0:00:25.177,0:00:26.759
Now, I don't want to complain,

0:00:26.759,0:00:29.847
but it's really scary[br]being an entrepreneur.

0:00:29.847,0:00:31.595
As a business owner,

0:00:31.595,0:00:35.344
you're constantly worried that people[br]are going to make fun of your products,

0:00:35.344,0:00:37.391
even if one of those products

0:00:37.391,0:00:40.555
is a book called Knitting with Dog Hair -

0:00:40.881,0:00:41.921
it's a real book.

0:00:41.921,0:00:44.708
I don't know if you guys[br]can see the call-out, but it says,

0:00:44.708,0:00:47.152
"Stop vacuuming and start knitting."

0:00:49.012,0:00:50.132
As a business owner,

0:00:50.132,0:00:52.952
you're constantly worried[br]that people are going to realize

0:00:52.952,0:00:54.813
when you didn't think of everything,

0:00:54.813,0:00:59.586
like the fact that the acronym[br]to your business name spells ASS -

0:01:01.100,0:01:02.580
it's a real hair salon.

0:01:03.683,0:01:06.083
And many like me are worried

0:01:06.083,0:01:09.524
that people are going to find out[br]that you've made a mistake.

0:01:10.066,0:01:14.434
I'm here to face[br]one of my greatest challenges

0:01:14.914,0:01:18.601
and admit that I lost 250,000 dollars

0:01:18.937,0:01:21.797
because I didn't understand[br]a fundamental principle

0:01:21.797,0:01:23.807
about how business products were made.

0:01:24.287,0:01:26.506
And I'm not here[br]just to get that off my chest;

0:01:26.506,0:01:29.726
I'm here because I think[br]that understanding my mistake

0:01:30.026,0:01:31.909
can help save your job -

0:01:31.909,0:01:33.792
save it from robots,

0:01:33.792,0:01:38.324
save it from downsizing,[br]globalization, all kinds of things.

0:01:38.356,0:01:41.086
Now, I'm going to explain,[br]but first we have to go back,

0:01:41.086,0:01:45.110
way back, to my first big business idea.

0:01:45.478,0:01:48.577
I was at Carhop at Sonic, 14 years old,

0:01:48.577,0:01:51.537
looked like I was a solid 10 years old

0:01:51.537,0:01:55.998
and very excited to embark[br]on my new career in the service industry.

0:01:56.629,0:02:01.079
So my first big idea[br]was to wear rollerblades to work.

0:02:01.684,0:02:04.651
I know, I was 14, okay?[br]That was my first idea, okay?

0:02:04.824,0:02:07.707
And nobody was wearing[br]rollerblades to work,

0:02:07.707,0:02:09.851
unlike what you've seen[br]in the advertisements

0:02:09.851,0:02:11.319
or the old-timey commercials.

0:02:11.779,0:02:13.465
And this was going to be a win-win.

0:02:13.465,0:02:16.376
I was going to make more money in tips[br]because of the novelty,

0:02:16.376,0:02:19.859
and my business's would benefit[br]for people would come from all over town -

0:02:19.859,0:02:22.872
none of the other fast-food chains[br]had anyone on rollerblades.

0:02:22.872,0:02:24.611
So it's a good situation.

0:02:24.611,0:02:27.350
The only problem was[br]that the owner of my Sonic said

0:02:27.350,0:02:32.119
that under no uncertain terms was anyone[br]allowed to wear rollerblades to work.

0:02:32.119,0:02:33.159
Small problem.

0:02:33.509,0:02:37.310
So after a number[br]of these fruitless negotiations,

0:02:37.567,0:02:40.327
one day I just showed up to work

0:02:40.327,0:02:43.296
in a pair of rollerblades,[br]with nothing to change into.

0:02:43.937,0:02:47.015
Yeah, I rollerbladed[br]the three miles from my house

0:02:47.898,0:02:49.816
to work, uphill,

0:02:51.275,0:02:53.875
with no other change of shoes.

0:02:54.215,0:02:56.052
The only thing I did bring with me

0:02:56.052,0:02:59.239
was a legal release of liability[br]that I had drafted,

0:02:59.399,0:03:01.939
channeling my inner lawyer at 14,

0:03:02.443,0:03:05.422
which I had presented[br]to the only manager on duty.

