The concept of innovation is not new however for most middle management and individuals it is something that cannot be done because of the following reasons:
1. We don't have the time 2. We cannot guarantee the outcome 3. It is different from what we do around here and a middle manager does not know how to manage the process nor the creative employees
Change the actor in the previous three questions from the middle manager to yourself and you will find that all the questions still make sense.
Advice: 1. Commitment to your idea – you have to spend that extra time and energy to make this happen
2. Find middle and senior management who have a reputation to deliver turnkey projects/ideas also whose team is motivated to work for the leader. But in doing so do not disrespect your current manager
3. Patience and persistence – having a good idea is like having the potential to change the world, things will change with time an persistence. But if you don’t use the potential it remains great point to reflect on during retirement.
Below are the reasons that stop me from having good ideas and my advice to others with the same problem:
Limited number of experiences – Even though I’ve had numerous interesting experiences, I never thought I’ve had enough time to experience everything that is out there. Experiences enrich our perception which can lead us to come up with good ideas. My advice to other will be to take the opportunity to have as many diverse experiences as possible. You never know what experience may be responsible for that brilliant idea.
Thinking more than doing – Thinking about the idea rather than acting upon it often kills the idea. For instance, thinking about the negatives more than the positives. Many ideas may have a negative aspect to it, but concentrating on the negatives instead of the positives will not lead anyone anywhere. My advice would be to go ahead with the idea and then try to eliminate the negatives along the way. As you work on your idea, many more ideas for improvements will follow.
Writing the idea down when it comes to mind – Many times the idea comes to me when I am driving, running or before going to sleep. Writing the idea down as and when it comes to your mind is a good way that you won’t forget the idea.
Idea Sharing – Keeping the idea to yourself with the fear that if you share it with others, they might steal it. Sharing the idea helps in getting feedback and makes improvements to the idea. My advice here will be to share the idea with others and not fear that someone else might steal it, as an idea in itself is often not worth much anyway.
Me. I hold myself back from coming up with new ideas. I get comfortable with my regular way of doing things, whether projects, daily routines, or time contraints I give myself, and then I don't challenge myself to be bold and creative. This everyday comfort with routines really prevents me from taking the time and having the patience to come up with good ideas.
I also find that I do not take the time out of my day to read and explore new things as much as I should. Without constantly exploring what's happening in the world, I don't think there's much of a chance for me to really come up with good ideas because I'm stuck in my own, basic way of doing things.
I would recommend that others with this same problem take time to just sit and think, and to also read things on the internet/in books/in magazines, or talk to others - even if it means scheduling this thinking/exploring time into your schedule on a regular basis. Forcing this time to be creative over a long period of time may help make "idea generation" a more regular part of our lives/routines. I would also suggest writing good ideas down whenever they come to you, so that when you do take the time to sit down and think about your ideas, you'll be able to leverage those times when you were thinking creatively.
One thing that often stops me from having good ideas is accepting the world for how it is. I am an American, living in an affluent community with nice things and the financial stability to live a fun life. All in all I am pretty darn comfortable. I think great ideas stem from a true need - finding something where it is lacking. Sure, I have often thought of or talked with friends about ways to make every day things more convenient, but then I say "well, that would require a lot of work and the way it is now is not all bad."
However, this way of thinking is lazy and flawed. There is a lot of money to be left on the table when a new idea actually fulfills an existing need. My advice to myself and to others is to capitalize on these ideas by:
1. Observing your daily patterns and finding "pain points" that are inconvenient or where the experience could be enhanced. 2. Pinpoint and clarify that need and discuss it with friends. This will allow you to brainstorm on ideas to fill that need. 3. Come up with a list of solutions to solve the need and further refine them through open discussions. 4. Write down your final solution. This will be a reminder of bringing the idea to life rather than forgetting about it and moving on.
I like to think of a good idea like a plant. It starts with the seed. A stray thought that happens when you are interacting with the world.. Like "I hate these wires.. I wish I could get rid of them".
Most of us stop at that.. We then fill our mind with frustration and anger.. which is definitely not fertile soil for a good idea. We never get to the next thought "How can I get rid of the wires?"
