Lemon Meringue with a Twist

Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat. —Steve Jobs

The brochure—a writer’s conference brochure—had three typos. How did I not catch them earlier? Worse, twenty had already been printed on specialized paper that I didn’t want to waste, and the first Whidbey Island Writer’s Conference budget, which I had only just begun to build, was razor-thin. After correcting the original file, I made a page of tiny tickets, cut them out, and stapled them to each of the first-run copies. The tickets read, “Spot the three typos in this brochure and get a special early-bird discount.” Those first brochures had the highest return on registration ever, and the conference went on to be a great success for seven years. The “mistake” turned out to be an engaging benefit.

That wasn’t the only effective innovation born of necessity. The annual conference was held on South Whidbey Island, a place with no formal convention space or large hotels. People questioned the feasibility of an event that would eventually bring hundreds of writers to the island annually during the shoulder season, creating economic benefits for the whole community and great opportunities for creatives.

To overcome the lack of convention space, we held the conference at Langley High School’s state-of-the-art auditorium and classrooms. But if we were to have a Friday event, we needed to be out of the school after the opening ceremonies and keynotes. Another idea came to me: What if generous community members opened their beautiful homes, nestled in forests or overlooking the Puget Sound, to up to 20 participants while bestselling authors, poets, agents, and editors joined them for “Author Fireside Chats”? They did. Thanks to phenomenal volunteers who worked all year long to make it happen, that innovation became one of the reasons we were quickly considered one of the best writers’ conferences in the United States. It wasn’t just turning lemons into lemonade—it was lemon meringue with a twist.

When problems look insurmountable, that’s when the solution is most likely to take you somewhere new and completely unexpected—perhaps better than the norm. To do that, we must:

1. Be willing to see the challenge as it is—no minimizing, no worst-case scenario thinking. Just see it.
2. Allow yourself to imagine what you’d truly love the end result to be. We often limit ourselves, or worse, don't even allow ourselves to imagine our heart's desire as possible.
3. Get still enough to let your creativity and inspiration take you somewhere new. Bonus points if it takes your breath away a little. After that, take the next best step toward your outcome. This holds true for everything from typos to global change.

Sometimes the way forward is to be brave enough to not know the answer so you can see your way to new possibilities.

When have you taken on a challenge that scared you and found your way forward? What helped you get there?

More of the story about how the Whidbey Island Writer’s Conference started, as well as the founding of the global movement Days for Girls International, can be found in my book The Power of Days: A Story of Resilience, Dignity, and the Fight for Women’s Equity. Great news! I’m thrilled to share that we’ve learned this week that it has been nominated for the Best Book Award for nonfiction, adding to an earlier nomination for the Pacific Northwest Book Award. A book that took four years to write is proving, again and again, that miracles happen when you just take the next step and keep showing up. May yours be next.

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