Imagine this scenario:

You and your team walk into your industry’s annual convention, like you have many times before. But this time, something’s different.

There’s a buzz.

People are looking at you in a way they haven’t before.

They’re elbowing their neighbor, pointing at your team, and whispering, “There they are! That’s them!”

This year, the buzz is about you.

People are saying things about you. Things like:

• “Have you heard about what they’re doing?”
• “They’re really changing the game!”
• “We’re really going to have to raise the bar now if we want to keep up with them.”

Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think all of this buzz, this talk, is because:

1. You were innovative, or,
2. You continued to do the same thing as everyone else?

I’ll give you a moment.

Oh, you don’t need a moment?

Yeah, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

The leaders, the teams, the companies that create buzz (and strike fear in the hearts of their competitors) are the ones that innovate. The ones that take the risk. The ones that do something different.

So here’s my final question to you. It’s next year’s convention. Who do you want to be:

1. The innovator that everyone else envies, or,
2. The wallflower doing the envying?