Creativity doesn’t always require a whiteboard session, a futurist keynote, or a massive R&D budget. Sometimes, it starts with an appetite—and a willingness to ask an unconventional question.
Years ago, I met the owner of a regional pizza chain who swore that McDonald’s had the best Canadian bacon in the business. He wanted that same quality on his pizzas, but there was a hitch: McDonald’s supplier wouldn’t sell to him. To most people, that would have been the end of the story. Not to him.
Instead of accepting the barrier, he got curious. What am I not thinking of? So he called the supplier anyway—not to haggle for product, but to ask about their process. That’s when he discovered a detail most of us wouldn’t think twice about: Canadian bacon comes in long cylindrical tubes, but to make those perfectly uniform breakfast rounds, the ends of the tubes get cut off and discarded.
What was waste to McDonald’s supplier became gold to him. He negotiated a deal to buy those ends for pennies on the dollar. Same supplier, same quality, no middleman politics. His pizzas now featured the exact Canadian bacon he’d coveted—and his customers loved it.
The lesson? Innovation is rarely about inventing something from scratch. It’s about shifting your lens. Instead of asking, “How can I get what they have?” ask, “What’s already out there that no one else values?” Sometimes, the secret to game-changing ideas isn’t chasing the mainstream—it’s finding opportunity in the margins.
About the Author
Trained as a behavioral scientist and customer-centricity expert, Andrea Belk Olson helps companies operationalize corporate strategy through understanding mindsets and behaviors. She is the author of three business books, including her most recent, What To Ask: How To Learn What Customers Need but Don’t Tell You.
She is a 4x ADDY award winner and contributing writer to Entrepreneur Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Rotman Magazine, World Economic Forum, and more. Andrea is also an entrepreneurial adjunct instructor at the University of Iowa and TEDx speaker coach.
More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com and www.andreabelkolson.com.
