Remember the last time a song popped into your head?
Yesterday I was standing at my desk (Yes, I sit and slouch at the desk too) writing page 36 of a project I’m working on, tapping away into google docs, and a song came into my head.
Maybe more like a rhyme than a song.
“Da, da, da, daaa… stop, drop and roll…”
This was a rhyme they taught us when we were growing up, should we ever catch on fire (!).
“If you’re clothes catch on fire, just stop, drop and roll…”
I thought for a second, “well, it’s nice I haven’t had to use this yet…”
Then I started to think about this idea of innovation, which is really bringing small creative breakthroughs into a live setting in your work.
A huge part of innovation then is that “breakthrough” part. Or “breaking” something that’s already happening.
I started to think that maybe the clothes-on-fire drill could double as an innovation primer.
You’re about to go into a meeting with a colleague.
What happens if you stop for a second? You break the chain of everyday events.
Then you drop – you back away from your normal pattern? You drop the habitual thinking, speaking, acting for a moment.
Then, before you move forward, you roll – you see if you can change your perspective? What am I missing here? What is important at this time? If I came in fresh, how would I really approach this?
It’s nice to not catch fire – and until we do, maybe we can still use the insight they instilled in our little minds all those years ago to make things better today.
