Dream the American Dream

Lately I've been wondering about the American spirit and whatever happened to our American ingenuity. I believe that Adolphus Busch of the Budweiser fame explained it the best when he said there were three ways to do things:

"The wrong way, the right way and the better way."

You can visit the Budweiser site here.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy said that we were going to expand the space program. "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Recently, Forbes ran an article about American Ingenuity and said that the "American spirit of innovation is alive and well in the energy industry."

Think about Mr. Busch's statement regarding "the better way." Americans have always led the way in the latest and greatest of services and products. Until 2010, we held the record for the number of patents - that is, until China bumped us from the Number 1 slot. Can we survive without innovative and ingenious products and services? I'm not giving up hope yet.

I believe that innovation and ingenuity can help rebuild America's economy. Let me give you two examples. I wrote about a man who is turning trash into treasure. If you missed, "Got Garbage?" you can reread it here. I was so impressed with his ingenuity and his entrepreneurial spirit that I did a follow-up with him this week. He's still advertising and he told me that he may be hiring help soon. The Got Garbage business is booming.

Yesterday, I heard of another ingenious business venture that provides a much-needed service and is also a lucrative part-time position for a man who needed some extra income. He could call it, "Rest Assured" because he is going to take care of grave sites for families who can no longer pay visits to their dearly departed because they have either relocated or become too frail to do it themselves. He offers several services for a small fee: clean up the grave, plant flowers and take pictures. I understand he already has several clients.

Let's return to Mr. Busch's advice and find a better way of doing things. Look for those services that you have the ability to provide and then market yourself. If you have too much time of your hands and not enough money in your pocket, search for something that would be a worthy service for another. You will both reap the benefit.

This is American Ingenuity at its best. Let's put creative thinking and innovative thinking back in the classrooms and reward those students who believe that if you dream the impossible dream, it can become the American dream.

Sources:

http://www.budweiser.com/en/our-legacy/american-ingenuity/default.aspx#/en/our-legacy/american-ingenuity/index

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/10/why-american-innovation-will-beat-out-china/

http://www.american.com/archive/2011/june/salvaging-the-american-dream