Daily Inspiration: “When a solution seems impossible, flip the problem upside down!”

“When a solution seems impossible, flip the problem upside down!” – #Futurist Jim Carroll

When your idea machine runs dry, turn your imagination machine the other way around!

Sometimes we get too locked into viewing our world and the potential challenges it might present with the same old lens. But the simple act of viewing things from an entirely different direction can often result in a suddenly new viewpoint that wasn’t previously possible.

Of course, I don’t spend my time on stage standing on my head, but I do spend a lot of time talking about going ‘upside down.’ (A shoutout to the awesome photography skills of my son Willie! Check him out @wcfotography – I sent him a message at 5pm last night and asked him to flip me around!)

Consider the concept of upside-down innovation – which is the theme of my post today in my video series “Insight 2020: Leadership Strategies for the Era of Acceleration.” The key concept actually revolves around an idea I explored when Disney invited me in to share my insight. What a client to have on my roster – a master of imagination and creativity seeking my views on, well, imagination and creativity!

Back to the point: our view of the world around us and the trends that might impact us are often frozen, locked into a particular viewpoint from a particular perspective.

And when you keep on looking at things the same old way through the same old lens, don’t you end up with the same old results? Didn’t that Einstein fellow have something to say about that?

Turn things around – look at the world in a different way, examine the problem from a different direction, and you might suddenly discover something new!

Going upside-down is a powerful concept for personal growth — because it challenges you to do things differently.

More important, it pushes you into a mindset where you are pursuing things with a fresh and unique perspective – leading to better insight, more powerful ideas, and a different way of thinking things through!