Tip: Your one good idea may change the world!

Reposted/Reprinted with permission from Dr. Robert A. Rohm, Ph.D. and Personality Insights, Inc.

Many years ago, a gentleman by the name of Truett Cathy started a small restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. In fact, it was so small, it was called The Dwarf House. It only had a few booths for groups of three or four people and a few bar stools for those eating alone. It was indeed a small beginning in more ways than one!

For years, Truett Cathy experimented with better ways of making a chicken sandwich. The problem was in the removal of the bone from the chicken breast – it always seemed to tear the meat so badly when trying to remove it. One day, however, he was marinating some chicken breasts in peanut oil and when he picked up one, it actually slid right off the bone. Amazingly he had found the solution to his problem! Soon the technique was patented and is still in use today. That was the beginning of Chick-fil-A and their famous sandwich. In fact, their slogan is, “We didn’t invent the chicken – just the chicken sandwich!” There are other restaurants who try to imitate them, but Chick-fil-a is the originator of the chicken sandwich, and in my opinion, it is the best one in the world! What many people do not realize is the rest of the story.

Around 1967, Mr. Cathy had the idea of putting a small restaurant inside of a shopping mall in southwest Atlanta. It was a place called Greenbriar Mall. It is still there today! There were no restaurants in existence in any shopping malls anywhere at that time. He thought it would be a great business venture since there were always a lot of shoppers and potential customers at a mall. When he presented his idea to the mall owners, he was met with resistance. They could not conceive of the idea of mixing shopping and eating. Those were two separate concepts. They thought that shop owners would not be happy about people eating sandwiches and then touching the clothing in their shops with greasy fingers. It was such a foreign idea that they did not accept it.

After some time and persistence, Mr. Cathy finally got permission to open Chick-fil-A’s very first restaurant in a shopping mall. I can still remember eating there in 1971. The whole restaurant could not have been more than about twelve feet by twenty-four feet. It was a ridiculously small space at the far end of the mall, but, boy, did they do a big business! Before long, the idea caught on and now there is a huge food court in the middle of nearly every shopping mall in America! Can you imagine going to a shopping mall without a food court inside of it today?!?!

Truett Cathy is no longer with us today. He was one of the most gentle, mild-mannered, easy going people you could ever meet. Yet, he had an idea that was bigger than himself or any one company. It changed the way people shop and eat and look at spending time together. People were brought together in a way that had never been created before and the world has never been the same! The idea has literally gone around the world. I have personally been on six different continents and have seen food courts in shopping malls nearly everywhere I have visited. Thank you, Mr. Cathy

Think about all of the following words: lens, filter, grid, paradigm, point of view, frame of reference, perception, perspective, vantage point and outlook. They basically all mean the same thing – the way a person sees things. It takes a lot of words to explain a simple concept. We all have a unique way of seeing things and you may well have an insight that no one else has ever seen or developed!

Years before anyone else thought of it, Bill Gates saw everyone owning a small personal computer. His idea came at a time when it took a whole building to house one computer. It was another great idea with a paradigm shift that changed the world. Now we all carry them in our purses or pockets!

I personally have an idea to add the DISC Model of Human behavior to everyone’s frame of reference. I believe when you understand your personality style, you will not only be able to work better with yourself, but you will be able to work better with other people, as well. Understanding the Model of Human Behavior has a powerful impact on people’s lives! Now, I realize that I am no Truett Cathy or Bill Gates, but I certainly want to make a positive, helpful difference in the lives of people and hopefully touch everyone in the world with the powerful information that my company, Personality Insights, Inc., offers!

What is your great idea? What dream do you hold inside of you that could touch the entire world and change the way things are done now or in the future? I believe those seeds of greatness are inside each one of us. If we will take the time to think about them, work on them and develop them, who knows what could happen? Let me encourage you to keep thinking, keep working and keep planning. Start looking for your way to do something that has never been done before. Become a world-changer! Together we can all make great things happen. We can all help make the world a better place in which to live. Keep your eyes open – you may see it this week!

Tip: Your one good idea may change the world!

Have a great week! God bless you!

Dr. Robert A. Rohm