Thinking Outside the Box

The hotel management at the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego decided to install an additional elevator to better serve their guests. Engineers drew up plans cutting holes through each floor of the hotel. As they stood in the lobby discussing their plans, a janitor overheard the conversation. He listened carefully and became concerned with this; in face he commented this would make a great deal of mess. The janitor was told not to worry because the hotel would be closed to guests during the construction. 

Realizing that it would cost the hotel a lot to close for the duration of the construction and that it would leave a lot of people out of work during that time, the janitor suggested, "You could build the elevator on the outside of the hotel." At the time, this architectural concept had never been done before, but after investigation by the engineers, it proved an idea that was worth developing, and is now commonplace in buildings today worldwide. 

The janitor's idea saved the El Cortez huge amounts in guest revenue, employees from losing salary, and major clean-up costs related to the construction of the new elevator.

 The lesson here is that it doesn’t take an expert to come up with a great, groundbreaking idea, just someone willing to think outside the box.  What can you look at differently?