Michael Port published this excellent story in his eZine recently.
One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: ‘I am blind, please help.’
A marketer was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it. He returned the sign to the blind man and left.
That afternoon the marketer returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins. The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it. The marketer responded: “Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently.” He smiled and went on his way.
The new sign read: Today is Spring and I cannot see it.
Moral of the story ? Sometimes we need to change our strategy. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get the same thing (which is fine if this is what you want !). Be innovative – change your world and the world of those around you !