Laurie Beth Jones Blog

This is a photo of the magazine rack in my studio. It is important to surround yourself with visual reminders of what you love and aspire to learn or become, and/or places you want to go. I am an avid devotee of magazine racks, having purchased them in styles ranging from leather to contemporary to rustic to antique to steel. You name it.
I’ve either seen it, or bought it, at some point in my life.

This one I am particularly fond of because I thought of it myself. It is not a magazine rack at all, really, but a $20 Ikea wooden twin bed frame, hung vertically on the wall. It is naturally curved, which allows me to easily place my magazines there, and is large enough to hold multiple issues of visual delight.

Perhaps if the designers at Ikea knew it could be used as a magazine rack, as well as a never- to- be- seen- once- it- is- in- use bed frame, it would cost more than $20. However, the essence of leadership is seeing one thing, and visualizng mutiple uses for it.

Apply your creative and innovative eye to your world, today, and every day. It is fun, and ultimately practical, too.

Innovation By Rhonda York, Requested by Laurie Beth Jones

Recently, two of my big corporate clients were looking for ways to reinvent themselves, grow and make some significant changes in their business. The two CEO’s that I am coaching often use the word innovation. I think we hear this term a lot lately, especially with our strained economy. The economy is forcing us to look at things differently and be more creative.

My usual behavior after a coaching session is to play the conversation over and over in my head until I have an ah-ha moment. The light bulb literally flashes in my head. Well on this day when I was doing some yard work and seeing a 4-foot snake skin lying across the path to my tool shed brought me to a different place of enlightenment, to say the least.

When I stopped to check out this empty snake skin I thought back to my two CEO’s. No, not because I think they are snakes, I really enjoy coaching these two men. But, because of their strong desire to have their companies be more innovative.  I thought about how they really need to shed some of their “old” skin; their old ways of thinking, believing and doing things in business. Webster’s Dictionary defines innovation as making a positive, substantial change in something or creating something new. For me the key word is ‘substantial’. We all make changes daily, but are our changes substantial, positive, creative and bring value?

What do we need to shed to make room for innovation in our lives and business? If you are operating out of tradition,  old habits and in a rut, chances are you are NOT being innovative. Change is scary. It means taking a risk and possible failure. Most of us are afraid of failure because it could lead to rejection, embarrassment and negative judgment from our peers and family. For companies to encourage and breed innovation, an atmosphere must be present that encourages change and failure. If we always succeed, we limit our learning opportunities. When we fail, we learn what doesn’t work, what needs to be done differently and how to move forward in a different direction.

The snake that left its old skin behind or the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly doesn’t do so without some struggle. This is how they grow and become stronger by going through the process of leaving the old behind and becoming something new and different. They move on to a new place in a new body. So, my challenge to you is become dissatisfied with the status quo and become excited about facing challenges. Get emotionally involved in the changes you want to make. Develop and write out your vision so that you can visualize it in your mind and communicate it to your team. Feel the excitement, but also feel the fear and step through it. What are your goals for innovation?