Are your personal and business ideas as strong as bricks and mortar?
| Category: Entrepreneurship | Date: 2001-07-09 |
Ideas! Without ideas, well not a lot seems to happen. How often do you hear yourself saying "That gives me an idea" or "Hey, I just thought of something"? It happens more often than we care to admit.
This can be the birthplace of many concepts and thoughts that if correctly watered will germinate therefore spreading and gaining momentum to potentially become mountain movers. If you dont put an adequate amount of fertiliser and water into your ideas then they will just shrivel up and die.
Ideas are spawned by leaders; by those looking to take control of their situation. It is a natural process for anyone who operates their own business, be it online or conventionally offline to be an ideas person.
Understanding The Problem. Why We Need Ideas For Success!
Before an idea can be sprung it is essential to understand what the problem is. Ideas will eventually become ways and techniques to develop solutions to the problem. But without understanding why something needs to be solved then it matters not how good you think they are as theyll never get off the ground.
Can you imagine how difficult it is to reach your goal when you dont even know we you are??? Its not at all possible! If you want to drive from point "A" to point "B" but youre not even at point "A" then you need to find out exactly where you are before you go anywhere.
Ive seen it time and time again in large bureaucracies (both public and private) where the managers were dead set certain they had solved their problem. They were jumping up and down, doing cartwheels, the Mexican Wave and all that jazz only to discover that their problem had now become a dilemma. They hadnt even bothered to identify their current position beforehand.
For the small businessperson this is vital!!! Its essential that this is done accurately and adequately from the start. Many of us dont have oversized budgets that can afford to be wasted away by negligence and misappropriation.
Just to harp on this point further lets take this a little deeper. In your endeavour to ascertain what your problem in fact is youll want to do a handful of things to bring out the most accurate outcome. Youll find there are perhaps many things that are contributing to your problem but are really only playing a minor role. You need to route out the core problem. One excellent method to do this is by the simple and old "Process of Elimination".
Write up a list of areas where the core of the problem may be hiding and indicate as to whether there is, in fact a problem there. If there are more than one of you in your organisation then get a few colleagues to do this as well. Its almost like brainstorming however it is done individually and then the results are compared. As you analyse each possibility you can eliminate those that dont seem as relevant as the next until you arrive at the core of the problem.
Problems are basically the things that arent functioning according to your plan. Why they arent functioning shows flaws in your system and requires a change.
The word problem itself is somewhat of a misnomer. It sounds so negative, drastic, alarming and disconcerting when really it is nothing more than a simple wrong turn that has recently been taken. All we need do is back up a few steps and create new and alternative paths utilising our new found knowledge of our current problem as a guide. Before you do take the next turn be very sure to study the path from which you just came to enable you to take the best path possible.
Problems, if not identified and controlled can become a formidable enemy. If grasped and understood early enough then the power you can harness from identifying each problem will work for you rather than against you.
Next week I would like to talk in more detail about our mind abilities and its capacity to optimise creativity. Then well start developing ideas the week after.
Part II - Understanding Your Mind Capacity & Building Creativity.
The problem has been determined and understood. Before you go jumping about trying to solve the problem it will assist you incredibly if you spend some time understanding your mind capacity and your creative ability.
Our mind capacity is something limited only by the amount of care and attention it receives (like anything - if you dont look after it - it wont work). Working 9 to 5 for 20 years for the same employer doing pretty much well the same thing not allowing "newness" into your life is a very good way to put a cap on your mind capacity.
What exactly do you mean by "mind capacity" Darren?
In a nutshell Im talking about your;
1) receptability to new concepts/ideas and ability to work with them making them viable and;
2) ability to avoid the "logic trap" and look to unconventional solutions through a lateral thought process
You will probably find if you mix up your routine, play sport, or participate in a wide variety of clubs or organisations on a regular basis, travel a lot, meet many new faces etc. then you are really keeping your mind active and alert.
Your very nature is outgoing more than not. Therefore you soak more in from your environment as would someone who fits the above "20 years with the same employer" example. As you put more into your life you will get more back. Its a natural by-product to be more open as a person taking in new concepts and ideas as you do.
The lethargic "vertical thinking" or otherwise known as the "logic trap" is an aspect - although helpful at times uses far less of your capacity than lateral thought ever will. Thinking unconventionally will always separate you from the crowd. This makes some nervous and presents itself as a challenge for others.
