction was crap I have to go

make it right and so
we started to make it.

We had our first order we had to
deliver in the next couple weeks and

the products started coming
off the line and the.

Collar was leaking.

Yeah jesus not a big deal except that the
whole product is about spill proof right

kind of ruins the whole thing right and

the problem was it was
coming off the line hot.

So the plastic was warping
on the threading so

I drove down a cow we did County Georgia
pulled everybody together and

said My gosh we've got to fix this right
now most of the people sat there and

held their breath because they thought
I was going to chew them out and

then to them out what would
that accomplish right.

I needed these people
to fix my product not.

And so I said OK well it happens right now
how we're going to fix it because I got to

deliver a product in about two weeks and
so we saw one and half we figured out what

was going wrong got that working and
then everything was going great

week before we deliver we started running
them through the labeling machine and

all the labels were coming off because
the material we were using when it was

hand applied looked great but when the
machine did it it stretched it and it had

too much memory it was trying to go back
to where it was so it's having bubbles.

So the first order of product
that I shipped I hand labeled

at my kitchen table.

I had a whole group of people
sitting there applying labels.

While we fixed it again.

We went back to the label maker we got
to change the material and cetera.

I mean if there's one thing
I gained from Georgia Tech.

I don't remember all my lift and drag
equations from aerospace engineering but

if there's one thing I gained I do still
remember the final that I sat down and.

And it was one question hundred
percent one question and

I had absolutely no frickin
clue how to do that problem and

I remember sitting there thinking this
could be a really long three hours.

Right.

I don't even know where to start.

So I could have like started sweating and
hyperventilating and all that stuff but

instead what do you do you take a deep
breath and you say partial credit.

OK.

You take a deep breath.

What do I know just start filling
up the paper with things I know.

I know this.

I know this.

I know the end game I have
no clue how to bridge the.

But we're going to work through it.

I don't freak out when I have a problem.

I mean any number of these problems
that we had I could've run

around I could have
chewed out my supplier.

Then he would have gotten mad he
would have not wanted to redo it for

me I would have to find another supplier
in the end what I ended up doing.

I pulled together every person that
touched this bottle into a four

hour meeting.

So the guy that fills the water.

The guy that does the labels the guy
that does the and they sat there and

we we walked through I'm the bottle
everything that could happen

to be what could go wrong and
at the end the meeting the guy said.

I've been this business for
thirty years and

I've never been in a meeting
with all these people.

I thought that was
the strangest thing ever.

Why wouldn't you put them in the room
you guys can solve my problem.

I can't.

And so if you include other people.

The biggest fear most entrepreneurs
have is you don't want to

share your idea because somebody wants.

I Got News For You people are busy.

They're not running around
trying to steal your idea.

OK I could have not shared my problems
with them because any one of them

could go do my product without me in
the end I ended up with a team that is so

invested in this product.

I get calls from them because
they come up with an idea now.

I mean think about and I don't pay them
anymore I mean I treated them with respect

I included them in the problem solving and
I created a team that wanted to see

the successful and so part of that was I
shared my idea and it's because somebody

one day said to me if you don't share
your idea how can I help you now.

I mean you don't need to be.

You can have N.D.S. and all that stuff but
the reality is if you don't open the you

by yourself or not as innovative as you
with a lot of knowledgeable people around

you and if I had one other
piece of advice on that front.

When you put a team together somebody
asked me one time what would your dream

team look like my answer was
It would look nothing like me

because if I put a whole bunch of people
together that look and think like me.

I mean I know I.

I'm a pain in the butt I
don't need five more of them

I would put people together
that are the opposite of me.

They're not going to agree with me.

They're going to be a pain.

The whole way they're going
to argue everything I do but

we joke my business partner we joke
that I'm the yes and she's the butt.

But without her.

I'd be flying up here doing all sorts of
crazy stuff and balance each other well

make sure you balance yourself and
that's not easy to do.

You'd rather surround yourself
with people like you but

that's not where you get the best answers.

The first thing I

did after college I went to Japan and
studied Japanese and

worked for the Defense Department and
part of that was driven by.

When I was younger I thought that
it was impressive when people when

adults asked what you want to be
when you grow up I had an answer.

