Be Outrageous, It’s the Only Place That’s Not Crowded
My previous entry focused on innovation as a way of helping you stand out in a crowd. I also discussed how wearing a bathrobe at a black tie event can have the same effect.
In my Goal-Free Living book, I interviewed a successful entrepreneur (and now a good friend), Mikki Williams. Mikki is the master at standing out in a crowd. But it is not a tactic; it just comes naturally. Here is a brief excerpt from the book.
I met Mikki Williams in her apartment high above Lake Michigan in Chicago. The first thing I noticed upon walking into her place was that she collected lips. Lots of lips. This is a hobby she started more than 20 years ago, which has permeated her home and work, including a five-foot lip couch (see photo) and assorted other lip accessories—from toilet seats to artwork.
The next thing I noticed when walking into Mikki’s place was Mikki. She had big hair. Really big hair. Mikki is someone who lives by the motto, Carpe diem! She joked, “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. My ultimate goal will be realized when the check to the undertaker—bounces!”
“I like to say, ‘Be outrageous, it’s the only place that’s not crowded.’ That’s the way I live my life. I dress outrageously and have crazy hair. But it’s not that I try to be this way. This is who I am. I am just being me.”
Eventually, Mikki took her life experiences onto the public speaking circuit. But Mikki was not your typical speaker. She looked like Bette Midler and definitely stood out in a crowd. One day she received a call from a Wall Street Journal reporter who was doing an article on the speaking industry during the recession.
“Why me?” she asked the journalist. “Because you stand out. You look different.”
When the article was published, Mikki’s face was featured on the front page! This launched her speaking career.
Too often, we try to fit in with the crowd. We play it safe. But innovation is about taking risks while being true to you. This takes confidence. And it takes the belief that your “style” is what the world needs and wants. Yes, taking this risk may help you stand out. More importantly, it may be the ticket to your success.
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Innovation Can Help You Stand Out in a Crowd
Innovation can help your organization improve its products, processes, or business model. But maybe, innovation’s greatest strength is helping you stand out from the crowd.
Let me give you a personal example where I learned this by accident.
A few years back, when I lived in London, I was a member of a hip and trendy club. Basically it was a gorgeous four story house with comfy sofas where members gathered for food, drinks, and social events. Their annual Academy Awards parties were so popular, they were by invitation only. One year I was fortunate enough to receive mine in the mail.
The invitation read: “DJ or PJs.” In England, a DJ is a dinner jacket/tuxedo. PJs are obviously pajamas. With the 8 hour time zone difference between London and Los Angeles, the event went from 11PM until 6AM. Given how late the event started, I assumed everyone would opt for comfy PJs rather than stuffy DJs. That day I purchased a relatively inexpensive – and loud – yellow silk bath robe, blue pajamas, an ascot, and slippers. You can see the finished product in the photo left.
I arrived at the event around midnight – fashionably late. The crowd had already gathered. The two bouncers at the door verified I was on the guest list and let me in. Both were wearing tuxedos. I walked in and immediately saw a buddy of mine who worked at the club. He too was wearing a tux. I took a quick glance around. Everyone was in black tie. I asked him, “Um, is anyone else here wearing pajamas?” Without saying a word, he simply shook his head. I could tell he pitied me.
My instinct told me to leave. It was a very awkward and uncomfortable situation. But instead of running, I grabbed a glass of champagne and strutted in like I owned the place. All heads turned and looked at me. I thought I heard a gasp or two from the crowd. Then immediately, people walked up to me to introduce themselves. The guys whispered something to the effect of, “I wanted to wear pajamas, but I just didn’t have the cojones.” By the end of the night, I knew everyone. Everyone wanted to have their picture taken with me. Even the local “movie stars” in the room weren’t as popular.
Innovate to Stand Out
Afterwards I reflected on this experience and how it could be applied to business innovation. What I realized is that at a black tie affair, a tuxedo – no matter how pricy or fancy it is – will always stand out less than an inexpensive bathrobe.
