Have you ever been shopping for that perfect pair of pants, top or dress and try as you might you just can’t find the right thing?  One is too long, one is too short, one is too big, no matter how hard you try there is no such thing as the perfect pant, top or dress.

So you have two choices, you can take home the item that doesn’t quite meet your needs or you could go home with nothing…unless, you are someone who sews and feels skilled enough to turn the nearly great pants, top or dress into that perfect item you were looking for in the first place.

A person who sews is happy to say the pants are great but they need to be taken up, the top is fabulous but needs to come in around the waist and the dress is great but needs an extra dart in the back.

A person who sews understands that every shape is different and to make it work for the individual it will need to be tailored.

A person who sews is happy to modify an item in order to get the best possible outcome.

Sewing is a great metaphor for incremental innovation.  If you don’t need to start from scratch, why would you?  If a tweak or a larger modification would turn a process or item from ordinary to extraordinary, why not think like a person who sews and take it in, run it up and put a dart in it?

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Written by Lisa Smith

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Lisa is a professional thinker dedicated to helping people unlock their innate creativity and to empower them to think differently – for themselves. She is passionate about building innovative cultures and about harnessing and engaging talent to create thinking communities. Lisa holds an MBA, specialising in organisational change and innovation, which forms the nucleus of her work. She relishes opportunities to share the Minds at Work thinking strategies with government bodies, socially responsible corporate, educators, community groups and farmers, helping them to turn their big ideas into realities.