david hieatt

The Invisible Chair

Most people didn’t notice it. But for 3 days the red chair stood on the stage in full view of everyone while 24 amazing speakers delivered some incredible life-affirming talks.

It wasn’t supposed to be there. It was only there because the first speaker had problems with a tripod, so he borrowed the chair to have something to put his old camera on.

But, there it stayed. No one questioned its right to be there. Why should they? It was there from the beginning so it was meant to be there, right?

Roald Dahl wrote: “Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places”.

It’s also true that some of the answers are staring at us right in the face, and because they are so obvious we don’t think they can be the answer.

In our lives, in our businesses, we all have lots of ‘Invisible Red Chairs’. We do things this way, because we did it that way yesterday. We put down a piece a plank of wood and it stays there for so long that everyone thinks it’s supposed to be there.

We have our set ways. And yet, it may not be the best way of doing it. Very often, it isn’t. But we stick to our ways, mostly because we don’t have to think too much.

But one habit that a lot of entrepreneurs seem to have is the ability to walk in stupid each day. They don’t mind asking dumb questions. They don’t have any problem asking the blindingly obvious. Like why is that Red Chair up there on stage?

Walk in stupid every morning. That way you won’t just carry on as you always have done.

My Do Workshop. How to build a great brand with very little money. Wales (June 26th) London (Sept 11)

My Book. Do Purpose.