The authors have done studies and claim that innovators possess and use these skills more effectively than others.

Here are a couple of quotes from two great philosophers that have their own spin on innovation.  

“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.”  Marcel Proust

“Just had that little feeling… Vuja De.  No, not Déjà vu.  This is Vuja De.  This is the strange feeling that somehow, you’re seeing something for the very first time.”  George Carlin

Vuja De, coined by Mr. Carlin, is now getting lots of attention from business types when talking about innovation.  When you see something that you’ve seen many times before, but suddenly it looks much different.  You’re seeing it with “new eyes”.  That’s what innovators do.  

Time Warner is a huge company with many diverse interests.  In 2001, two of those interests were music publishing and AOL.  These two ingredients were the perfect match to create the ability to provide the public with a music subscription service delivered over the Internet. 

Did they do it?  No.  It was Steve Jobs and Apple that looked at the music industry and experienced Vuja De.   They created iTunes, which many of us use today.  

Is there room in your practice for a little Vuja De?  Some process that has existed for years that you should observe with “new eyes”? 

Question its value. 

Experiment with doing it differently. 

Is it similar to a process done in another industry?  A bank?  A retail store?  A service station?  A hotel?  Do these industries do it in the same manner?  Have they innovated to make it more efficient?  Make it more accurate? 

Maybe eliminated it entirely. 

Could what these other industries do apply to the process in your office?

You may not come up with the next iTunes but you may find a right click in making life a little easier for your patients, staff or perhaps yourself.

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