LEARN TO ANALYZE DETAILS Inspiration In Plain Sight.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)

Byline: Robin Grugal

6 Inspiration for great ideas is all around us -- not hidden in shadowy recesses, but right there in plain sight. All it requires is for us to see the obvious with fresh eyes.

Easier said than done? Sure, it's in our nature to overlook what we take for granted. But it's worth making a conscious effort to be more observant in our everyday lives.

Amazingly enough, billions of tea drinkers observed the force of steam escaping from water boiling in a kettle before James Watt realized that this vapor could be converted into energy. And many scientists and researchers knew bacteria couldn't live around the penicillium mold, but it took Alexander Fleming to recognize that the mold killed bacteria and could potentially be used to fight infection, giving birth to the field of antibiotics.

The Eyes Of Children

"Those who see what's obvious aren't necessarily brighter than others. They're just more likely to observe that the emperor is naked. Like children, they see what's actually there. Their perceptions are less clouded by belief systems, taboos, habits of thought," said authors Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes of "Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins."

Consider the case of Swiss engineer George de Mestral, the father of Velcro. He found an alternative to the zipper by observing nature. His story began one night in 1948, when he and his wife were about to go to dinner and she became frustrated by a stubborn zipper on her dress. She wondered if there might be another way to ...