Innovator's Mantra

The Innovator’s Mantra

 

True innovators have a mantra: “The enemy of the best is the good.” They are constantly daring to make things better. What others call impossible they see a probable. They live out of their imaginations – not their memories. They live to challenge the commonly accepted. They assume nothing. They see no limits. To them, everything is possible.

 

If you want to be a leader, I have a simple suggestion: Just keep innovating. Innovate at work, Innovate at home, Innovate in your relationships. Innovate in the way you run your life. Innovate in terms of the way you see the world. To become stagnant is to being to die. Growth, evolution and reinvention sustain life. Sure it can be scary. But wouldn’t you rather feel your fear than play small with your life?

 

There’s no safety in being the same person today that you were yesterday. That’s just an illusion that ends up breaking your heart when you get to the end of your life and realize that you missed out living it boldly. Lasting fulfilment lives out in the unknown. When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me: “It’s risky out on the limb. But son, - that’s where all the fruit is.” And to play out on the skinny branch, you need to innovate. Daily. Relentlessly.

 

Of course, the more you innovate and refuse to be bound by the chains of complacency, the more you will fail. Not every risk you take and not everything you try will work out as planned. That’s just life happening. Failure truly is essential to success. And the more you stretch, the farther you will reach. Failure is a gift anyway. Failure has been so helpful to me. It’s taken me closer to my dreams, equipped me with more knowledge and toughened me up so I’m more prepared. Success and failure go hand in hand. They are business partners.

 

One of the pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline’s organization values is “disturb”. Love it. Companies that don’t innovate don’t survive, so the key is driving this innovation. The lesion is especially important when things are going well. Though it’s counterintuitive, successful companies actually need to be more innovative than competition. It’s like kids playing king of the hill – everyone aims for the kid at the top. Leaders that don’t innovate are displaced by those willing to take risks. “So go to work each day and refuse to do the same thing you did yesterday – just because it was what you did yesterday. Keep challenging yourself to thing better, do better and better. Shape things up. Confront your limitations. Refuse to be average. Stand for what’s best. Commit to being breathtakingly great in all you do. And that’s what you’ll become. Sooner that you think.

 

“There’s no safety in being the same person today that you were yesterday. That’s just an illusion that ends up breaking your heart”

 

Make people feel good

MAKE PEOPLE FEEL GOOD

 

People do business with people who make them feel good. Human beings are creatures of emotion. We want to be with those who make us feel happy and special and cared for and safe.

 

There are two people I want to introduce you to: a farmer name Steve and Jake the variety store owner, two people who know more about business building than most CEOs. Steve sells pumpkins. I live in Canada, and every autumn the kids and I hop into our car and drive half an hour to get our Halloween pumpkins from this farmer who never seems to grow older. Sure we could get our pumpkins from the local grocery store five minutes from our home. But then we’d miss the feelings that Steve generates within us. He remembers our names. He makes us laugh. He tells us stories. He reminds us of what’s best in the world (farmers are good at that). And we drive away with a big batch of pumpkins and joy in our hearts. By the way, Steve’s business is unbelievably successful.

 

Next comes Jake. Jake runs a variety store. When the kids and I go in, he greets us by name. He knows our birthdays (records them in a little black book). Jake orders magazines like Dwell, Azure and Business 2.0 especially for me (no extra charge, of course). His manners are flawless. He always smiles. He makes us feel good. There are at least five other corner stores in our neighborhood, but Jake is a master at relationship-building. So he has our loyalty. Oh, and the guy’s a millionaire.

 

Being good is being wise. It’s a smart business strategy. So be like Steve. Model Jake. Make people feel good about doing business with you. You’ll lead the field. You’ll have fun doing it. And it’s just the right thing to do.

 

Makes me thing of the words etched on a slip of paper one seminar participant handed to me after an event a few months ago that read simply: “Do good and leave behind a virtue that the storm of time can never destroy.” I asked him who authored those worlds. His reply was brief: “the wisest person I’ve ever known – my grandfather”.

 

“Do good and leave behind a virtue that the storm of time can never destroy”