Innovation – The Food Wheel
Here’s another innovation realization I came up with several years ago while sneaking a Taco Bell bean burrito; The Food Wheel. What if…
What if you looked at all recipes as basically the same, but where only the shape and quantity varies. Here’s an example.
Let’s start with a typical chicken dinner. The dinner consists of chicken (meat), potatoes or rice, (starch), a steamed vegetable (vegetable – duh), and a glass of water.
Now, let’s take the chicken off the bone and cut it into large pieces, cut up the potatoes into large pieces, and throw the meat, starch, and veggies into a pot with half the glass of water. You
have Chicken Stew.
Let’s do that again. Cut the chicken smaller, use the rice for the starch, throw in the veggies, and now add the full glass of water. You have Chicken Soup!
One more time… Put the water back on the side, keep the chicken in large pieces, change the veggie to lettuce and tomatoes, and change the starch to bread. Throw a little mayo into the mix and you have a great Chicken Sandwich!
Pretty weird, right?
As I said earlier, I was inspired (inspiritu), while sitting in a Taco Bell when I noticed the “BRILLIANCE”! Taco Bell’s entire menu (for the most part), is made up of only five ingredients; tortilla, meat, cheese, beans, & lettuce.
Sometimes the tortilla is fried and crunchy as with a taco, sometimes if soft as with a burrito. Sometimes the meat is chicken, but it’s mostly beef (which I think is mostly beef?)
Next time you are in a Taco Bell, look at their menu and think of the Food Wheel!
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