One Red Paperclip
I think this is one of the most innovative individuals and stories ever.
A Canadian blogger named Kyle MacDonald, bartered his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over the course of a year beginning on July 14, 2005. Here are those 14 trades.
- On July 14, 2005, he went to Vancouver and traded the paperclip for a fish-shaped pen.
- He then traded the pen the same day for a hand-sculpted doorknob from Seattle, Washington.
- July 25, 2005, he traveled to Amherst, Massachusetts to trade doorknob for a Coleman camp stove.
- September 24, 2005, he went to California and traded the camp stove for a Honda generator.
- November 16, 2005, he traded the generator for an empty keg, IOU to fill the keg, & neon Budweiser sign.
- December 8, 2005, he traded the “instant party” to Michel Barrette for a Ski-doo snowmobile.
- February 2006, he traded the snowmobile for a two-person trip to Yahk, British Columbia.
- January 7, 2006, he traded the second spot on the Yahk trip for a refrigerated cube van truck.
- February 22, 2006, he traded the truck for a recording contract with Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario.
- April 11, 2006, he traded the recording contract to Jody Gnant for a year’s rent in Phoenix, Arizona.
- April 26, 2006, he traded the one year’s rent in Phoenix, Arizona, for one afternoon with Alice Cooper.
- May 26, 2006, he traded the one afternoon with Alice Cooper for a KISS motorized snow globe.
- June 2, 2006, he traded the snow globe to Corbin Bernsen for a role in the film Donna on Demand.
- July 5, 2006, he traded the movie role for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
He traded up from a paperclip to a house! Go Kyle!
“Never slap a man who’s chewing tobacco.”
-Will Rogers
Lon Safko
Serial Innovator, Keynote Speaker, Trainer, Innovative Thinking
Tags: innovative thinking, creative, creative thinking, Innovation, critical thinking definition, innovation definition, critical thinking skills, creative process