As you uncover your potential you will begin to become more creative. My dictionary defines creative as: "requiring intelligence and imagination, not merely mechanical skill".
Your ideas are only as good as you make them so it is important to optimise your creative ability. A perfect example of this is the very well known brainstorming. When participating in a brainstorming session you will probably notice that no judgement is made during the half hour/hour session at all. The sole point of it is to let your creative mind wander putting your thoughts on paper as they come into your mind. We all know our mind races off at a speed our little writing fingers find almost impossible to keep up with so make sure the main points as a bare minimum are transcribed from your mind to paper!!! Later, when the session is finished can you then start to look at their potential by fine tooth combing the details. All ideas need a starting point. Be creative and start from the most advantageous position that you feasibly can.
I found with my last job it was very helpful having a simple notebook inside my shirt pocket with a pen beside it. From time to time something would pop into mind almost sub-consciously. I was in a position to capture this idea right there and then and develop it further later. On one occasion I was sitting in the pub waiting for a friend to turn up. I came across an idea during the short time I was there alone. I have now built my business around this one concept alone that I came up with at this time. It is, in part, responsible for my success to date.
When you really go to work on yourself you will train your sub-conscious to continue the path and occasionally come up with ideas that can be very beneficial to your cause. If you dont capture these ideas as they happen then they may never pop back into your mind. Every idea is priceless as it has the potential to solve your problem. With such a powerful tool working for you around the clock it makes perfect sense to capture every idea as it happens.
If youre in bed and you think of something for heavens sake dont turn the light out and say "Ill write it down in the morning". You may lose it! If you dont use it you lose it!
Its so simple. Train yourself to be creative and reap the rewards...
Part III - GENERATING IDEAS & DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS
Over the last two weeks we have been discussing how important it is to fully understand the problem so that you dont go about trying to solve something different. We also tapped into the power of our mind and its ability to be creative. As a natural consequence today were finally going to get on with getting some ideas down on paper in the endeavour to solve those things requiring to be solved.
For those of you who have been subscribing to "AAvenues" for a while may be familiar with a popular article I wrote entitled "Top Ten Ways To Generate Brilliant Ideas". It was printed by many publishers and it received many great reviews. Im asking you now to call this article as its vitally important that you read and understand its principles to this weeks chapter on generating ideas and developing solutions. You may call it by autoresponder here now at: greatideas@topliving.com
The main point I want to concentrate on today is "Look At Parallel Problems & Solutions" (from the afore-mentioned article).
Relate your current problem to one that you had in the past and check for parallels between the two. The way(s) earlier problems were solved can assist you greatly in generating ideas to solve subsequent situations that present themselves.
Commonly known as experience. We are products today based on our decisions from yesterday. Through our own experiences we have ended up here together today. If you can relate your problem of today with that of earlier times and establish a nexus between them then you have given yourself a wicked headstart that you never would have had otherwise.
When I want to come up with an idea to potentially solve my situation Ill sit down and work backwards for a start. I find having a solution in my head with a vivid vision brings life and animation to the task. All that needs to be done now is to bridge the gaps that must clearly be filled between the two points.
Developing a solution is not so hard when the task at hand is broken up into several sub-tasks. Headings such as who/what/ when/where/why are probably ample to get you into overdrive here. For example:
Who will be effected? What is the most desired outcome? When is our deadline? Where can it be done cost efficiently? Why does it need to be done? (This is in part I of IV)
Think laterally, think vertically, think logically. The best ideas will always come from groups working for the common goal. Give your group as much opportunity to be creative by listening twice as much as speaking. Do this as informally as possible and get past situations into the open.
You can then draw on the past successes and take them a step further with the challenge of today.
Why try to re-invent the wheel when its already been done? Youve already invented your own wheel now for heavens sake make a couple of small adjustments and make your coach go faster instead of building a brand new one.
Part IV- Measuring The Success of Your Ideas! Why Do/Dont They Work???
Now that youve spent time developing solutions we need to find out how successful they are. i.e. do they work? Measuring the success of our ideas is vital. If something isnt working it needs to be altered or everythings for nought and goes down the tube.
About the Author
Darren Roberts Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved
Subscribe to Darrens popular "Success and Self-Motivation" Weekly publication, "AAvenues 2 Your Success" and receive the E-Book "How To Build A Healthy Attitude" absolutely free.
Click Here To Subscribe!