I made it up but I had an answer and
it sounded good but

I was going to have the first female Ph D.
in aerospace engineering teach tech and

somewhere along the way I realized I
didn't really want to be a professor now.

I love teaching I loved engineering but
I loved problem solving more than anything

and I was very lucky that USA Today did
the top twenty students in the country and

I was one of the twenty and so I was
selected by the Defense Department to go

to Japan and you know what I first
said not on the not of my plan.

I'm sorry it's not in my plan and

one of my advisors actually my my
track advisor said you are an idiot.

When are you ever going to get the chance
to do something crazy like go to Japan and

study Japanese.

And get paid for.

And she's like get your butt on the plane
and go over there so I took a chance

went out there and that's when I
realized that I love problem solving.

But I love the business world.

I like to be in more chaotic environments
where there wasn't one right answer and so

I came back and I had a full fellowship to
do a Ph D. in aerospace engineering and

I had even interviewed for jobs not a good
position to be in your senior year.

And I got a couple calls because
the USA Today thing and people said

would you like to go into consulting and
I said I don't know what do you do.

I don't know what a consultant was.

I went to the first
interview with McKinsey and

the guy said if you wanted to
know at any point in time.

How many quarters are in Lenox Mall How
would you figure that out.

And I looked at him and

asked Is that what you do because
that does not sound fun to me I know.

And he died laughing this man in a suit
you know started cracking up and

he's like nobody's ever
asked me that before this.

What's a dumb question I mean
why would I want to do that.

He's like that's not what we do but
we need to see how you think and

I was like Good because
otherwise I was done.

But you know what you just have to be real
because if that's really what they paid

you to do I did not want that job and
I would have been unhappy and so

you know right out attack I ended up going
into consulting what I figured out for

me was that life was a series of figuring
out what I didn't want to do I didn't have

to know what I wanted to do when I grow up
I don't intend to grow up by the way so

I don't have to answer that question.

But I've tried things and
each thing I learn something from and

I figured out what I didn't like and
then I tried something else but

for somebody I came from a family
that was all about planning and

I had my plan and I almost turned down
some really cool experiences because they

weren't on my plan and if I would tell
you if you get a cool experience that

comes up that is something you'd never
what would I never do go to Japan and

study is the one the best
things I ever did.

So if you get a crazy opportunity take it.

Do something off your plan because your

plan may be what's going in
the way of your great idea.

And I did the same thing
coming out of business school.

Another funny story for those of you going
through recruiting I had done a field

study for Disney and Disney was hiring for
financial analysts so

I had to go do the interview because
that was my guy that I worked with so

I walked in the room and the guy said so
what would your dream job be and

I described it to him and
he looked to me and he's like well that's.

Not a financial analyst let's that's
not just me as I wanted to do and

he kind of looked at me like
that's our interview in four and

he walked out of the room and
came back and I thought

the interviewer leaving the room in the
mill of the interview is not a good sign.

Right.

That's over and he came back in and
he said OK I am leaving Boston tomorrow at

noon before I leave the hotel I want you
to have a one page written description of

your dream job and we're going to
see if we can make it happen and

my dream job was actually to
work with Eisener And you know.

And they came back with an offer
to work with Judson Green who was

number two to Eisener and
basically do strategy work for Disney.

I didn't end up doing that for personal
reasons that I want to live in L.A.

or Orlando.

But what it changes the perspective of
is when you think about your job and

you see all these job postings.

It's kind of stupid if you think about
it that you're supposed to go in and

make yourself fit the box.

We set about thinking outside
the box right there is the box.

You're not going to fit a job
description person perfectly.

It's OK to tell somebody
what you want to do.

Shockingly enough they may
just try to find it for you

because most companies won't really bright
people and they'll find a good role for

him but if you play the game they lay out
why would they ever go around it for you.

You're the one that's
got to break the game.

If you want to do what you
really want to do anything else.

Yeah.

Of whose ideas yours.

I'm happy to.

I'm happy to and I can give you
my contact information I actually

teach here part time in
the management school.

So I'm around and I'm happy to give
you my contact information and help.

I mean I very often have people call and
say can I.

Yeah I'm good at that.

Yes.