“Where do you get your business ideas?”
I was puzzled. England is not always an easy place to launch a new business. On one hand, the legal framework is clearly documented. However, logistics, building buyer awareness, and the cost of doing business are big unknowns. In this context, my friend was a wealth of ideas and possibilities.
“I’ll let you in on my secret. Periodically, when I am in New York, I pick up a new copy of the yellow pages. Reading the advertisements is a great source for ideas that are working there that we do not have here.”
I sat quietly. I could see what I had been blind to only a few moments earlier. There are good ideas on display everywhere! Service examples exist in one industry, waiting for another to adopt what works. Solutions to conundrums are found in one country, freely available for adoption by anyone anywhere. Thinking, intelligence, and working examples can be found if one is willing to look.
When I reflect on my openness to possibilities, I find myself looking first in a narrow corridor defined by others. Initially I took comfort in the assumption that my blinders were shaped by business, industry, or immediate context. As I looked deeper into the mirror I realized that my blinders are always on unless I intentionally take them off. A writer reminds me of the obvious that I see when I am looking with openness. “God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12.5)
My day dawns with unlimited and unknown possibilities. Each is waiting for your and my discovery. There are great ideas waiting to be adopted. There are lessons available for our use. There are examples of what can work as well as what doesn’t.
You and I are on journeys of discovery. We have the freedom to see, adopt, and put ideas into action. It is a mission worthy of our best. We can be agents of change. We can be part of a great story beyond ourselves.
