I don’t know about you but I sometimes find myself working on a task and I try to find the solution on my own. If I don’t have a solution, I look at what others are doing and giving it my own flavor.

A few weeks ago I was talking to Executive Chef Raúl Correa, one of the most creative chefs on the island. He won me over when he decided to modify his menu for vegans and vegetarians. His menu is probably the only one that caters to both in a fine dining restaurant in Puerto Rico.

As I shared ideas with him about some possible new items to the menu. We talked about different dishes and ingredients; I offered Lucy’s help to save him time with research. He thanked me in the most honest and grateful way but mentioned that he would rather construct something from scratch by experimenting with ingredients and his methods.

At that moment I realized why I am such a big fan of Chef Raúl Correa. His approach at finding solutions in a unique way and creating a dish with various presentations, has awed me time and time again. Ask for the Watermelon Steak one night and it will be presented in a totally different way the next time you visit the restaurant. Same great taste with a unique presentation.

How often do you Experiment?

With so many sources like Youtube, blogs, or being able to ask questions via social platforms and social networks for a solution, I think less and less people take the approach of trying something out and coming up with various solutions on their own. Doing what others have done in the exact same order hinders creating our own solutions.

Like my friend and fellow Misfit AJ Leon says, “Don’t follow well lit paths. Grab a machete and hack your own.”

Owning Your Solutions

I guess taking this approach at solving problems is the best way to find your own solutions. It helps us understand every possible aspect of the solution we structured. From creating an award winning dish to the design of your next book cover or website.

After my conversation with the Chef, I decided to try to solve a problem using an unorthodox method. By taking a different approach and using methods learned by several experiments, I had my message shared with over 10K readers in one day over mass media and many social networks.

I would say that my experiment worked and proved that I need to experiment even more than what I usually do.

What has been your latest experiment?

I will be running a series of experiments in the next few months a few including social network marketing. I will be sharing the results and details in my newsletter. If you want to be part of our inner circle here at Limonade, feel free to sign up now.