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Innovation not Ideation

Friday, October 16, 2020
Author: Business Consultants, Inc.

Innovation not Ideation

In order to be the innovator and not just the “idea” person it is important equip yourself with the tools needed to bring your ideas to life. “Most often innovation is the culmination of several things: a sound idea, vetted through great process, refined by innovative application, and brought to market by outstanding leadership. The difference between an idea and innovation is execution.”1 Where the skills needed for idea generation include cultivating a growth mindset and effectively brainstorming, execution requires a different set of skills. The only path to reaching innovation is through turning your ideas into reality.

As highlighted by Forbes, it takes only twelve steps to turn your ideas into reality:2

  1. Believe in Yourself: A lot of people may give up on their goals because they don’t like to feel accountable. Owning the responsibility of your decision is the first step towards bringing your ideas to life.
  2. Create Your Own Personal Board of Advisors: Every invention is not the light bulb and most probably you don’t need to start from scratch. Use the advice of other entrepreneurs, stakeholders and those you trust help you build on your ideas. Listen to their advice and move with your instinct towards what you believe is best. Seek honest feedback.
  3. Embrace Risk as Your Best Friend: Accept failure and make trial and error a game you enjoy. Bringing ideas to reality requires hard work and persistence.
  4. Be Extremely Patient: When you embrace your idea, you are rather embracing on a journey of unexpected obstacles and outcomes. Do not rush to conclusions, and keep calm when the storm hits. Most important, keep a strong belief that consistent effort will help you eventually reach your expected results.
  5. Learn How to Sell Your Vision: If you plan to make your idea go viral, keep it simple. Simplicity is the key to selling your vision. Clearly define your value proposition and think carefully how your ideas could be sold to yield financial results. Learn to sell your vision sooner than later and don’t wait as it takes time to piece together and refine your message.
  6. Connect the Dots along the Way: Learn how to spot the paths of connectivity along the journey. What may be your “core idea” today can mature into something bigger as you connect other beliefs that naturally associate with your idea along the way.
  7. Be Passionate with Your Pursuit: Your ability to remain passionate about what you stand for is the ultimate enabler for the success of your idea.
  8. Be Purposeful: Your intentions for your idea must have purpose and meaning. If not, your probability to quit along the way will increase. It will also increase the likelihood of you “psyching yourself out with unnecessary excuses.”
  9. Focus on Building Momentum: Carefully identify all of your resources and build upon them via relationships, networking and sharing of resources to expand the opportunity for your ideas. Stay focused, stick to your plan, eliminate distractions and neutralize the noise. Remember to manage your time wisely and never get overly excited about new opportunities that stem from your original idea.
  10. Always Make the Idea Better: Do not ever get dissatisfied with your idea, challenge yourself constantly with how you can make your ideas better. Build a prototype, a simple, inexpensive version of your idea would be an effective tool to identify obstacles, and gather feedback.
  11. Make Work/Life Balance a Priority: Successfully converting your idea into reality is a marathon, not a sprint. No matter how passionate you are, keep your mind, body and soul aligned to avoid burning out.
  12. Build a Legacy around Your Idea: Once you give your idea its life, it is your responsibility that its impact stays alive forever. Make it happen.

Be the "next Steve Jobs" and don’t be afraid of your own ideas. Embrace your ideas, work on them through research and development, share your ideas with those who will support you with further knowledge and make sure to know your “why” always, in order to feel connected and passionate towards your idea forever.

1https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/06/06/15-ways-to-transform-useless-ideas-into-innovation/#665667c07dca
2https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/04/01/12-things-successfully-convert-a-great-idea-into-a-reality/#6397fa624e86

 

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