WorldWide Drilling Resource

The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. Why Innovate? In the late 1970s, my mother was working at a children’s hospital. She came home every day and shared stories of the kids she worked with. One night, my sister dreamed the children in the hospital were playing with dolls who were sick or injured. The dolls were like them - with band- ages and casts, surgery scars, and intravenous (IV) tubes in their arms. Dolls that had to use crutches or a wheelchair. She told my mother about it. Mom saw it as a great idea. She envisioned dolls with a variety of health challenges her patients at the hospital could relate to. She thought the dolls would help children with illnesses and disabilities feel better about their condition - to be able to play with dolls that looked like them. Dolls that were not perfect. Mom also thought it might be a way our family could make some money after my father lost his construction business. My mother took the idea very seriously and hired artists to create drawings of the various dolls. She consulted patent at- torneys, manufacturers, marketing experts, and public relations agencies. Her concept was to initially go to market with a girl doll and a boy doll that would each have common surgery scars with stitches. They would come with VELCRO ® bandages, snap-on casts, eye patch, crutches, wheelchair, and IV bottle with pole as accessories. Eventually, she produced a detailed proposal for a line of disabled dolls. She presented it to every doll maker and toy company in the United States. To her disap- pointment, they all turned her down. None of them thought there was enough of a market for them to make a profit. She was simply ahead of her time, because today - 40 years later - there are several manufacturers of disabled dolls. I have mentioned before in this column there are three times we are most likely to be innovative: by necessity, out of cu- riosity, and to make money. Making money is the most intentional way in which people innovate. If you want to make money with innovation, you need to solve a problem a lot of people have. You’ve heard the famous proverb, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." It’s true, but you need to find a problem you can solve. In my speeches and workshops on creative-thinking and innovation, I offer some suggestions to my audiences on how to find a good problem to solve. I ask them to think about all the tasks they do every day whether it is at work or home. I then say, “I’ll bet there is at least one of those tasks that you hate to do.” This typically gets a quick response as several people will blurt out some job or chore they detest. I then suggest that if they hate doing the thing, then there are probably countless other people who hate it as well, which means they have now identified a problem that needs solving - a solution which might become a million dollar idea. I love the story of Sara Blakely, who first solved a problem for herself, and then realized it solved the same problem for many other women. In 1998, she was required to wear pantyhose as a sales representative in Florida. She liked control-top pantyhose for how they eliminated panty lines when wearing pants and made her body appear firmer, but she didn’t care for the appearance of the seamed foot when wearing open-toed shoes. She also didn’t like how warm they made her feel. Then one day while getting ready for a party, she got the idea to simply cut the feet off with a pair of scissors. It worked. The bottom of the hose rode up her legs, but she got the look she wanted. I would’ve suggested duct tape for holding the bottoms down, but Sara is smarter than me; she found a real solution, then created the multibillion dollar company SPANX ® . If you want to make money - innovate - find a problem and solve it. Find something no one has solved before, or solve it better than it has been done in the past. There are other ways to innovate - you can look for ways to improve your exist- ing business to make it more profitable. Maybe it’s a better way to market your product or service. Perhaps a new use for an old product. You might find a more cost-effective method of production. The greater your determination, the more likely you are to succeed. Go for it! Robert Robert is an author, humorist, and innovation consultant. He works with companies that want to be more competitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert, visit www.RobWilsonSpeaker.com or contact him via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Contact Information: Dean Robbins Phone: (512) 472-7437 • Fax: (512) 472-0537 E-mail: drobbins@twca.org • www.tgwa.org TGWA Annual Convention & Trade Show January 23-25, 2019 San Marcos Embassy Suites & Conference Center San Marcos, TX Trade Show, the Latest Industry Technologies, Policy/Rule Updates, Education Classes for Water Well Drillers and Pump Installers, Golf/Bowling Tournament, Auction, &More! todevelop, promote, and protect Texas groundwater 20 JANUARY 2019 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Jan / Ronnie, Thanks for all you guys do for the industry and for each advertising com- pany! Allan Skouby VP Sales & Marketing GeoPro, Inc.