Daily Inspiration: “It’s the small ideas that become the big opportunities!”

“It’s the small ideas that become the big opportunities!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

My new virtual studio is rocking. Uncertainty rocks our world too, and so the meeting industry continues to be in a state of flux.

Check the image – that’s one of many stages flowing into a virtual production I’m preparing for an event on Monday. What’s behind the scenes? This!

Think small to chase big – that’s always been a core part of my thinking. One of my favorite innovation phrases that I always use on stage or in a CEO off-site is “think big, start small, scale fast!” That even became the title for a book I wrote.

And then, there’s this – my favorite advertisement of all time!

One morning, some years back, I came into the home office and was thinking about the “start small’ part of that phrase. And quickly jotted down a list of small ideas.

Here goes!

•  do small projects: too many innovation efforts get bogged down, bloated, and blow up due to big scope and size!
• celebrate small wins: not every innovation effort needs to be a home run
• learn from small failures: I love the phrase fail early, fail often, fail fast; you can do that better if your project is small
• scatter your team for small exploration: there is so much going on in so many industries that is so tiny but has huge implications, you’ve simply got to let your people explore!
• reframe the idea of small: put into perspective how small changes can have a big impact
• look for small winners: for example, there are tremendous innovations in manufacturing concepts with small manufacturers — learn from them!
• give a small bit: in an era of open collaboration and global insight, giving back some R&D can be a good thing
• seek small heroes: in the global economy, there is probably a small 1 or 2 person company that is doing exactly the cool, innovate thing you need. Find them!
• establish small decision groups: destroy committees; if there has to be one to make a decision, limit it to 1 or 2 or 3 people.
• focus on the power of small: one person can change a company, an industry, a country, a world!

Of course, my ideas aren’t original. The original concept of small perhaps came from the greatest advertising campaign of all time — for the VW Beetle, Think Small.

It’s a powerful concept. And while I was writing this post, I was looking for an image related to that campaign — and came across this ad from a small California design firm — one that extolls the power of their smallness.

It’s right there: “Small teams work best.”

In my case, the entirety of my career as a global keynote speaker, futurist, trends, and innovation expert is that it’s me, and my wife, and a small home office that is plugged into a great big world. From here, I serve up insight and guidance to a vast range of global organizations, associations, CEO’s and leadership teams. Thinking big, starting small, scaling fast.

Perhaps the real secret to succeeding in a world where the future belongs to those who are fast!