A thief of good ideas

Over the years I have found there is a strange calm between Christmas and New Years — compared to the previous 51 weeks, it is disturbingly quiet. Why this is I can only hazard to guess but it probably has something to do with figuratively catching your breath and emotionally preparing to do it all over again but with a new calendar.

I am probably just transferring.

I also find myself reflecting on the events of the past year, as well as actively looking for commentary and ideas that may be useful in the coming year. Today I was listening to Ryan Holiday who is a modern champion of stoicism and someone I would recommend you free up some time for — his perspectives truly have stood the test of time. He introduced me to a new phrase I hadn’t heard before, and although it’s something not uttered by Marcus Aurelius, I still found it impactful.

“Don’t Yuck on someone else’s Yum”

It is a reminder to not be critical of someone else’s idea or opinion — you don’t have to like it or agree with it but it is their opinion so let them have it without any egotistical comment. Sure, there are ideas and opinions “that are ‘draw a line in the sand’ wrong” for moral, ethical, and legal reasons but that’s not what I am referring to in this context. I liked this phrase — it was because it was something new to me, aligned with my goals and is something actionable that would offer beneficial results to me.

It was a good idea in my mind. For one, it prevented needless friction but more importantly, it prevents “blind spots” that come with an ego and the belief your opinion or view is more important than someone else’s.

Although I don’t just look for ideas in the last week of the year, there is a concentrated effort in this last week to feed my thinking as I head into a new year. New ideas come about all the time, but in my view, most ideas are taken from someone else, and as a working model, it’s probably better to apply the view that there are few new ideas and it’s much easier to search for existing ones than create new ones.

There is a hierarchy to ideas you know, something akin to features, benefits, and value:

• A bad idea is better than no idea

• A good idea is better than a bad idea

• The best idea is one that aligns with your goals

I am always looking for ideas to steal, and although I like the romantic idea of coming up with a new and unique idea myself, I am very comfortable with “borrowing” someone else’s idea and using it with abandon. It really is fun searching for ideas that someone else has.

“Don’t Yuck on someone else’s Yum” is a great reminder not to let your preconceptions get in the way of the next idea you can take and that you should critically think about whether someone’s Yum is your next bad, good, or best idea before you cast judgement.

And why does it matter? It’s because idea statuses change and yesterday’s bad ideas can become today’s best idea so fill your idea funnel.

iamgpe

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Thoughts on getting people to rallying around an idea...

I almost wrote that the only time we aren’t generating ideas is when we are sleeping; I then smiled with the recognition that we dream. Although I have absolutely no research to back it up, I am going to throw it out there that we give rise to ideas all the time — 24/7.

Many of these ideas go nowhere because they’re unrealistic, they’re forgotten, or have no real commitment to make them happen. But there are also many ideas that just need some support to make them become a reality — and some ideas will need a number of people to be involved. These people will either support your idea, won’t stand in its way, or help with the heavy lifting.

Since it seems I’m always trying to help push an idea forward or watching people do the same, I thought I would offer some thoughts on rallying people around an idea to move it forward. For right or wrong, I’ve come up with five considerations.

The Articulation of your Idea — The idea that is in your head needs to be put in to words so it can be shared with others, and although obvious, isn’t always easy. To start with, the idea needs to be a solution to a problem and articulated as such; there is nothing worse than having someone suggest your idea “seems to be a solution searching for a problem” — if this happens, either it’s truly a bad idea or you haven’t articulated your idea’s value well enough. In my experience it’s important to get your idea down in writing and wordsmith the language to articulate the idea, the situation, the problem it solves for, the benefits it offers, who will be interested, and the opportunity. This language then needs to find its way into a thirty second elevator speech, a one page brief, a formal presentation, video, podcast, and frankly any other format that may be needed to help share your idea.

Your audience — I suppose it would be fair to say your audience is everyone because you never know who someone knows, but you will want your message aligned to the audience. Your audience will fall into five categories —

• People whose support you need (approval, financial, cheerleading)

• People who will help you make the idea a reality

• People who don’t care

• Detractors of your idea

• People who may stand in the way of making your idea a reality.

It may seem the last two groups are the same but I would suggest there’s a subtle difference as a detractor simply thinks it’s a bad idea whereas someone standing in the way may be doing it for no other reason then they don’t know what is happening and want to be part of the discussion.

Frequency of sharing your idea — Share as often as you can. This of course will be situational and needs to be in alignment with the audience, the situation, and how you are articulating you idea. People will respect your passion but context is everything.

Feedback and adjustment — With all this communication it will be important to stop and listen to what is being said by others. The belief in your idea (and the passion that surrounds it) will make you somewhat deaf to what others say, and it is important to fight through this. You will search out very smart and knowledgeable people (or should be), and it would be silly not to listen to them.

Action — Nothing gets people involved more than seeing something happening. It is important to make your idea alive in a tangible way, even if it’s baby steps to the final goal. It may be hard for people to grasp an idea, but they can literally grasp a “prototype”. Do something more than just talking about it.

And one more thing… Don’t ever give up, unless of course it’s a bad idea.

iamgpe

I propose we do this...

I will go out on a limb and say that it is very rare that the first idea, first prototype, first draft, or the first of "anything" is also the last — in fact, I will be so bold to say it never happens.

The first of anything will be challenged, torn down and rebuilt, built upon to the point of being unrecognizable, or spur on something else that makes it irrelevant. It can be an uncomfortable process to be sure; both practically and emotionally. My favourite saying to illustrate this is, "Everyone who is first through the wall gets bloody; everyone", and metaphorically speaking the more different your "proposal" is from the norm, the bloodier you will get. And crazier still, it is the only way to progress in anything. 

At the very least it is a reminder that if you aren't uncomfortable you are not moving in the right direction, as well as highlighting the truism that you need to "be comfortable with being uncomfortable". Both very important reminders, but even more importantly, it is a reminder that someone needs to step up and say, "I propose we do this" — be it a new idea, a new way of thinking, or simply a first draft of the thinking around the table. Progress needs a starting point; it needs a champion. A case in point is a presentation for a strategic plan I worked on which had 27 versions in the end — not because the first version was fundamentally wrong, but because we needed a started point to challenge what we had, try to break our thinking, and initiate an iterative process of improvement.  

Anything new needs a Champion to move it forward, protect it, and foster it, as well as work through the natural challenges and pushback that come your way — not always something for the faint of heart, which I suppose, is why they call them Champions.

iamgpe