Push the Envelope

Just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean you can't try it. There's no such thing as a stupid idea: Look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a hugely successful children's cartoon. It's an utterly ridiculous idea; turtles are one of the slowest creatures around, yet the idea to use them as fearless heroes appealed to children and was marketed brilliantly. If that idea can fly, anything can become a success.

This is one of the keys to solving challenges—coming up with new ways to do things. You don't have to come up with a new cartoon or the next Post-it note, just consider trying a new tactic that's used in another industry. For instance, women's advisory groups had been around in other industries, but no one at Diana Ruddick's company (Chapter 9, "Command Attention") had heard about them before; when she got these groups going, she doubled the pool of recruits in a career that had previously appealed mostly to men. That earned her the eternal gratitude of her boss and added to her clout in the company. Perhaps there's a technology or marketing idea that has not yet been adopted at your company; it could provide answers to a host of problems—and get you noticed!