In his Stanford University Commencement Speech, How to Live Before You Die, Steve Jobs talks about how you can only connect the dots by looking backwards.
It’s a similar thought process that led to the evolution and idea of The Innovation Garage®.
The concept was co-developed with the help of three very trusted business advisors. Founder Jon Washington’s wife Kris and their three children.
Back in 2011 and 2012, during a seres of family dinners, the table discussions centered around making sure that whatever you do in life provides joy and helps others.
At some point, during the course of those dinners, a question was asked of Jon by his kids. “How are you providing joy and helping others?” At the time, with his career in full swing as a large corporation executive, Jon didn’t have a very good answer to the question.
As the family gatherings continued, it was at a dinner at a local restaurant, the family suggested starting a company might be the best way to make it happen. If the company was was built on Jon’s skills and interests, this might be the best way to help others.
Given Jon’s startup background, that seemed like a logical next step to explore.
Creating a special adventure, truly walking the talk, and seeing might happen next.
So at that restaurant, when he asked his boys for a business name, they flipped over their menus. Each writing and capturing their ideas in crayon.
Jon asked the boys to pick the best name they could think of and he pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it across the table.
Jon’s 10-year-old son wrote Innovation Garage in crayon on the back of the card, and then passed the card back.
