You know it’s true.
And you’ll be even more convinced you watch this. Virtual. Done right.
Video: Your Challenge is In Your Innovation and Creativity Prevention Department!
Daily Inspiration“Every great idea was once a dumb idea!”
“Every great idea was once a dumb idea!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
History is littered with the legacy of great ideas which were initially presumed to be dumb ideas. It happens all the time.
Famously, the founder of FedEx, was told that his university project suggesting a local and international parcel delivery service was a dumb idea. Joining the club in the rejection department were the founders of Snapchat and AirBnb. Hewlett Packard turned down Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak four times before they went off to build Apple Computer on their own, because it was a dumb idea.
The Beatles? The dumbest idea of all time, according to the record executives who originally turned them down – because ‘boy bands’ were on their way out!
If someone tells you that something is a bad idea – it’s probably a great idea!
That’s because history has taught us one simple fact – the best ideas often look initially like bad ideas!
I was in the virtual home broadcast studio yesterday, filming a clip around the “innovation killers”, and this particularly issue came up during the preparation of my set.
In my own career, I had lots of ideas which were ‘dumb’ ideas. Case in point – In 1986, I suggested a project I called “Linkage” – the idea was to create a collaborative network based on personal computers within the global professional services firm in which I worked. We could build out the capability worldwide, by allowing our staff of tens of thousands to have an ‘online resume.’ Everyone would be able to publish their own ‘page of information’ that detailed the projects they had worked on and the unique skills they possess. We could utilize email and a sort of ‘chat’ feature by which people could build fast new teams of expertise based upon this new skill discovery tool.
It was rejected as a particular dumb idea. Years later, LinkedIn was launched into the world, and featured pretty much the same feature set.
Dumb idea, indeed.
If someone tells you your idea is a dumb idea, know this simple fact – it’s probably a fantastic idea!
Learn more:
https://innovationkillers.jimcarroll.com
Daily Inspiration: “Stop talking about ‘ROI’ – return on investment. Start focusing on ‘ROR’ – return on reinvention!”
“Stop talking about ‘ROI’ – return on investment. Start focusing on ‘ROR’ – return on reinvention!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
A new era of massive economic uncertainty has been layered on top of accelerating business model disruption. The result is that many CEOs and leaders are uncertain as to which investments to make, when to make them, and how to measure the success of what might result.
For a long time, ROI has been the metric by which to measure success. Yet in this new world, that might be a cause for great mis-focus – there is far too much uncertainty in terms of potential outcome.
That’s why the real innovation pioneers are charging ahead without the old measures of success and are basing their strategy on a new measure: if we need to be an entirely different organization with an entirely different skill set, product or service line and value proposition on the ‘other side’ of the pandemic, we might as well focus on our ability to successfully reinvent!
That’s what I’m doing. My path is uncertain, my success indeterminate, the end result unknown. But reinvent I must and reinvent I will. I don’t have a target in mind in terms of the number of successful virtual engagements – I do have a mindset that the clients who do book me are going to get the best virtual presentation in the world.
Every small win is a massive win; every new stage set is a wonderful new story of success; every client inquiry is a huge home run. My ROI isn’t based on the old metrics that drove me in my old world – it’s my new ROR that drives my enthusiasm. passion, and drive to make this thing work.
Do you have a similar mindset?
Daily Inspiration: “Innovate like the entirety of your tomorrow depends upon it. Because it does!”
“Innovate like the entirety of your tomorrow depends upon it. Because it does!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
There are obviously some pretty significant changes underway in the global economy – and they are all happening around us right now. Massive changes to the workplace but more important – the attitude towards the ‘place’ of work. The massive acceleration of trends which were already around us – think retail and home delivery, or healthcare and telemedicine. A sudden new respect for other nascent industries – think analytics and real-time healthcare dashboards. Or the displacement and reorganization of entire foundational business strategies – supply chains are being torn apart and are being re-assembled in new and unforeseen ways.
If you aren’t paying attention to the future by watching what’s happening today, you’ll keep doing what you were doing yesterday – with predictable results. Opportunities will pass you by!
I spent some in the studio yesterday filming a video around my “20 Trends to 2030” document from a year ago. It’s a good time to re-examine those trends in the cold hard light of our new reality – because it is only by understanding our future, and constantly rethinking it – that you can ensure that you are on the right path.
Rethink your future – rethink trends – rethink reality. Ten years from now, we’ll all look back at this period of time and truly appreciate it was a transformational era. Right now, you’re in the thick of it!
And once you understand what’s going on – where we are headed and why – reset your innovation agenda. Challenge every assumption, break every barrier, and rethink every strategy. Innovate like your future depends upon it – because it does!
Your Future? A Video Playlist to Spark Your Enthusiasm!
Because the future is what you make it!
Video: “Breaking News! The Future is Still Out There!”
Fun fact: during a period of massive global upheaval, most people lose sight of the trends that matter.
The result is that they wake up many years later like a surfer hit by a big wave. “Whoah, dude, where’d that come from?”
With that in mind, I was inspired to hit the home broadcast studio yesterday to put into perspective what I’ve observed during previous global shocks. There are powerful lessons that you need to learn!
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