Our Town: Business world needs innovators’ magic

Dr Tom Ferraro

Over the last several months I have written a few articles about good business practices in Williston Park. I have interviewed people like Steven Parmett of Minuteman Press, Roberto Costillo of EmbroidMe, Steve Asman of Gustbusters Umbrellas and Hildebrandt’s Luncheonette to point out the importance of soft skills, branding, logos and the “wow factor” in business. 

This week I want to explore the idea of innovation in business. Some people have this rare ability to innovate and to actually set trends in business, education, fashion, entertainment or art. 

The ability to create something that becomes wildly successful and brand new is everyone’s dream.

David Glod of Tour Edge Golf did this by spotting a certain golf club manufacturing trend. The moment he saw this type of club, he bought the patent and proceeded to corner the market on fairway woods.

Howard Shultz, owner of Starbucks, saw a great idea back in 1979 when he walked into the first Starbucks store in Seattle. 

He managed to borrow $400,000 and purchased the store, and is now worth $1.5 billion. All that started with an intuitive hunch that America was ready for some good coffee and a place to drink it, and he almost single-handedly created café life in America.

Bob Carney is an old friend of mine who has been a creative director, one to the guiding lights at “Golf Digest” magazine and is innovative in his approach to golf journalism. I asked Bob the question of how he keeps coming up with creative and trend setting ideas that the magazine the uses.

He told me he reads a lot, looks for new words that keep popping up in the culture and, most importantly, acts upon his hunches right away. 

Sometimes the ideas work and sometimes not, he says, but he keeps churning things out.

I think these innovators keep a watchful eye out for things and do not hesitate to explore something that captures their imagination, like a hawk flying high above the field with a keen eye. When the hawk sees that little rabbit, it swoops down fast and they have a very tasty meal. If the hawk hesitates for a second, he misses out on his chance to have lunch. 

Not everyone can be the innovators. In fact, most cannot be this way. Maybe most of us don’t have the intelligence, the curiosity, the focus, the courage, the obsessive drive or the will power.

The great artists in a culture always have this sense of being the outlier, the one that is different innovative and out to do something different. Jackson Pollack was the first to create drip or action paintings. Andy Warhol was the creator of pop art, or the guy that embraced the superficiality of our consumer society.

In the business world, I have known some real genius types who are market makers as well. 

Fred DeMatteis, one of Long Island’s greatest real estate developers, was like this. And when he had a chance to buy into Home Depot when it was just a start-up, he jumped in with both feet.

These innovators have a deeper understanding of what trends are unfolding and are able to profit from this sixth sense. I just saw the wonderful film “The Big Short,” about Michael and Mark Baum, the two guys who predicted the real estate market crash of 2008. They were outliers and creative geniuses who spotted a trend and held fast to their convictions despite ridicule and resistance. 

People laughed at Andy Warhol when he made paintings of Campbell Soup cans. 

In fact the first time he showed the 32 of them at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles not a single one was bought. Now you can have one for the price of about $71 million.

The innovators think faster than the rest, listen to their intuition, fall in love with their hunches, are willing to take risks and are able to withstand ridicule. Some never gain recognition until long after they are dead. 

Vincent Van Gogh is one of those guys. In fact he couldn’t even give his paintings away. 

He once did a painting of his psychiatrist and gave it to him as a gift. The doctor first put it in his chicken coop to cover a hole before throwing it away. A drug store owner found it and kept it. 

That painting sold in 1990 for $81.5 million. 

All this suggests that if you are in a business and are looking for some new idea here, there are two things you can do.

First, read up on all the things in your field. Keep your eyes wide open. See what others are doing and what you like. Borrow from them.

Picasso once said the good artists borrow, but great ones steal. 

Bob Carney said much the same thing.

Second, invest time and of money, expect ridicule, setbacks and negative feedback. But know that if your heart is pure and your eyes are clear and your back is strong and your skin is thick, you may just hit lightning in a bottle like Howard Shultz or David Glod or Fred DeMatteis.

Long live the innovators. Let’s hope they keep trying to make their magic.

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