Leading up to the anniversary of his Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, Chef Charlie Trotter had a compelling idea.

Having published 14 cookbooks over his career, the newest one would do something different: faithfully recreate all the recipes from his first cookbook—but with a twist.

Using exactly the same ingredients as each original recipe in his first cookbook, Chef Trotter would create something entirely new. What would be interesting, he explained as we talked about the project, was that we could create a book to compare the results side by side.

By comparing the originals with the modern versions, you could see how his thinking—and the restaurant—had evolved.

To think differently about the same elements—for years—is a foundation of inspired creativity.

Like chefs, designers work with familiar elements—words, images, color, typography, and form—to create something new each time. Over 25 years, a designer or chef will have transformed the same basic elements into thousands of different ideas.

We often think we need to start with a whole set of "ingredients," but exceptional creatives are not doing that. They use the same form in new ways.

What separates the outliers is their inexhaustible desire to ask, "what's next?"

To be creative, you aren't doing something new as much as seeing something new—finding a pattern, making a connection, or flipping to a different vantage.

We started—but never finished—Charlie Trotter's cookbook.

A few years later, for health reasons that he did not publicly disclose at the time, Chef Trotter closed his legendary restaurant on his terms. Yet, for over 25 years—each day and at each seating—Charlie Trotter and his restaurant achieved something remarkable: they never served the same dish twice.

Every day, consider the creativity you might express if you never stopped asking, "what's next?"