Since college days I’ve been a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes. I’ve read all the stories at least twice, watched the old PBS episodes and my best friend and I used to have fun making restaurant reservations under the name of Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote stories that were fun, entertaining, creative and fascinating. All the things we want to be and do in our businesses and lives.
Fast forward to 2011-12. The word innovation gets tossed around like a football at a picnic. Everybody is innovative, or so they want you to think. One area that has shown interesting “innovation” is the PBS series, “Sherlock,” which is really Sherlock Holmes in the 21st century.
They’ve taken the old stories and set them in present day London; and have done an excellent job of it. Sherlock Holmes with an electronic microscope, texting and having his villains using modern weapons and technology is truly fascinating.
There is very little in business or its day-to-day activities that is new. It’s the way we bring those proven practices to the present day. Business still requires a good product (or service), great service and the making of sales calls.
We all have to regularly ask ourselves, have we brought ourselves into the current day with what we do? Doing so also keeps us motivated.
“It saved me from ennui…my life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence.” Sherlock Holmes in “The Red-Headed League”