The above is an excerpt from Darrens new book called: "Making Your Success Inevitable" For more information on subscriber discounts and bonuses see details below.
darren@topliving.com
http://topliving.com/book.htm
This can be the birthplace of many concepts and thoughts that if correctly watered will germinate therefore spreading and gaining momentum to potentially become mountain movers. If you dont put an adequate amount of fertiliser and water into your ideas then they will just shrivel up and die.
Ideas are spawned by leaders; by those looking to take control of their situation. It is a natural process for anyone who operates their own business, be it online or conventionally offline to be an ideas person.
Understanding The Problem. Why We Need Ideas For Success!
Before an idea can be sprung it is essential to understand what the problem is. Ideas will eventually become ways and techniques to develop solutions to the problem. But without understanding why something needs to be solved then it matters not how good you think they are as theyll never get off the ground.
Can you imagine how difficult it is to reach your goal when you dont even know we you are??? Its not at all possible! If you want to drive from point "A" to point "B" but youre not even at point "A" then you need to find out exactly where you are before you go anywhere.
Ive seen it time and time again in large bureaucracies (both public and private) where the managers were dead set certain they had solved their problem. They were jumping up and down, doing cartwheels, the Mexican Wave and all that jazz only to discover that their problem had now become a dilemma. They hadnt even bothered to identify their current position beforehand.
For the small businessperson this is vital!!! Its essential that this is done accurately and adequately from the start. Many of us dont have oversized budgets that can afford to be wasted away by negligence and misappropriation.
Just to harp on this point further lets take this a little deeper. In your endeavour to ascertain what your problem in fact is youll want to do a handful of things to bring out the most accurate outcome. Youll find there are perhaps many things that are contributing to your problem but are really only playing a minor role. You need to route out the core problem. One excellent method to do this is by the simple and old "Process of Elimination".
Write up a list of areas where the core of the problem may be hiding and indicate as to whether there is, in fact a problem there. If there are more than one of you in your organisation then get a few colleagues to do this as well. Its almost like brainstorming however it is done individually and then the results are compared. As you analyse each possibility you can eliminate those that dont seem as relevant as the next until you arrive at the core of the problem.
Problems are basically the things that arent functioning according to your plan. Why they arent functioning shows flaws in your system and requires a change.
The word problem itself is somewhat of a misnomer. It sounds so negative, drastic, alarming and disconcerting when really it is nothing more than a simple wrong turn that has recently been taken. All we need do is back up a few steps and create new and alternative paths utilising our new found knowledge of our current problem as a guide. Before you do take the next turn be very sure to study the path from which you just came to enable you to take the best path possible.
Problems, if not identified and controlled can become a formidable enemy. If grasped and understood early enough then the power you can harness from identifying each problem will work for you rather than against you.
Next week I would like to talk in more detail about our mind abilities and its capacity to optimise creativity. Then well start developing ideas the week after.
Part II - Understanding Your Mind Capacity & Building Creativity.
The problem has been determined and understood. Before you go jumping about trying to solve the problem it will assist you incredibly if you spend some time understanding your mind capacity and your creative ability.
Our mind capacity is something limited only by the amount of care and attention it receives (like anything - if you dont look after it - it wont work). Working 9 to 5 for 20 years for the same employer doing pretty much well the same thing not allowing "newness" into your life is a very good way to put a cap on your mind capacity.
What exactly do you mean by "mind capacity" Darren?
In a nutshell Im talking about your;
1) receptability to new concepts/ideas and ability to work with them making them viable and;
2) ability to avoid the "logic trap" and look to unconventional solutions through a lateral thought process
You will probably find if you mix up your routine, play sport, or participate in a wide variety of clubs or organisations on a regular basis, travel a lot, meet many new faces etc. then you are really keeping your mind active and alert.
Your very nature is outgoing more than not. Therefore you soak more in from your environment as would someone who fits the above "20 years with the same employer" example. As you put more into your life you will get more back. Its a natural by-product to be more open as a person taking in new concepts and ideas as you do.
The lethargic "vertical thinking" or otherwise known as the "logic trap" is an aspect - although helpful at times uses far less of your capacity than lateral thought ever will. Thinking unconventionally will always separate you from the crowd. This makes some nervous and presents itself as a challenge for others.
As you uncover your potential you will begin to become more creative. My dictionary defines creative as: "requiring intelligence and imagination, not merely mechanical skill".
