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The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. Innovation is About Mind Set and Lifestyle Being an innovator means having an open mind to new experiences. A few years ago, a friend of mine returned from visiting her family in Greece. Knowing I loved to try new wines, she brought me a bottle she said was her parents’ favorite. She told me it was called retsina. It was a white wine, and I was anx- ious to try it. So after letting it chill, I opened it and gave it a sniff. It had a pleasant aroma of crushed pine nee- dles. I then poured a small amount in a glass, swirled it, sniffed again, and took a generous quaff. My taste buds reacted violently. It was horrible. I rushed to the sink and spit it out. My first thought was the wine had gone bad. As I thought more about it, I realized it did not taste like vinegar which would indicate it had spoiled. Instead, it tasted like paint remover. The label was in Greek, so I couldn’t read it. I called a friend who is a wine expert and said, “I’ve been given a bottle of retsina wine from Greece.” He imme- diately replied, “Tastes like turpentine, doesn’t it?” “Yes,” I said, “has it gone bad?” He laughed, “No, it’s supposed to taste that way; it’s flavored with pine pitch.” My next inclination was to dump the whole thing down the kitchen sink, but I hesitated. I recalled my friend saying it was her parents’ favorite. This meant it couldn’t be all bad. I then remembered how often I tell people, to think like an innovator, you have to be open-minded to new things. Thinking I should practice what I preach, I decided to give the wine anoth- er shot. And, it is exactly what I did. I drank it one shot at time. Every few days, I would drink a very small glass. The bottle lasted nearly a month. By the time I reached the end of the bottle, it no longer tasted repulsive - it was merely unique. Now, whenever I eat in a Greek restaurant, I’ll order a glass of retsina wine. I’ve got to say, it tastes much better with food. Thinking like an innovator means exposing yourself to unusual things, new experiences, and different points of view. It’s a lifestyle that sets the stage for creative thinking. New concepts gener- ally come from synthesizing two or more existing ideas. The more diverse your knowledge, the more concepts you have to combine into something new. The Greek idea of adding pine resin to wine, according to my friend the expert, was the result of some creative thinking under duress. When the Romans invaded Greece in 146 B.C., they looted all the valuables, including wine. Prior to the invention of oak wine barrels, the Greeks would store and preserve their wine in crockery sealed with pine pitch, which inevitably flavored it. At the time of the invasion, most Greeks had up- graded to using barrels, although some still stored it the old-fashioned way. No surprise to me, the Romans didn’t care for the wine sealed with pine resin, so they didn’t take it. To keep the Romans from plundering any more wine, the Greeks started adding it to all their wi nes . Ove r t he years, the Greeks came to love the unique f lavor of retsina wine, so they have continued the practice of adding pine resin to some of their wines. When you ex- perience new things, you generate new information and data you store in your brain. Each new experience literally opens new neural pathways - electri- cal connections - between the brain cells. To think cre- atively, you need a variety of knowl- edge to draw from. The more com- fortable you become with exposure to new things, the more unique combina- tions will automati- cally occur to you as you go through life. Seeing new ways of doing things is a mind set you’ l l develop as you l ive the innovator ’s lifestyle. Try something new today, perhaps a glass of turpentine wine - oops, I mean retsina. Robert Robert is an author, humorist, and innovation consultant. He works with companies that want to be more com- petitive and with people who want to think like innovators. For more information on Robert, visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com or contact him via e-mail at michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 39 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JANUARY 2015