Don't be "normal"
One of my favorite books is "Paper Airplane" The title, "a lesson for flying outside the box" is difficult for most people and organizations to accomplish. However, history proves that creative breakthroughs in science, technology and business only occur when people challenge the accepted norm and take action.
In the book Paper Airplane, young Michael shares how his sixth grade teacher, Mrs.. Hackett, spent an entire week teaching the class aerodynamics. To complete the lesson, she organized a paper airplane contest. The kids were given a sheet of construction paper and 15 minutes to build the "winning" plane.
They all went to work carefully folding their paper...hoping to create the wining plane that would travel the farthest. Before long everyone was ready to go outside to start the contest...nearly everyone. Jeff, a unique young man who marched to the beat of a different drummer, hadn't made one fold in his paper. He was staring out the window...thinking.
To give him a little more time, Mrs.. Hackett told Jeff he could go last. The contest was interesting on many levels. Some of the planes barley flew while others did surprising well. One thing was certain - the line was thinning down and Jeff was still holding a flat piece of construction paper.
Before long Jeff was the only remaining contestant. With great anticipation, the class watched as Jeff approached with his craft well hidden behind his back. "The goal whose piece of paper could travel the farthest". Then he stepped to the window and exposed his master piece...a flat piece of paper. But as the class started to snicker, Jeff confidently wadded up the paper into a ball and threw it farther and any plane had flown. The crowd went wild!
Jeff demonstrated a new way of interpreting a problem and had the courage to act on his vision.
Just like a sixth grade class we can get stuck in what we have always known. It's easy to stay there, our industry tells us what to do, our competition reacts and we react accordingly. To redefine ourselves we must think outside of the box. "Curiosity" is one of the greatest words in the English language!
One of my favorite quotes;
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
Have a great weekend!
Scott McGohan