Your ideas are only as good as you make them so it is important to optimise your creative ability. A perfect example of this is the very well known brainstorming. When participating in a brainstorming session you will probably notice that no judgement is made during the half hour/hour session at all. The sole point of it is to let your creative mind wander putting your thoughts on paper as they come into your mind. We all know our mind races off at a speed our little writing fingers find almost impossible to keep up with so make sure the main points as a bare minimum are transcribed from your mind to paper!!! Later, when the session is finished can you then start to look at their potential by fine tooth combing the details. All ideas need a starting point. Be creative and start from the most advantageous position that you feasibly can.
I found with my last job it was very helpful having a simple notebook inside my shirt pocket with a pen beside it. From time to time something would pop into mind almost sub-consciously. I was in a position to capture this idea right there and then and develop it further later. On one occasion I was sitting in the pub waiting for a friend to turn up. I came across an idea during the short time I was there alone. I have now built my business around this one concept alone that I came up with at this time. It is, in part, responsible for my success to date.
When you really go to work on yourself you will train your sub-conscious to continue the path and occasionally come up with ideas that can be very beneficial to your cause. If you dont capture these ideas as they happen then they may never pop back into your mind. Every idea is priceless as it has the potential to solve your problem. With such a powerful tool working for you around the clock it makes perfect sense to capture every idea as it happens.
If youre in bed and you think of something for heavens sake dont turn the light out and say "Ill write it down in the morning". You may lose it! If you dont use it you lose it!
Its so simple. Train yourself to be creative and reap the rewards...
Part III - GENERATING IDEAS & DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS
Over the last two weeks we have been discussing how important it is to fully understand the problem so that you dont go about trying to solve something different. We also tapped into the power of our mind and its ability to be creative. As a natural consequence today were finally going to get on with getting some ideas down on paper in the endeavour to solve those things requiring to be solved.
For those of you who have been subscribing to "AAvenues" for a while may be familiar with a popular article I wrote entitled "Top Ten Ways To Generate Brilliant Ideas". It was printed by many publishers and it received many great reviews. Im asking you now to call this article as its vitally important that you read and understand its principles to this weeks chapter on generating ideas and developing solutions. You may call it by autoresponder here now at: greatideas@topliving.com
The main point I want to concentrate on today is "Look At Parallel Problems & Solutions" (from the afore-mentioned article).
Relate your current problem to one that you had in the past and check for parallels between the two. The way(s) earlier problems were solved can assist you greatly in generating ideas to solve subsequent situations that present themselves.
Commonly known as experience. We are products today based on our decisions from yesterday. Through our own experiences we have ended up here together today. If you can relate your problem of today with that of earlier times and establish a nexus between them then you have given yourself a wicked headstart that you never would have had otherwise.
When I want to come up with an idea to potentially solve my situation Ill sit down and work backwards for a start. I find having a solution in my head with a vivid vision brings life and animation to the task. All that needs to be done now is to bridge the gaps that must clearly be filled between the two points.
Developing a solution is not so hard when the task at hand is broken up into several sub-tasks. Headings such as who/what/ when/where/why are probably ample to get you into overdrive here. For example:
Who will be effected? What is the most desired outcome? When is our deadline? Where can it be done cost efficiently? Why does it need to be done? (This is in part I of IV)
Think laterally, think vertically, think logically. The best ideas will always come from groups working for the common goal. Give your group as much opportunity to be creative by listening twice as much as speaking. Do this as informally as possible and get past situations into the open.
You can then draw on the past successes and take them a step further with the challenge of today.
Why try to re-invent the wheel when its already been done? Youve already invented your own wheel now for heavens sake make a couple of small adjustments and make your coach go faster instead of building a brand new one.
Part IV- Measuring The Success of Your Ideas! Why Do/Dont They Work???
Now that youve spent time developing solutions we need to find out how successful they are. i.e. do they work? Measuring the success of our ideas is vital. If something isnt working it needs to be altered or everythings for nought and goes down the tube.
About the Author
Darren Roberts Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved
Subscribe to Darrens popular "Success and Self-Motivation" Weekly publication, "AAvenues 2 Your Success" and receive the E-Book "How To Build A Healthy Attitude" absolutely free.
Click Here To Subscribe!
The above is an excerpt from Darrens new book called: "Making Your Success Inevitable" For more information on subscriber discounts and bonuses see details below.
darren@topliving.com
http://topliving.com/book.htm
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