0:03:05.422,0:03:06.432
Now,

0:03:06.432,0:03:10.061
picture a 17-year-old[br]Napoleon Dynamite-looking character

0:03:10.061,0:03:11.490
with real greasy hair

0:03:11.601,0:03:16.401
who just stared at this document[br]for like a minute and finally said,

0:03:17.077,0:03:19.609
"Whatever. Just do whatever you want."

0:03:20.273,0:03:21.652
I was pretty proud of myself.

0:03:21.652,0:03:22.773
Big success, right?

0:03:23.271,0:03:26.239
Just up until the moment[br]that I actually had to start working.

0:03:26.239,0:03:29.502
So the way it works at Sonic is[br]you pick up this tray of food,

0:03:29.502,0:03:30.659
and then you back up

0:03:30.659,0:03:33.251
through these two really,[br]really heavyset doors;

0:03:33.251,0:03:36.506
they're made to close real fast[br]so that flies can't get in.

0:03:36.579,0:03:39.762
So the problem was[br]because I had rollerblades on,

0:03:39.762,0:03:43.023
I didn't have any traction[br]to actually open the doors.

0:03:43.023,0:03:46.226
I tried to go sideways,[br]but I just couldn't get them open.

0:03:46.226,0:03:48.254
A couple of times[br]my co-workers helped out,

0:03:48.254,0:03:51.727
but then they got quickly annoyed[br]because they had their own stuff to do.

0:03:51.801,0:03:54.373
So let's recap my big idea:

0:03:54.805,0:03:56.524
my manager is really upset with me

0:03:56.524,0:03:58.707
for putting him[br]in this difficult position;

0:03:58.707,0:04:02.319
my coworkers are upset with me[br]for giving them extra work to do

0:04:02.319,0:04:03.670
and holding up the line;

0:04:03.670,0:04:06.896
and I, I'm exhausted.

0:04:07.212,0:04:10.476
After wearing rollerblades[br]for five straight hours,

0:04:10.604,0:04:12.384
I had to rollerblade home

0:04:12.741,0:04:14.936
three miles, uphill,

0:04:16.053,0:04:17.512
in the snow.

0:04:17.512,0:04:18.518
(Laughter)

0:04:19.283,0:04:21.726
Okay, now this is[br]the audience-participation portion

0:04:21.726,0:04:23.135
of my talk.

0:04:23.135,0:04:27.104
What do you think it feels like to have[br]the world's dumbest business idea?

0:04:27.216,0:04:29.688
What do you think[br]it feels like in your body?

0:04:29.688,0:04:30.796
What do you guys think?

0:04:30.796,0:04:31.808
Audience: Sad.

0:04:31.808,0:04:32.811
Sad.

0:04:34.032,0:04:35.282
You're nauseous.

0:04:36.152,0:04:37.904
You're embarrassed,

0:04:37.904,0:04:40.635
like you don't even want[br]to go work the next day.

0:04:40.990,0:04:42.986
Yeah, that's what you think it feels like,

0:04:42.986,0:04:46.627
but it actually feels[br]just like the world's best business idea

0:04:47.087,0:04:50.092
right up until the moment[br]that reality smacks you in the face

0:04:50.092,0:04:51.507
and tells you otherwise.

0:04:51.606,0:04:56.462
So this big point, this big difference[br]of not understanding

0:04:56.462,0:05:00.127
that your ideas could feel really amazing[br]but actually be quite awful,

0:05:00.127,0:05:03.777
I didn't understand that[br]until I made a much, much bigger mistake.

0:05:04.049,0:05:07.509
So let's fast forward[br]to about five years ago.

0:05:07.809,0:05:12.943
I'm this eager 29-year-old entrepreneur[br]with a number of successes under my belt,

0:05:12.996,0:05:16.414
enough to have 250,000 dollars to invest.

0:05:16.414,0:05:17.437
Pretty good.

0:05:17.437,0:05:20.269
Now, did I put it away for a rainy day?

0:05:20.441,0:05:22.568
No, entrepreneurs don't do that.

0:05:22.902,0:05:25.931
Did I buy a fleet of Teslas[br]for my company?

