Originate, Motivate, Innovate

CHAPTER 6Resist Being Average: Play Your Cards Right

A great idea is not automatically equal to great results. Resist being average at all times. I worked in an after‐school program in Southeast, DC, when the Let's Move! campaign launched. It was a White House initiative with the mission to provide more healthy lunch options in public schools. Schools began serving foods such as salmon, green vegetables, different kinds of pastas, and various fruit selections. So, I ask, did the mission achieve its goal? Yes, it did. There were more healthy lunch options in public schools. Unfortunately, the “solution” was a product of oversimplifying the problem therefore leading to shallow planning and execution, which leads to mediocre results. We must ask the tough question—did the campaign realize its purpose? No, it did not. I saw those students throw that food in the trash, every day, over and over. We can't simply replace a “bad thing” with a “good thing” and think that people are just going to adapt to it. Change only occurs with a multifaceted approach; however, a multifaceted approach involves above‐average thinking, planning, and execution. While the idea was formed with great intentions and with an ideal social impact mission, the architects of the Let's Move! campaign ignored several critical structural problems. First, students' families weren't included in the movement. Efforts to educate families on the benefits of eating that type of food were minimal at best. Second, there ...