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BECOME A REBEL THINKER:
"Innovators Are THE Wealth Creators
of the Business World"
© 2001 by Denise Corcoran
What do Ted Turner (CNN), Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Armani (Armani Fashions) have in common?
Aside from being CEOs of multi-billion dollar corporations,
they all have created such mega-success
BECAUSE they are business ...
**Mavericks**,
**Revolutionaries**,
** "Rebel" Thinkers**.
One such rebel, Anita Roddick - CEO, The Body Shop - not only started without money or business know-how but also defied the"rules" of an $80 billion dollar industry. While cut-throat competitors chased profits through cheating, lies, exploitation and over-priced, chemical-laden products, Anita chose a different path.
Instead, she built her company with an unshakeable commitment to integrity ... natural, health-promoting beauty products ... social and environmental responsibility ... and success that never compromised her soul. So much a
rebel thinker that INC. magazine labeled her "the single force that has changed business forever."
Rebel thinkers - like Anita - are the contrarians and the change agents of the business world. They see what others don't see. They do what others don't do. They reinvent while others imitate. They are their own person, building
their businesses according to their own principle, values and rules, not anyone elses. They know no bounds.
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Why Is Rebel-Thinking Critical to YOUR Future Success?
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Did you know that half the growth in the U.S. economy today comes from companies that did not exist ten years ago? These wealth-creating companies aren't simply "executing better" -- they're radically changing the rules of the game.
Whether you're a small business owner or mega-corporation, today's highly changing, competitive times *REQUIRES* you to become an "rebel thinker" if you are going to survive and thrive. Why? Because with "rebel thinking", you will ...
- +++ Increase your immunity to external business threats
- +++ Achieve immediate breakthrough results
- +++ Realize your goals with less time, money and energy
- +++ Innovate 1000's of lucrative business building options
- +++ Ignite your creative thinking and boundless spirit
Most importantly, because without it, your business will shrink to an industry "commodity", an imitator, a marginally performing company vulnerable to extinction.
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How can YOU cultivate this wealth-creating asset?
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Let's take a look at three empowering strategies to cultivate "rebel-thinking" in your business ... examples of business owners who have created quantum success
with these strategies ... and exercises to awaken the innovative wealth creating, "rebel thinker" within you.
STRATEGY #1: Break and Make Your Own Rules
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"If you don't ask 'WHY THIS' often, somebody will ask
"why you". Tom Hirshfield, Inventor
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How often do you ask ... "why this" strategy in my industry? ... "why this" operating procedure in my business? ... "why this" goal or action today?
Armani, #1 fashion designer and "rebel thinker", is a perfect example of a rule breaker and rule maker in his own industry. Unlike his competitors who create new, trendy fashions for fashion sake, Armani creates all his fashions with one
purpose --- to make ordinary people more beautiful and at peace with themselves in their bodies.
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COACH'S QUESTIONS: What "rules" in your industry or current business do you need to break? What values, strategies and actions make you a rebel thinking leader in your industry?
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STRATEGY #2: Get Out of Your Industry Box
Breakthrough strategies come from cutting across boundaries and looking at unrelated industries, segments or disciplines. Anyone can find fashion ideas in a boutique or software marketing ideas in the computer industry. It is the rebel
thinker who finds fashion in an airport and software marketing ideas in a hardware store.
In 1993, Julie Lewis, an environmentalist, started Deja Inc. - an extraordinary, radical thinking company in the footwear industry. Julie Lewis' sole mission -- to help preserve the environment by using "recycled" materials for manufacturing
high fashion footwear. By crossing all industry boundaries, within one year, Julie's highly successful "eco-wear" grossed her a booming multi-million dollar business.
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COACH'S QUESTIONS: What strategies can you borrow or adapt from other industries? From other cultures? What would Bill Gates or Lincoln do, if they were in your shoes?
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STRATEGY 3: Reverse Your Viewpoint and Assumptions
Rebel thinkers are the contrarians of the business world. They know underlying every problem and goal are assumptions to be challenged and reversed for breakthrough solutions.
Henry Ford - one such rebel - reversed the usual question, "How can we get workers to the material?" to "How can we get the material to the people instead?" With this
reversing this basic assumption, the assembly line was born.
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COACH'S QUESTIONS: What basic assumptions about your current business can you dislodge and reverse? How can you accomplish the "reversals"?
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Bottomline: your future is not something you predict. YOUR FUTURE IS SOMETHING YOU CREATE. Your problem is not lack of money or opportunity. YOUR PROBLEM IS LACK OF IMAGINATION. Becoming a "rebel thinker" IS your answer!
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Denise Corcoran is a Master Business Coach, Strategic Consultant and Breakthrough Catalyst. Would you like to invigorate your mind, your
business savvy and your creative juices with paradigm-shifting, breakthrough strategies and principles of today's superior businesses? Then subscribe to our monthly ezine - THE EMPOWERED BUSINESStm.
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