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"Never hide your hidden talents!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

I find innovation and creativity stories everywhere I look! (And I'm playing with my creativity - today's image was generated on MidJourney, and is used in my newest book, just released!)

Consider the piano intro for Free Bird, the anthemic song by the rock band Lynrd Skynrd.

I recently watched the documentary Muscle Shoals - it's the story about a small little community in Alabama that hosted two of the world's most iconic music studios, where a group of remarkable session musicians provided the foundation for a huge number of hit songs, and where a good swathe of rock royalty recorded their work. If you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend it.

At one moment, it's telling the story of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the recording of the famous song - it seems as with all things, the band was struggling with piecing the song together. And yet, when they returned from lunch one day, they found one of their roadies noodling away on the studio piano, playing the part that would become the iconic opening to the song.

Their roadie!

The documentary goes on to note that few people realized that while he was responsible for moving crates and carrying equipment, he also had a hidden skill. "He was a concert pianist, and nobody knew about it," noted one of the members of the band. Watch this short clip - and in particular, at 1:31, where they tell the story of the discovery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg3fGhxytVk

Billy went on to become a full member of the band, touring with them for many years, and playing with them even beyond the plane crash that saw the loss of key members in the early years.

That got my creativity juices thinking: how many people around us have skills of which we are not aware? What hidden talents exist on our team that could bring us magic - that we have no clue about? What capabilities already exist in our orbit while we are busy searching for those very same skills?

Not only that: how many of us hold back from telling others of some of the unique skills that we might possess? What hidden talents are we holding back? We might not think they are important - but they could be revolutionary!

This got me thinking - many people might hold back from sharing their full range of skills. They might be able to do something unique that can help our team move forward, but they might be too shy, don't think the skills are relevant, or simply never think to tell us. The result is missed opportunities and discoveries.

For me, unique skills and talents are often the hidden key to innovation.

How often do we not learn about them until we discover that the next wave of innovation comes from unexpected sources?

The future belongs to those who dare to reveal their hidden capabilities.

**#Talent** **#Innovation** **#Discovery** **#Creativity** **#Skills** **#Potential** **#Growth** **#Opportunity** **#Success** **#Unique**

https://jimcarroll.com/2025/02/daily-inspiration-creativity-and-skills-never-hide-your-hidden-talents/

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