Ahhhh haaaaa…

Don’t you love ahhhh haaaa moments? It’s a great feeling when you get one.

It’s like unraveling a ball of fishing line that your son got twisted up.

That’s how the frappuccino came about at Starbucks. An employee wanted something frozen with coffee in it. Then she started combining ice, milk, and coffee to make them.

At first, they told her to stop but then the light bulb went off and look at it now.

I wonder how much Starbucks has made off that idea that wasn’t even theirs?

Another great invention that changed history was noted in a book I just got.

From The Wizard of Ads:

John[Gutenberg] stares at the tool used by coin makers to stamp images into metal and thinks, “Coin makers have been using stamps like this science the time of Christ.” Later he sees a winemaker hard at work, squeezing the juice from grapes into a winepress.

Suddenly he remembers the coin makers stamping tool. “What if I rubbed ink on the bottom of a coin maker’s stamp and attached it beneath the plate of a winepress? Instead of the image of the king, each coin stamp would bear a letter of the alphabet. Instead of grapes, there would be paper…”

John’s vision of the connection between the coin stamp and the winepress not only accelerated the Renaissance but sparked the Industrial Revolution and is largely responsible for today’s European domination of the world.

While John is credited with the invention of the printing press, in reality, he “invented” nothing. Coin stamps and wine presses had been in use since the time of Christ. John simply saw a connection.

One of the most revolutionary inventions of all time was not an invention at all, but a twist of 2 existing products.

All too often I think we think we need to have all the answers. The reality is we don’t.

The answer a lot of times is combining two things together to make one great thing.

Like my daughter Emmalyn combining two kinds of cereal today to make her version of the best one.

Now, this isn’t the printing press… And it may not help sellers sell for $30,000 more than other similar homes in the neighborhood… But it just might spark an idea for you to have an ahhhh haaaa moment.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll combine something together that can make a big difference in the world. 🙂

Have a great week.