Innovating in Caine's Arcade

Late to this, but was impressed ... You can innovate.  Having the pieces to innovate helps.  But if you don't have them, you can invent them.

Three Lessons From Caine's Arcade by Todd Henry

In early 2012 a short film by Nirvan Mullick called Caine’s Arcade swept across the internet, bringing even the most hardened, cynical person to the verge of tears. The star of the film was nine year old Caine Monroy, who for a variety of reasons needed to spend his summer at his father’s used auto parts store in East Los Angeles.

What would feel like a prison sentence to many kids, Caine saw as an opportunity. One day, he had the idea to fashion a kind of impromptu arcade from the empty cardboard boxes in his father’s warehouse. His fabrications were extremely intricate, featuring ticket dispensers, complex rules, and working panels and parts. Caine sold tickets to his arcade at $1 for four turns, but also dispensed what he called his “Fun Pass”, which would award the purchaser with 500 turns for only $2. There was only one problem: no customers. While many people came and went from the auto parts store, few people paid attention to Caine’s Arcade. .... "