Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Try something New

What should you be doing differently?

Melon: Impossible

In a post at It's a Hard Knox Life, blogger Dave Knox discusses the curious case of Japan's square watermelons. You read that correctly. With retail and refrigerator space at a premium, farmers decided that there must be a more efficient way to package the traditionally oblong fruit. And it didn't require any genetic wizardry, either—all you have to do is grow the watermelon in a square box and it will take on the right-angled shape. Simple, eh? They're also cheaper to ship and command premium pricing.

According to Knox, this tale of thinking inside the box comes with a few key takeaways:

  • Don't assume anything. Just because you've always done things a certain way, that doesn't mean there aren't other ways to reach a goal. "The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits," he writes. "If you can make an effort to question the way you do things on a consistent basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you live your life." Or conduct your business.
  • Look for a better way. You're never going to create a superior solution if no one ever asks for one. It's likely that there are plenty of good ideas just waiting to be brainstormed—start thinking.

The Po!nt: "If you begin with the notion that something is impossible," says Knox, "then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error."

Source: It's a Hard Knox Life. Click here for the full post.

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