The Power of YES in Innovation!

UPDATE: If you are interested in our new upcoming book on “The Power of YES in Innovation!” Click Here. Also here is a link to our new blog, “The Power of Yes in 2017”

Over the past few days, I have taken the time to reflect on my own life and the journey of our family moving from Dallas to Cincinnati. Through this reflection I have come to a realization of the power of the word YES!

Yes, I can!

Yes, you can!

Yes, we can!

Yes, yes, yes!

Now let me be clear. I do not believe in people or organizations creating a culture of the proverbial yes men or women. What I do believe in is empowering a culture for those around you to have the freedom to say yes, and the freedom to fail even while saying yes!

Sir Richard Branson states, “If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you are not sure you can do it, say yes. Then learn how to do it later.” 

In April of 2014, Susie Moore, a life coach and wellness expert wrote a blog about, 9 Little Known Truths About The Power Of Yes! I am not going to write about all nine points, but I want to talk about three of these points and how they fit into my life and work.

1. There are an infinite number of reasons to say no, but something is stirring the yes within you.  Listen to this voice. Pay attention to your gut. Pay attention to your first instinct. When moving to Cincinnati and walking away from a great career, my family and I had to listen to the inner voice, the inner YES!
2. Yes leads to more doors. (No is often closing the door.) Why would we close doors in our life? Why not look for every open door? This is a motto I live by every day. The career I have chosen in innovation is one about risk. I cannot be risk-adverse. I have to look for the “thing” in the future that might be just a cracked door and walk thorough it, explore it, and learn from it.
3. Life is short. Ask not why, but why not? Every day I work with consumers, guests, and colleagues and we talk, teach, and ask the five whys? When I think about asking why not? It is about getting to the truth, to the real meaning, and not just asking why. As a child I asked my parents innumerable why questions and drove them crazy, but through the years I was taught by them, by other adults, and even by some teachers to quit asking why. Now, the funny thing is, I get paid to ask people why for a living.

Each day I try to live the POWER OF YES–the power to give people the freedom to explore, test, and win, the power to let my children be all they want to be, the power to allow innovators the freedom to create what has never been created before, and most importantly, the power to say, yes to life.

Yes, I can. Yes. Yes, you can. Yes, we can.