What you need. And the worst thing you can do about it.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re running a solo business, leading a small team or managing a large group of people: you need a steady supply of fresh ideas. That’s what keeps your organization alive.
It takes work, |NAME|.
It’s about more than finding a way of doing or saying something better than before. It means staying open to the notion that the thing you’ve held as true for a long time in your work just might no longer be true.
That’s scary for a lot of people.
It’s a big reason why so many businesses fail. And not just the small ones.
Have a look at this list (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/most-admired/) of the most admired brands today.
Some didn’t even exist in 1994 (and yes, I’m as shocked as you are in realizing this was 20 years ago now). Back then, there was another group in the winner’s circle, each one at the top of their game, many probably felt the future looked great as far as the eye could see. Did they foresee a time when things would change for them? Probably not.
How different are we today from any of them?
That’s the question that should keep us humble and focused.
One of the most rewarding parts of being creative (http://thinkitcreative.com/blog/kickstart-the-creative/) for a living is finding that growing audience out there that values ideas. This means, of course, having to keep coming up with new ones.
Here’s what I do in my own work to make sure that keeps happening:
Make it a daily practice. Ideas are like muscles. You have to exercise them daily. Doing so does not mean you’re going to come up with winners day after day. It’s the opposite, actually. You’re going to come up with a lot of ideas that are unworkable or just not ready for prime time. That’s ok. You get better with exercise. I use a note-taking app that syncs between my phone and my other devices to save everything I come up with. Find a system that helps you do the same.
Be careful of self-reinforcing patterns. In your work, emulate what has worked well before, but be careful you’re not just creating artificial limits on what you can do differently and better in the future. To make a better smartphone, Apple had to push forward with an idea for a product that they knew was going to canibalize their own sales of what was a very successful personal music player. Things worked out pretty well for them, but imagine how scary it must have been for them at the time, seeing the idea though to completion.
Stop worrying so much about what others think. There’s never going to be a shortage of people who are rich with opinions but thin on ideas of their own. Don’t give in to the thought that “this is a bad idea” if it’s based on what you’re worried others will say. Judge your ideas and your work on your own scale: is this my personal best…does it make me want to do more and learn more?
Avoid the worst thing. The worst thing you can do when coming up with fresh ideas in your work is to give in to the fear that you are going to disappoint people. My good friend Chris Brogan (http://www.chrisbrogan.com/vitamins/) makes a great point about this. Disappointed means you didn’t follow the script that I created for you. This smothers invention. I’ve seen it happen more times than I care to mention.
So be bold with your ideas. Grow plenty of them. You’d be amazed at what the world is ready for if you just give yourself a chance.
–
That’s it for this week, |NAME|. Me? I’m enjoying a whole lot of different music in the studio these days while I work. One of my favourites is this great channel on Songza, called Bayou Barbecue (http://songza.com/listen/bayou-barbecue-songza/) : plenty of that New Orleans sound that I call soul food.
How about you, |NAME|? Listening to anything good these days that you’d like to share?
Very best, Patrick ============================================================ |IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE| |LIST:DESCRIPTION|
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