Make 2012 the Best Year Ever
For many years now, I have thrown away the concept of the traditional New Year’s Resolution. In its place I have used themes that guide me through the year. These themes are not specific destinations or goals, but are rather guideposts that help me make smart decisions. In using this approach, I become more “present moment” focused (goals are future-focused). This increases my happiness. And equally important, it allows for opportunities to emerge that might be hidden using a traditional goal-setting approach.
If you want to learn more about creating New Year’s Themes, be sure to read my popular article on “Making Resolutions That Work” (a variation of it appeared in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year).
You may also be interested in some fascinating statistics on New Year’s Resolutions. It is truly amazing how unsuccessful people are with their New Year’s Resolution setting.
Happy New Year. May 2012 be your best year ever!
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Major Licensing Deal Signed
As some of you know, my 2012 business strategy is to license my content in a number of creative ways.
We already licensed Personality Poker in a variety of languages and to a number of trainers. The Dutch translation is the most recent version and will be available in January.
And, just last week, we signed a major deal with one of the premier training organizations to take my content and convert it into workshops that will be delivered by their certified trainers. This is exciting news as it will make my content more accessible to more organizations.
More details coming soon.
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Why Brainstorming is Stupid
I was recently interviewed for an article on Inc.com. Due to length restrictions, only part of my interview was included in the article. Therefore I am giving you the other half here. But be sure to read the their article first as it sets the stage.
I was asked by Inc.com why brainstorming, as usually practiced, is ineffective.
Personally I am not a huge fan of brainstorming, especially the way most organizations conduct sessions. Here are a few of my concerns, along with some possible solutions:
- Poorly defined challenge: As discussed in the Inc.com article, if you ask the wrong question, you will of course get the wrong answer. Most brainstorming sessions do a poor job of thinking through the challenge. If I were running a session, I would spend a bulk of the time making sure we have the right question. Einstein reputedly said, “If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and 1 minute finding solutions.” From my experience, most companies spend 60 minutes brainstorming issues that are not important.
- Lack of Diversity: Most brainstorming sessions bring in the same people to each and every session. Usually the room is composed of people who are too close to the issue to be objective or even have a new point of view. Innovation only occurs when you have a wide range of perspectives. Therefore, make sure you identify others that have a tangential perspective.– people from different industries or disciplines. This will certainly add value.
- Group Think: When one person throws out a solution, it taints the mindset of everyone else in the room. This causes convergence too early in the process. Instead, consider having everyone jot down his or her individual responses first. Only after that is done, should you have everyone share their thoughts with the group.
- Single Threading: Most brainstorming sessions are done with a leader at the front and only one person speaking at a time. This slows down the process and leads to “social loafing.” In response, some leaders will break everyone into smaller groups. Unfortunately this leads to a lack of cross-pollination. To respond to this issue, I developed a technique modeled after the “Speaker’s Corner” in London’s Hyde Park (described in my Best Practices Are Stupid book). With this method, simultaneous conversations take place with participants moving freely from topic to topic as desired.
- Innovation Event: Brainstorming is typically treated as an event. Too often it is disconnected from the “reality” of the business and therefore does not convert the ideas into results. If you think of the event as the start of a process, you have a better chance of creating value. Before the meeting, get clear on what you will do after the brainstorming session. Get buy-in early on from the people who will make change happen. When innovation is a process, it is repeatable and predictable.
Ok, brainstorming can be effective (and not stupid), if done properly. Unfortunately most organizations do not take the time to do it right. Applying the concepts above can hopefully move you in the right direction.
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Ideas, Ideas Everywhere…
There’s an old tale that goes…
Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.
Inside of organizations, there’s a corollary…
Ideas, ideas every where, Nor any one can think.
Um, ok, I should stick to my day job. But the point is, organizations are drowning in a sea of ideas, yet they never take the time to think about what matters most.
The other day I was at an event run by a non-profit. They have built up a large network of advocates who support the cause. As I am a good friend with the woman who runs this group, I spent a fair amount of time with her that evening. As the hours passed, many people gave her their thoughts on how to run the organization. ”Do more of this…” ”Do less of that…” “Call your group this….” “Engage these organizations…” “Copy what this non-profit is doing…”
The ideas were all over the map.
I could tell that the organization’s leader was a bit frustrated and confused as there were so many suggestions.
She turned to me and asked what I thought she should do.
Of course, like everyone else, I had my opinion.
I told her, “Stop listening to people’s suggestions.” I then joking said, “And you should ignore my suggestion too.” (Someone once said to me, “Isn’t telling people that they should not use best practices a best practice?” Hmmm….)
Within any organization, there is never a shortage of ideas. There is a shortage of good ideas that actually matter and ultimately create real value.
My recommendation to her was:
- Stop listening to suggestions (and don’t solicit them either). Everyone wants to give you their two cents…and that’s all their ideas are worth.
- Get clear on your strategy. There has been too much focus on day-to-day activities that the business model has not been clearly articulated. There has been an over-focus on tactics rather than outcomes.
- Stop copying the best practices of other, similar non-profits; study for-profit organizations. This will provide new insights. And it will have you less reliant on sponsorship/donations and will force you to develop a real value proposition.
- Based on the strategy, identify a series of challenges/opportunities (“How might we…?”). The strategy defines “what” you want to achieve (outcomes) and “why” (purpose). The challenges deconstruct the strategy into questions, that when solved, provide the “how”.
- Ask your network (through email or better yet a private discussion board) for “solutions” to these challenge/opportunities. Encourage collaboration.
- Find people who are passionate about moving these opportunities forward and put them in charge of implementation.
A critical issue with so many organizations (especially smaller businesses and non-profits) is that there are so many opportunities and so little focus. The ideas/needs of the day tend to overshadow the overall strategy.
Get clear on how you make money, how you differentiate yourself, and then define a series of challenges that will help make that strategy a reality. Focusing on what matters most will accelerate your innovation efforts and reduce your investment.
Happy Holidays.
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Southwest Airlines Magazine Article
Last month (November), Best Practices Are Stupid, was featured in Southwest Airline’s Spirit Magazine. Now that it is no longer on planes and can’t be found on the internet, I figured it was time to share the article with the readers of this blog. They did such a nice job, I feel as though their work should live on. Click the image below to launch the article in a new window. Enjoy!
800 CEO READ
Indiebound
