“The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.”-Peter Diamandis
Ideas are like butterfly. They fly away within no time. It is therefore advised to keep a pencil or diary or a card in the pocket so that your important thoughts in the form of idea are not missed. Great ideas always exist but they are lost due to procrastination. We loose the advantage of good idea often due to delay in execution or implementation. Successful execution takes consistent, disciplined steps, deep commitment, alignment in direction and collaboration.
So often we say to our friends or fellow workers, “It is fantastic idea!”, but generally it remains idea only. The spontaneous idea may be converted into reality if it is immediately processed or sufficient work is done on that very idea, otherwise it remains dormant and the idea may lost forever.
Transforming an idea into a reality is never an easy task because it demands discipline of actions and organised steps to carry out particular task. In fact, it is extremely difficult because it is as difficult as nurturing a plant. Generally speaking, when you have good idea, others are not interested unless they have some benefits. You have imagined the fruits of tree while sowing the seeds but it is not perceived by other person.
Message To Mission
Your message of your idea may be converted in mission and result in moment if the purpose of idea is strong enough. You should be able to influence the people and convince for benefits of the outcome or the end result.
Great ideas can be generated in mind while you are walking, cycling or practicing meditation. They may be generated while watching video or movie. When you are silently listening podcast or good audio you may get good ideas. Whatever may be the media, the idea generated should immediately be noted.
Every Trivial Idea Has Value
No idea should be considered smaller. Intelligent thinking is not necessary for idea generation. The idea may be from a businessman or a labour. The great idea of one day was given by a fourth class employee. Laborious five day cricket has now been converted to T20 via one day international. Business of huge amount were never been possible if the idea would have not been converted to reality or if it would have been thought that the trivial idea of fourth class employee could not matter.
American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor, and film producer Walter Elias Disney would have never been a pioneer of the American animation industry, if the idea would not have been generated after watching a rat playing or eating a piece of bread and raising on two legs. His introduction and several developments in the production of cartoons as a film producer, he could not have hold the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations.
One of the most influential physicists and scientists of all time, Isaac Newton gave gravitational reality as an outcome from apocryphal story about an apple falling on his head. If he had annoyed and thrown the apple in an angry mood as it fell in his head, we would have been deprived of theory of gravity.
Individual Vs Organisation
In organisations when employees work, they have stereo type of jobs. They finished certain task which have been allotted to them and they pack up when time is over. They are not much bothered about the organisation because broad idea of innovation is not implied and training and learnings are not also designed for individual growth. ‘Build the men and they will build the organisation’ approach should be emphasised. If the employees are involved in certain type of decision making roles, some of the ideas are generated in their minds and they may be useful for the growth of the organisation.
A great contributor Glenn Llopis has given following 12 things that convert ideas into reality.
1. Believe in Yourself
You can’t take action until you believe in yourself enough to handle the consequences of your decisions. Any time you assume the responsibility to give something that had not existed before an opportunity to become a reality — you become accountable for your actions.
Accountability requires believing in yourself enough to be 100% dedicated to getting the work done. Most people fail to take an idea to fruition because the unexpected challenges become more than they think they can handle and thus they no longer want to be accountable. They lose the belief in themselves to see things through all the way to the end.
2. Create Your Own Personal Board of Advisors
Learn from those who have done it before. Don’t ever think you have all of the answers, just because it’s your idea. Ideation is distinctly different than execution.
Allow your personal board of advisors to guide you with wisdom born from their own failures and subsequent successes. I talked to a couple of fellow entrepreneurs about this and they offered some of their own wisdom.
Rich Melcombe, President & CEO of Richmel Media & Productions, says that: “If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, listen to everyone because you never know when you will hear a good idea. Advice from stakeholders is usually more meaningful, but not necessarily right. Few people will have enough context to fully understand what you’re trying to do. Synthesize their comments so they make sense to you, understand the thinking behind any negative comments, and then make the decision on your own.”
Brad Lea, Founder & CEO of Lightspeed VT, adds: “Although it is valuable to have a personal board of advisors, be careful not to let them deter you from your vision. Steve Jobs’ board said he was “crazy” to enter into the cell phone space because it was saturated and it would not be worth the long and laborious effort.”
In the end, carefully evaluate any input that you get — but proceed with your own gut instinct.
3. Embrace Risk as Your Best Friend
Risk becomes your best friend when you give birth to an idea. If you can accept this fact, you will approach the process with a lens that keeps your dreams and ambitions in perspective and on track. When things don’t go as planned along the way, stay focused on the mission at hand and do not allow disruption to set you backward. Risk is normal and steps #1 and #2 will keep you looking forward.
You often hear that “working hard” is an imperative to convert ideas into reality. But in fact, it is the most fundamental commitment one must make to assume any form of risk management. As such, you must find a way to make this level of commitment if you want to continue on the journey.
4. Be Extremely Patient
Compromise is a choice, not a sacrifice. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Take the time to appreciate the journey and understand how things work. Most people are too anxious to get their desired results and thus start to make bad decisions as they go.
