What’s in a Pepper Grinder?

It’s just a pepper grinder. When you see it sitting on a white tablecloth in a restaurant where they play soft, melodic music, you might not even really notice it. Sure, you grab it for a second when your meal comes but other than that, it stays on the table fairly unnoticed.

But what happens when you take a pepper grinder, from the quiet confines of a five star restaurant and put it in a different setting? What if you brought it home? What if you put it in a school cafeteria? What if you took it to a Chick-fil-A?

Those are the questions we asked and the answer was surprising. Because when we took the pepper grinder to a Chick-fil-A, it changed that simple device. It no longer faded into the shadows, it stood out. More than a quiet table accessory, it was suddenly a rock star. A bit of flavor flair that was impossible to ignore. A pepper grinder, a real live grind up gourmet seasoning pepper grinder in Chick-fil-A.

That to me is what creativity is all about. That to me is what business and innovation is all about. All we did was take something ordinary into an unexpected environment and suddenly it was extraordinary. A pepper grinder was transformed, a Chick-fil-A environment was delighted.

The question then, is what’s your pepper grinder?

As you survey your day, your job, your life, what’s the simple pepper grinder that’s hiding in plain sight? What’s that one small thing that could make a huge difference when applied to the right environment?

It’s out there. A new process, a new way of looking at things, a new pepper grinder.

Keep looking. You’ll find it and when you do, let me know. I’m a big fan of pepper grinders.

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