Do you know how great innovation happens? Sometimes, it is through the mundane actions and ideas people have. They see a problem, process a simple yet never-implemented idea, and then create a pathway forward.
But there are others who have these strange, crazy, wild ideas. Once implemented, these ideas change the world.
Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash
One of the strangest ideas I’ve heard was recalled in the book Satellite Boy. Harold Rosen is known as the father of the geostationary satellite and the communications satellite. One day, Rosen saw a boy spinning in a circle while urinating. Seeing the young boy urinate gave Rosen an idea of how to reduce a satellite’s weight while keeping it in orbit. This strange inspiration also gave him an idea of how to keep the satellite in orbit through discharge.
Can you believe someone saw this and thought about a satellite? More crazy is that he found a way to make our satellites stay in orbit after seeing this!
What Strange Idea Do You Need To Implement?
We all have those crazy or strange ideas bouncing around our minds. One of my ideas was for a sensor to turn on your windshield wipers when it senses rain. I had this idea 25 or 30 years ago. I never acted on it because I thought the idea was practical but too strange.
The idea pops back into my mind ever so often. One of those times, I Googled to see if automatic windshield wipers were a thing.
Guess what? My strange idea is already a reality. There are vehicles out there with windshield wipers that turn on automatically.
You probably have a few strange ideas brewing inside your brain. Ideas that are itching to get out. Maybe they’re theories on how to run a business better. You might have the idea of:
- Increasing staff to reduce the overall overhead
- Decreasing staff to see if it increases productivity
- Shifting your core business to something outside of the core competencies of your organization
These ideas may not be as strange or radical as you think. They may be precisely what your organization needs to thrive in the competitive landscape.
While it may seem crazy to cut staff to improve productivity, you might discover that overall productivity goes up by losing three underperformers and hiring one overperformer. By increasing your staff, you may discover you’ve opened up new space for your people to excel and the extra profits reduce the financial strain.
Wild and crazy ideas can be fun to toss around in your mind. Know what’s even more fun? Implementing those crazy ideas and seeing them succeed.
I’m interested to hear what strange and crazy ideas you have percolating in your mind. I know you have a lot of great ideas. If you’re willing to share, I’d love to have you reach out and share them with me at [email protected].
Toss the idea over. We can discuss it, mull it over, and see where the idea could go. Let’s make some crazy things happen.