0:05:26.567,0:05:28.909
Entrepreneurs do that, but I didn't.

0:05:29.253,0:05:31.661
Did I hire a marching band[br]to follow me around

0:05:31.661,0:05:33.253
everywhere I went for a year?

0:05:33.519,0:05:35.596
No, but that would have been[br]an amazing way

0:05:35.596,0:05:37.355
to start today's presentation.

0:05:37.355,0:05:39.337
No, it's actually a really funny story.

0:05:39.337,0:05:40.555
I took all that money,

0:05:40.555,0:05:43.565
and I invested it[br]in a young startup called Facebook.

0:05:43.624,0:05:46.666
And over the last five years,[br]I’ve actually grown my money

0:05:46.666,0:05:49.030
like a thousand times.

0:05:49.967,0:05:51.973
Yeah, that actually did not happen either.

0:05:51.973,0:05:52.978
(Laughter)

0:05:52.978,0:05:53.967
I wish.

0:05:53.967,0:05:55.726
No, what I did was I used the money

0:05:55.726,0:06:00.245
to build software for lawyers[br]and their clients, legal software.

0:06:00.245,0:06:03.675
And I would have been way better off[br]not just investing in Facebook stock

0:06:03.675,0:06:07.315
but hiring the marching band[br]because I lost all that money;

0:06:07.315,0:06:10.557
it was another one of those ideas[br]that felt really good at the time

0:06:10.557,0:06:13.789
but turned out to be[br]a terrible business idea,

0:06:14.093,0:06:17.576
and I didn't realize it[br]until all the money had been spent.

0:06:18.219,0:06:22.050
Now, legal software is kind of difficult[br]to explain in a 10-minute talk

0:06:22.050,0:06:24.986
so I wanted to come up[br]with an equally bad analogous product

0:06:24.986,0:06:27.558
so we just had something[br]that we mutually understood

0:06:27.558,0:06:29.851
was kind of like the product I created.

0:06:29.851,0:06:33.450
So let's just assume for the sake[br]of this talk that what I invented

0:06:33.450,0:06:36.958
was the poo trap of legal software, okay?

0:06:36.958,0:06:38.018
(Laughter)

0:06:38.018,0:06:41.848
So yeah, I, Diana Kander,[br]created the SNM-looking,

0:06:41.848,0:06:44.415
"never have to pick up after your dog

0:06:44.415,0:06:47.617
but none of your friends or neighbors[br]will make eye contact with you

0:06:47.617,0:06:49.337
while your dog is wearing it"

0:06:49.608,0:06:51.400
poo trap of legal software.

0:06:51.400,0:06:55.209
Now do I have to take it off the screen[br]so you guys will listen? Okay.

0:06:55.209,0:06:56.254
So ...

0:06:56.682,0:07:01.338
the problem that I had made[br]was I misunderstood invention

0:07:02.152,0:07:03.652
for innovation.

0:07:04.311,0:07:06.148
You see, here's the key difference.

0:07:06.148,0:07:09.400
Invention is when you come up[br]with a brand-new idea

0:07:09.400,0:07:11.441
but nobody cares.

0:07:11.441,0:07:13.906
It doesn't actually[br]provide value for anybody.

0:07:13.906,0:07:16.451
It could actually cause havoc for people.

0:07:17.116,0:07:19.883
And innovation is where you[br]come up with a new idea,

0:07:20.163,0:07:23.503
and it actually creates value[br]for your intended audience.

0:07:23.503,0:07:24.822
That's the key difference:

0:07:24.822,0:07:29.678
whether or not your big idea[br]is actually valuable for your customers.

0:07:29.862,0:07:32.147
And the thing is, you can't decide;

0:07:32.147,0:07:34.863
only your customers can tell you.

0:07:35.356,0:07:39.556
And while the poo trap[br]of legal software was a novel idea

0:07:39.556,0:07:41.352
and had never existed before,

0:07:41.352,0:07:46.223
it provided about as much value[br]as - well - the actual poo trap.

0:07:46.223,0:07:49.639
It was a Frankenstein-level invention

0:07:50.159,0:07:51.875
that the world didn't want.

0:07:51.875,0:07:53.145
My customers didn't think

0:07:53.145,0:07:55.296
that it was worth[br]their time or money to use.

