Why It's STUPID to Start With An Idea

[The-J]

Found this in my LinkedIn newsfeed.

Why it's stupid to start with an idea | LinkedIn

Innovation and problem solving is about new ideas. About getting the right ones. And realising them.

In practice however, there are three reasons why it is stupid to start with an idea.

1. An idea makes you blind. Once you got your idea you will fall in love with it. That’s a great feeling. But love makes blind, unfortunately. The phenomenon of selective perception will make you see only the positive points of the idea. You will only listen to people who are supporting you. And in trying to realise the idea you will run in 80 percent of the cases into a hard wall, which will wake you up. Not having an alternative available to realise your personal challenge.
2. It’s almost impossible to convince others (when you're not the boss). What happens when you tell your idea to someone else? Their reaction starts often with a ‘but……….’. Others within your organisation will start criticising your idea the moment it is told to them. The most important reason is that the idea is not theirs. A solution is getting ideas together in a team setting so the ownership of the idea is shared. You can't innovate alone. A idea needs a lot of fathers and mothers to survive.
3. Only one of seven ideas is succesful (sic). A number of studies on innovation (Robert G. Cooper, 2011) shows that for every seven new ideas, about 4 enter development, 1.5 are launched and only 1 succeeds. These are very poor odds. So what do you do when your boss, the vice-president marketing or the innovation board stops your new product idea? Do you have any alternatives available to realise your business challenge? So never bet on one horse. That’s the message.

[h=4]So, how could you start?[/h]
Never start a challenge unprepared. As good preparation not only increases the chances of success but it also creates priorities, direction and the will to succeed. That’s why it is essential to start with a clear and concrete assignment. This forces the top management, from the start, to be concrete about which criteria new concepts must meet. This forms the guidelines for you and your team when you are underway. You can formulate the assignment with the help of the following six questions:

1. Why? (Why do we want to innovate);
2. Who? (Who is the target group);
3. Where? (For which distribution channels, countries, regions or continents);
4. What? (Evolutionary or revolutionary; products, services and/or business models);
5. When? (Intended year of introduction);
6. Which? (Which criteria the new concepts should meet)

I can't help but agree 100% with the author. This is pure Fastlane stuff: find a need and solve it.

 

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