For many, innovation is about designing a better tuxedo. “Hey, we’re in the 8 track tape market. Let’s create 8 track HD.” Or, “Windows XP has been out for a few years, I guess it must time for a newer, more powerful operating system.”
One problem is, as Clayton Christensen described in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma, companies innovate faster than customers lives change. As a result, products become over priced and overly complex (Office 2007 is a perfect example).
The winners are those who create something low cost and simple, yet different.
Be forewarned, being different may feel uncomfortable. Just as I wanted to leave a seemingly embarrassing situation, businesses want to kill all ideas that don’t fit the “mold.” Instead, play with these ideas. Don’t dismiss them too quickly. Have the courage to explore them – even if it takes a bit of champagne to get up the nerve.
I am not suggesting that you be different for the sake of being different. That only creates a short lived fad. But if you are not #1 in your industry, your innovations should set you apart from the competition. Trying to emulate the company you are chasing will only exhaust your resources.
To stimulate some creative thinking, ask, “How can we create something…
- that leverages our core strengths?
- that solves a pervasive customer pain?
- of lower cost and lower complexity than the competition?
- that sets us apart from the crowd?
Remember, sometimes the best innovations are those that are simple, low cost – and fundamentally different. Instead of better tuxedos, maybe people just want bathrobes.
P.S. Although it has been several years since that event, I still wear the same bathrobe almost daily. Not only was the bathrobe less expensive than a tuxedo, it proved to be much more practical.
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Creative Valentine’s Day Gifts
Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Do you know what to get your loved one? If not, definitely read this article written by my good friend – and creative genius – Ed Bernacki. He provides 3 simple yet powerful creativity tools for finding the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Enjoy.
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If you’ve ever purchased a Valentine’s Day gift that failed to impress a partner, perhaps you should consider how creative thinking tools can help you select a gift that will be rewarded, not ignored.
Picking the right gift is an exercise in problem solving. Research shows that we tend to repeat the same problem-solving mistakes:
- We get the definition of the problem wrong and hence solve the wrong problem.
- We jump on a solution assuming we already have the answer.
- We fail to notice the implications of our solutions.
Harness your imagination to find more innovative Valentine’s Day gifts. Treat this as an exercise in problem solving. To start, your vision is to conceive a solution that will recognize and reward your partner in a way that leads to the maximum benefit to all involved.
Tool #1: Make the implicit assumptions explicit
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Crazy Goals Drive Your Crazy
“43Things.com,” a community-based online to-do list, allows you to list your top goals in life. A blog reader, Antony, culled some interesting statistics from that website.
- 5,716 people set the goal: “Decide what the hell I would like to do with the rest of my life.”
- 21,100 people set the goal: “Stop procrastinating”
What’s funny about the second goal – stop procrastinating – is that I once quoted Paul Graham as saying, “The to-do list is itself a form of type-B (something less important) procrastination.”
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Do We Get Less Creative As We Age?
In an earlier blog post, I included a quote from Voltaire. He once said, “Man can only have a certain number of teeth, hairs, and ideas. There comes a time when he necessarily loses his teeth, his hair, and his ideas.” This quote sparked a small debate between 2 blog readers.
Dr.YKK chimed in with, “I don’t agree with Voltaire on the ideas part. As Einstein says, ideas are unlimited. I would like to add, ‘at whatever age.’ We don’t lose ideas, we gain ideas and wisdom with age.”
Gareth Garvey responded with, “Maybe the number of ideas we can have is unlimited. Our problem can be that as we get older we can find it harder to accept new ideas and end up rejecting our own ideas before we have voiced them. We need to remind ourselves to think young, at least some of the time.”
This is an interesting debate. In some respects, both perspectives are correct.
I have found that there are two factors that inhibit our ability to think creatively as adults: 1) knowledge/expertise, and 2) the need to look good.
Expertise is the Enemy of Creativity
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