Reality TV as innovation

Innovative ideas all around me....something I’ve been thinking about lately are Reality TV shows, those are extremely creative. Ideas built off of those shows have lead to other Reality shows. I don’t much like Rock of Love or Biggest Loser, no….I’m instead addicted to Project Runway and Top Chef. I’ve been intrigued since the very beginning. I don’t know a thing about fashion and I don’t own a sewing machine, I have no idea where the sewing needles are and I’m not a professional chef, but what I love about these shows is the level of creativity and innovation. How can you create a wearable runway outfit in 24 hours? How can you make a gourmet meal out of weird surprise ingredients? We might all be able to learn something about innovation from shows like these or Celebrity Apprentice, even Survivor.

I honestly haven’t been very innovative at home, besides in the kitchen. I can tell you an idea my husband implemented though that I thought was dumb until I realized it actually worked. Instead of buying a door draft guard, he created one using a rolled up blanket and our foot mat. He started with the rolled up blanket first, but it wasn’t the best idea. Then - I didn’t understand the reason why he started to put the foot mat on the blanket, but I realized that it’s because the mat has a rubber bottom & is what is keeping the blanket tight up against the door. Admittedly – no more drafts. However, it is a bit of a pain in the butt to get it back to the “right” way after opening the door.

I’ve learned so much in this class. I’ve learned that an idea doesn’t have to be loud or scream out at you, it can be simple and have been obvious all along. It could be a puzzle (metaphorically speaking) and rearranging the pieces could spark even more ideas. You could think of an idea on your own, you could think of an idea while researching something not even related (this happened a lot for me), or think of something new from just one person saying “have you thought about it this way?” You could brainstorm with a group; you could build off of another idea. Your idea might not work, but you can learn from that. My personal goal and my goal as a leader, is to continue to encourage all of the above.