Innovation is Everybody's Business: How to Make Yourself Indispensable in Today's Hypercompetitive World

Chapter 8. Become an Idea Factory: How to Produce an Abundance of Great Ideas Even If You Don't Think You Are Creative

Have you taken your "Doug Day" lately?

I've shared the "Doug Day" method with audiences and clients all over the world. It amazes me how many people respond to this story. One client e-mailed me after a speech to his colleagues gathered in Houston. "After your workshop everyone kept joking about, 'Hey, you need to take a Doug Day. Or a Sylvia Day. Or a Sven Day or a Daniel Day.' Throughout the conference, people kept up the ribbing."

Who is Doug? What is his day? Doug Greene is chairman of New Hope Communications, a fast-growing natural foods company based in Colorado. I asked him where he gets ideas.

"Once a month I schedule what I refer to as a Doug Day," he said. "I create a block of time where I have absolutely nothing to do. I have no appointments; I'll go to another city or to a different environment. And I'll sit and draw or whatever my first instincts are to do. I think about my team. Do we have the right people on the bus and in the right seats? I think about my level of passion and what's going on with my energy level. Am I burning out? Where do I need to make changes? How are we doing against delivering on our strategic plan? I think about opportunities. And I have to say that if I hadn't taken those Doug Days since I started this company, I wouldn't have had nearly the success that we've enjoyed, and I wouldn't have nearly the quality of life."

Imagine how ...