0:07:55.296,0:07:59.248
And this difference[br]between invention and innovation

0:07:59.248,0:08:01.592
and whether or not[br]what it is that you're doing

0:08:01.592,0:08:03.142
is actually creating value,

0:08:03.312,0:08:06.578
it doesn't just haunt entrepreneurs;

0:08:06.578,0:08:10.778
it affects all of us[br]in our jobs every single day.

0:08:10.935,0:08:11.986
Let me explain.

0:08:12.556,0:08:15.848
At work, we confuse doing stuff,

0:08:15.848,0:08:19.011
doing our best at the tasks[br]we've been assigned -

0:08:19.011,0:08:20.548
that's invention -

0:08:20.548,0:08:24.633
with actually creating value[br]for the company where we work -

0:08:24.633,0:08:26.316
that's innovation.

0:08:26.617,0:08:29.788
So about two months ago,[br]I conducted a study

0:08:29.788,0:08:33.431
where I asked over 1,000[br]business owners and managers

0:08:33.431,0:08:36.551
how many of their employees[br]were irreplaceable.

0:08:36.865,0:08:40.481
An irreplaceable employee[br]is somebody who's so valuable

0:08:40.481,0:08:43.611
that no matter what happens[br]to the business, to the economy,

0:08:43.611,0:08:47.400
they're the absolute last person[br]you would ever want to let go.

0:08:47.400,0:08:50.224
They're like the Chewbacca[br]to your Han Solo,

0:08:50.224,0:08:52.662
the Mr. Smithers to your Mr. Burns.

0:08:52.821,0:08:54.277
Pretty important.

0:08:54.688,0:08:56.002
And these managers,

0:08:56.002,0:08:59.052
they talked about irreplaceable employees

0:08:59.052,0:09:02.622
as people who created value[br]outside their job description.

0:09:02.670,0:09:06.571
They didn't actually talk about people[br]who were incredible at their actual jobs;

0:09:06.571,0:09:09.947
they talked about what they did[br]above and beyond:

0:09:10.129,0:09:13.186
how they constantly found[br]new opportunities for the business,

0:09:13.186,0:09:15.209
how they created efficiency

0:09:15.209,0:09:18.185
and solve problems[br]that other people didn't notice.

0:09:18.795,0:09:20.841
They talked about these employees

0:09:20.841,0:09:23.610
as having this entrepreneurial mindset,

0:09:23.610,0:09:27.756
like they saw their work as a product[br]and their company as their customer,

0:09:27.759,0:09:29.365
and they were constantly checking

0:09:29.365,0:09:31.801
to see whether what they[br]were creating was of value

0:09:31.801,0:09:33.974
or whether they needed to adjust it.

0:09:34.116,0:09:35.124
So ...

0:09:35.694,0:09:37.494
think about that for a second.

0:09:37.494,0:09:40.208
We all know that company[br]you currently work for

0:09:40.208,0:09:42.544
needs to change to stay relevant.

0:09:42.697,0:09:44.051
They do.

0:09:44.101,0:09:46.637
Well, the same is true for your job.

0:09:47.008,0:09:50.197
In order to make it relevant[br]on an ongoing basis,

0:09:50.197,0:09:52.369
in order to become irreplaceable,

0:09:52.725,0:09:56.702
we have to innovate our work[br]and what it is that we do.

0:09:56.840,0:09:58.015
My research shows

0:09:58.015,0:10:00.174
that if you want to make this transition

0:10:00.174,0:10:02.934
from being a liability[br]on the payroll books

0:10:02.934,0:10:04.662
to actually being an asset,

0:10:05.046,0:10:07.427
then you need to transition your thinking

0:10:07.427,0:10:09.811
from just showing up to work every day

0:10:09.811,0:10:12.980
and going down your to-do list,[br]of what it is that you have to do,

0:10:12.980,0:10:15.315
to actually thinking strategically

0:10:15.315,0:10:18.461
about what you should be doing, right?

0:10:18.767,0:10:22.033
You need to go from playing defense[br]with your to-do list

0:10:22.033,0:10:25.410
to playing offense[br]on how to create value.

0:10:26.305,0:10:29.945
So it's great to talk about it,[br]but how do you actually do it?

