Your BREAK THROUGH, Vol. 1, Post 41

So, I’m still teasing out this idea of regularly asking the question “what else might work?”  If you are out there reading along, pondering this question, and innovating, please email me (mgray.innovation@gmail.com) some examples of how you’ve found alternative solutions to daily challenges. I would love to post a collection of examples here and on Facebook.

For my cell phone challenges, I’ve found that I need to spend time preparing for meetings and heading to new places in the old fashion way: ahead of time.  Which actually is quite fun and offers some undistracted, not-trying-to-do-it-while-I’m-driving space to really think about a new area or a new spot (I also enjoy the old fashion approach of stopping at a gas station and asking for directions).

I then applied this question of “what else might work?” to a completely different, household challenge: trying to decrease the noise of squeaky door hinges. I didn’t want to buy WD40 as I wanted a more natural alternative.  There must be something else to use, I thought to myself. Habit would have sent me to Home Depot for the old harmful greasy stuff, but the ‘what else’ question brought me to a simple google search and the discovery that a spray can of Olive Oil would do the trick. Like the flip phone, this solution comes with its limitations, but so of course do the alternatives. The most important thing: those doors are now as silent as can be, and won’t wake-up my sleeping kid or introduce harmful chemicals into her environment.

My point here in sharing some more mundane examples is that if this question can work for the simple tasks of our daily lives and household management, imagine the incredible results this question can yield when applied to a truly significant challenge …