I admit to a certain fascination for Lee Iacocca and have read about his career. I found it interesting that he was fired from the Ford Motor Company after a clash with the president of the company, Henry Ford, II. There is some speculation that he was fired because he, along with a guy named Hal Sperlich, were driving forces behind the design and marketing of something called a mini-van. Iacocca went to work pretty quickly at Chrysler. He joined Sperlich, who left Ford before Iacocca did, and at Chrysler they soon introduced the Voyager and the Caravan.Despite my conviction that there is way too much open space in a mini-van for way too much stuff to be going on to take the driver’s attention off the road...even I admit that it found its market.
Iacocca held on to his ideas even though some very heavy hitters opposed him.
At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve had some ideas over the years that I’ve done nothing about. For years, as both a mom and a school teacher during Science Fairs or Invention Conventions, I strongly encouraged (some might say "insisted") my own children and my students to "invent" a coffee bag for a single serving. I never did think it was fair that coffee drinkers had to choose between making a pot (partial or full) or drinking instant. Now? Folgers has made decent revenue on coffee singles.
Over the last few decades, I’ve griped that my car ought to have a sensor telling me when my tire pressure was low. I've also wished that each time I opened my purse, a light would come on...like the glove compartment of my car. Are you seeing a pattern?
It would be one thing if I had done anything toward making any of these ideas come to fruition. It's another thing that I have the ideas but do nothing about them. I've got no room to claim that these were my ideas first.
Many of you have had big ideas and have worked hard to make these ideas become reality. You may have been discouraged by someone "important" who didn't want to see you succeed. Keep thinking the big thoughts and dreaming the big dreams. Help others. Find a way to make a difference regardless of what someone else might say. Hang in there.
My latest idea centers around a multi-directional head for a stapler. Teachers would love that...
- Sheree Yasko Hill