0:10:29.945,0:10:31.446
Well, I have a few suggestions.

0:10:31.656,0:10:35.026
I think you should spend[br]at least 15 minutes each week

0:10:35.246,0:10:37.376
thinking about one of three things:

0:10:37.376,0:10:42.619
innovating yourself, innovating your job,[br]and innovating your company, okay?

0:10:42.739,0:10:44.169
Let me give you some examples.

0:10:44.169,0:10:46.670
So if you're thinking[br]about innovating yourself

0:10:46.670,0:10:49.166
as a way to create more value[br]for the company,

0:10:49.266,0:10:54.165
why don't you make a list of 10 reasons[br]you should be fired today?

0:10:55.226,0:10:58.276
I know, we don't spend much time[br]thinking about this topic,

0:10:58.276,0:10:59.543
but think about it.

0:10:59.543,0:11:02.425
That list is like a blueprint[br]for how you could create

0:11:02.425,0:11:04.049
new value for your company.

0:11:04.521,0:11:08.636
Next, think about how to create[br]new value by changing your job.

0:11:09.490,0:11:13.038
Think about 10 ways you could change[br]what you do at work every day

0:11:13.117,0:11:16.283
to save yourself five hours per week.

0:11:16.604,0:11:18.142
We've all got efficiencies,

0:11:18.142,0:11:20.519
but we don't spend enough time[br]thinking about them.

0:11:20.955,0:11:22.046
And finally,

0:11:22.046,0:11:25.746
think about how to create new value[br]by innovating your company.

0:11:26.138,0:11:27.363
Why don't you make a list

0:11:27.363,0:11:29.568
of 10 different things[br]your department could do

0:11:29.568,0:11:31.569
to engage the employees

0:11:31.569,0:11:34.252
and then maybe offer to lead[br]one of those initiatives.

0:11:34.891,0:11:38.190
These are incredible ways[br]to create value for your organization

0:11:38.190,0:11:40.436
and become one of those[br]irreplaceable employees,

0:11:40.436,0:11:42.959
but the list I've given you[br]is just three suggestions.

0:11:42.959,0:11:43.990
The reality is

0:11:43.990,0:11:46.289
there are hundreds[br]of questions you can ask

0:11:46.289,0:11:48.548
in each one of these categories.

0:11:48.548,0:11:51.305
The trick is to turn it into a habit.

0:11:51.545,0:11:55.405
The trick is to go from going down[br]your to-do list every day

0:11:55.405,0:11:58.281
to thinking about[br]what you should be doing,

0:11:58.281,0:12:01.514
like, Should you be going[br]to all those meetings?

0:12:02.503,0:12:03.533
No.

0:12:03.896,0:12:07.498
Is this project the absolute[br]best use of your time

0:12:07.509,0:12:09.439
or is there something on your wish list

0:12:09.439,0:12:12.867
that you think could create[br]even more value to the organization?

0:12:14.329,0:12:15.593
I've come a long way

0:12:15.593,0:12:18.639
to deciding to wear[br]rollerblades to work at Sonic

0:12:18.639,0:12:21.494
and coming up with a poo trap[br]of legal software,

0:12:21.494,0:12:26.364
and it's all because I stopped inventing[br]and started innovating.

0:12:26.948,0:12:29.432
This focus on creating value[br]has allowed me

0:12:29.432,0:12:31.809
to not only get over my big failure

0:12:32.184,0:12:35.738
but write a New York Times bestseller,[br]start and sell a company,

0:12:35.738,0:12:39.233
and become an innovation consultant[br]to Fortune 1000 companies.

0:12:40.221,0:12:44.531
It's been an incredible journey[br]but it doesn't just have to be my story.

0:12:44.748,0:12:46.128
I implore you

0:12:46.398,0:12:48.917
to take off the metaphorical rollerblades

0:12:48.917,0:12:50.703
and stop asking yourself,

0:12:50.703,0:12:52.553
Am I doing a good job?

0:12:52.553,0:12:55.586
Am I working hard at the things[br]they've asked me to do?

0:12:55.586,0:12:59.289
And instead, ask, Am I creating value?

0:13:00.173,0:13:01.203
Thank you.

0:13:01.415,0:13:02.735
(Applause)