It's time to innovate!

My team hates when I go on vacation of take off for the holidays. That means I actually have time to think. For the last 6 days I have been able to disconnect from the office (thanks to the team!), disconnect from business on the side (thanks to great partners) and disconnect from extended family. I took the immediate family on a trip to Asheville, NC to enjoy some family time. We toured the Biltmore, went shopping (ugh!), found a couple of geocaches, ate some ice-cream, watch The Biggest Loser finale, discovered what AAA is all about, swam in the indoor pool at the hotel, watched the filming of an HGTV commercial, and went to Build-A-Bear for yet 2 more stuffed animals that I'll end up selling at the Yard Sale for $1 each(if I'm lucky)!

But during all that I had time to think. And here's the epiphany of this trip.

It's time to Innovate! What is that you ask? Look it up!

Scott Berkun says this:
Not sure how to start? It’s with more questions. Useful questions for innovators include:

* Why is it done this way?
* Who started it and why?
* What alternatives did they consider, and what idea did their new idea replace?
* What are my, or my friend’s, biggest complaints with how we do this thing, and what changes might make it better?
* How is this done in other towns, countries, cultures, or eras of time?
* What different assumptions did they make or constraints did they have?
* How can I apply any of the above to what I do?

Many great innovators asked better questions than everyone else, and that’s part of why they were successful. It wasn’t genius, whatever that means, special top-secret brain exercises they did every morning, or even how much money they had. It was through the dedicated pursuit of answers to simple questions that they found ideas already in the world that might be of use.

So, Team... I'm glad you missed me. I can only hope we have time to innovate!