Creativity - Why didn't I think of that!?!

I think that everyone has that moment a few times in their life where they see a new product and go, "Dang, why didn't I think of that!?"

I recall a moment where my wife and I were at Target checking out, and the lady in front of us had a double-nipple cap for a baby bottle. The key is that it could feed two babies at once out of the same bottle. The cashier, beyond retirement age said to us that she had twins years ago and wished she had something like that. It was decades later until someone actually created it. We have this mindset, however, of "ahh...someone's already probably done it" or "it's too hard" or "I'm sure someone's already working on it."

I had this moment last night when the wife and I were having dinner and she told me about this new service called Birchbox. In a nutshell, it's a sample box service that delivers samples to your door based on a profile you create based on what you're interested in. The cool part, that made me like "ugh!" was that it uses your pinterest account to decide what kind of things to you that you may be interested in. Someone has taken pinterest (a site I just couldn't wrap my mind around) and used it to classify their customers to secure future sales...on a monthly basis. Genius. The goal is that you'll like the samples, go back to their site and purchase them. In return, if you get people to sign up (pyramid theory) for memberships, you can gain "points" and redeem them for money off purchases and the monthly fee. This originally was directed toward women, but now they have incorporated men.

In my little head, I really couldn't see what Pinterest was good for. Honestly I didn't see anything other than idea-sparking and creative-developing pictures...and a nice way to get backlinks using media. Other than using it to tell my wife what I'd like her to cook for dinner, I didn't have any personal use. With this said, however, I am once again in the position where I must remind myself that not everything has been thought up. Not every product has been developed. Not all the good ideas are taken!

I love to watch the show Shark Tank. I have found myself in a similar situation before, asking for a lot more money than they do on this show, and because I got to experience it first hand, it hits home for me. Every product that seems to come on the show especially products like the scrub daddy...I just get so mad at myself that I limit my creativity to what I know! A guy made a sponge like a smiley face and he became a multi-millionaire 2 weeks after the show aired! Come on!

Here is a video I was given on creativity growth. If you're looking to delve deeper into creativity to expand your minds and develop your futures further, check this 30 minute TED seminar clip. There's some really interesting things said and portrayed.

I hope that this pumps you up and expands your mind a bit. Do not limit yourself to the confines of your mind as it will only allow you to go as far as you have taken it!