Friday, May 22, 2009

Got any Ideas?


When is the last time you had an original idea?

Not a "honey, let's get Thai tonight instead of sushi" kind of idea.

A genuine, added value thought.

I have been in the ideas business all my life.

First in advertising, then at a branding agency, and now on the client side at Virgin.

I love new ideas, they're are what get me out of bed in the morning and keep me going all day.

But lately, I feel like sometimes I get so caught up in the daily grind, that I forget that I am actually in the ideas business.

Sometimes I feel like I am in the "e-mail sending, project management, meeting organizer and meeting attendee business".

And if I have a little extra time once that's all taken care of - I create an idea.

I am working on turning this around. But it's taking conscious effort.

I have to say to myself in the morning, that at the end of the day I will evaluate my day not on how many emails I got through- but on whether I actually came up with any original thoughts that added value.

This doesn't have to be a new product or service idea. It could be an idea on how to solve the "never enough meeting room space" dilemma in my office.

But it has to be a solution, a new thought, something created and not just communicated or shuffled around.

You don't have to be a marketing or creative type to hold this up as your standard. No matter what your job or industry, idea creation is what keeps things moving forward.

If this problem sounds familiar to you, here's an idea ...when you come back from the long (and hopefully restful weekend)- tax yourself and your team to get back into the ideas business.

If it helps, you could even set a side a day a week- let's pick Wednesday- as idea day.

On that day, don't schedule any meetings, try and establish a no-email for a day policy, and tell everyone to focus uniquely on creating new ideas.

You can try some of tricks in my older posts if that helps with stimulating ideas or you could just let people find their own way.

At the end of the day have a cocktail or an ice cream sundae party. Share your ideas. They don't have to be perfect. But they should be celebrated.

Creating a culture of idea generation in today's work environments is critically important to business success and to employee satisfaction.

But it takes work.

That's my point of view. What's your twist?

Are you creating enough new ideas?

2 comments:

  1. love that idea.....and how about learning one new thing each day..can be big or small, but helps keep the grey matter maving and growing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like to couple the idea-generation concept with accomplishment. I task myself and my teams with, at the end of each day, honestly answering the question: "Did I accomplish something significant today?"

    Ideas, execution and results are intertwined.

    ReplyDelete

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