One thing is certain: the journey will be filled with unexpected outcomes that you may not be prepared to deal with. Don’t let this get you down, but keep your head up and respect the process and where it takes you. You will learn a lot about your threshold of risk and ability. Equally, you will learn that many doubters are ready to stand in your way and may attempt to bring you down; this is when the ride gets uncomfortable. Constantly reevaluate those with whom you are sharing the journey (i.e., your inner circle).
5. Learn How to Sell Your Vision
Converting your idea to a reality requires you to help others understand your vision. Selling vision is much like selling change. Clearly define your value proposition and how it can generate revenue. Selling lofty ideas without understanding how it will achieve financial results will never get you the right audience. The bottom line is what gets everyone’s attention (you can see this played out every week on the TV show “Shark Tank”).
Simplicity is the key to selling the vision for your idea. Making it easy for someone on the “outside” to understand what you are trying to accomplish will create engagement and increase your probability of expanding buy-in for your idea. This skill comes into play when selling to possible investors. Learn how to sell your vision sooner than later. Don’t wait as it takes time to piece together and refine your message.
6. Connect the Dots Along the Way
Everything is connected to something else. Learn how to spot the paths of connectivity along the journey. What may be your “core idea” today can mature into something bigger as you connect other tenets that naturally associate with your idea along the way.
For example, I launched a food business in 1997 called Luna Rossa Corporation. I started with a product line of specialty vegetables anchored by my flagship product of marinated artichoke hearts. The idea was to market a gourmet / higher-quality line of Luna Rossa branded products inside warehouse retailer Costco — which we successfully accomplished. Over time, this core idea led to gourmet line extensions that included pasta sauces, salad dressings, etc. We sold products to over 6000 retail stores throughout North America, eventually creating new brands and entering into licensing arrangements.
Never stop connecting the dots!
7. Be Passionate With Your Pursuit
The pursuit of excellence requires you to unleash your passion. When you put your passion into everything you do, it gives you the power to become a potent pioneer. You will blaze paths few would go down, and see them all the way through to the end. Your passionate pursuit of converting your idea into a reality will open new doors to endless possibilities.
Your ability to remain passionate about what you stand for is the ultimate enabler for the success of your idea.
8. Be Purposeful
Your intentions for your idea must have purpose and meaning. If not, your probability to quit along the way will increase. It will also increase the likelihood of you “psyching yourself out with unnecessary excuses.”
Rich Melcombe adds: “Entrepreneurs must have passion and believe in what they are doing or they are destined to fail. You need to make a commitment to yourself and have a fiduciary responsibility to anyone who supports your idea or concept. Your purpose is to execute the idea and make others believe too.”
Purpose fuels your passion and makes your journey less lonely. Perhaps this explains why family-controlled firms outperform their public peers by 6% on company market value. Today, one-third of all companies in the S&P 500 index are run by families.
9. Focus on Building Momentum
Carefully identify all of your resources and build upon them via relationships, networking and sharing of resources to expand the opportunity for your ideas. Building momentum is critically important to convert your idea into a reality.
Stay focused, stick to your plan, eliminate distractions and neutralize the noise. Remember to manage your time wisely and never get overly excited about new opportunities that stem from your original idea. Step-back, don’t commit too quickly, and understand how the dots connect.
Building momentum has a lot to do with timing and the management and deployment of resources. Every resource counts. Know when and when not to use them so their value is optimally utilized at the right place and time.
10. Always Make the Idea Better
Never grow complacent. You can always expand upon your idea and make it better. When you begin to see how the dots connect, challenge yourself and your personal board of advisors to make your ideas even better.
This is what Steve Jobs did with Apple, Pixar Animation and Apple again. Continuous improvements were part of his legacy. He never stopped thinking of ways to make his ideas better. The Japanese even have a name for it: Kaizen.
11. Make Work/Life Balance a Priority
No matter how smart, passionate, or focused you work, without balance we are all susceptible to burnout. Mind, body and soul must be properly aligned. Take the time to make work/life balance a priority. It will give you greater clarity of thought and help you keep things in perspective.
Successfully converting an idea into a reality is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself so that you can reflect upon the mission at hand. Always be aware of what you are attempting to accomplish. Don’t overwhelm your mind; give yourself some breathing room and allow your creativity to expand.
12. Build a Legacy Around Your Idea
Let’s say you made the commitment to assume the responsibilities associated with the first 11 steps and have already been successful. Your original idea was born and its impact has now morphed into multiple areas that you would have never thought possible at the beginning.
You have “earned your serendipity” and the opportunities you have created for yourself and others have been momentous. The success of your idea is now real; it has become something more significant and it is up to you to make sure its legacy remains sustainable.
Once you give your idea its life, it is your responsibility that its impact stays alive forever.
Take Away
1. “An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” — Oscar Wilde
2. “Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.” — Sue Grafton