We need to cultivate that thought with creativity and action. Give it the light of other's views. Let it grow and flourish.
So, what am I saying?
Instead of being frustrated and angry with things that don't work the way you want (products, systems, culture.. anything), think about how you can change them. Give it some positivity. Talk to people about it.
If you don't have the time and effort to build on it yourself, just talk positively about it enough number of times.. spread the word. Someone will steal your idea and implement it :)
Its better to have a seed stolen and planted in someone else's orchard than to let it rot in some corner of your house.
Hmm. What stops me from having good ideas? There are two parts to this problem, as I see it: 1) generation and 2) identification.
I think the generation piece has to do with a lack of effort on the front end. Too frequently, I spend my day flying from one task to the next without pausing to consider any possibility for improvement. In addition, unless you surround yourself with people who are encouraging of 'good ideas' and who take the time to hypothesize and to encourage new solutions, it is even less likely that one would make the effort. 'Good ideas' do not emerge from a vacuum - they are a product of the right space, right time, and hard work!
In addition, unless I am in a state of mind to identify and reward good ideas, I am not certain that I would 'know it when I see it.' An idea may satisfy all of the constraints stipulated and yet not be 'good' for whatever reason or may simply not be trusted, as it is too new or too creative ('creative people must be stopped!).
To others hoping or actively working to generate good ideas, I would advise that they surround themselves with people with similar goals who will encourage these efforts. The next step, the identification of good ideas, depends on the scale of the idea which you have devised - does it affect simply your day/experience? That of your family, your community, your organization? Determine your audience and seek their feedback - do not waste your time conducting due diligence in a market that you have not targeted.
There are several considerations that have always stopped me from launching my good ideas.
1. Fear of failure/rejection...i think conforming to the norm is always something that has always been something that I always felt much more "comfortable" doing. If i do have a great idea, the risk of failing always sits in the back of my mind and maybe that is already setting myself up for failure. When I wanted to implement new processes at work, my boss said go ahead. When push came to shove too many people who I shared the idea with were like "its not that great" probably not worth doing...so i was like OK i wont do it...
2. Something else is time/money. If I had time to see something through then I would totally be on board with pushing an idea through...but who has the time these days? We are overwhelmed with pressures to find jobs, make money, and spend time doing something we know has a sure fire return.
I have always had great ideas, but the determination to see it through has never been there...that might be a personal thing. definitely a personal developmental point
I have great ideas all the time. My problem is that everyone else thinks they are stupid.
The problem is everyone else. Not me. For example: paper smocks at the dry cleaners so you can leave what you are wearing to be cleaned, scented lightbulbs, antisceptic spray for children's chew toys, a mini piano for your dashboard when you are rocking out in your car, an website where you can listen to concerts live for the same price as a ticket, etc.
You are probably asking yourself, "hey, fella, if your ideas are so good, why don't you launch one?" Valid question. Time and money are my only two variables so stay tuned.
What prevents me from having good ideas is finding the time to think about something in a meaningful way. Additionally, the things that inspire me to think differently - spending time in nature, live music performances, visiting art exhibits, or pushing my limits (like my fear of heights) - also take time, which I often don't have. So, I don't have the time to get inspired, and I don't take the time to think about things meaningfully.
For people that encounter the same problems, I would recommend that they get some inspiration and then just sit. It's amazing what one can come up with when they simply allow themselves the time to think!
One of my largest barriers to having good ideas is my inability to focus the ideas that I do have. Even when it comes to my own carrier goals, I have difficulty narrowing down a field of focus because my mind goes in many different directions. I have this same problem with most of my ideas, and it stops me from developing my ideas from mere concepts into concrete and actionable ideas. What I have started to do to avoid this barrier, and what I would recommend to others in my situation, is to write down all of my ideas. This helps me to see where the trends lie in my ideas and also allows me to vet my ideas and whether or not I am able to properly articulate them.
In addition, when I do come up with good ideas, my perfectionist attitude acts as another stopping point. I tend to not believe that my ideas are finished and therefore are reluctant to share them with others. The advice I would have for others that experience this problem would be to simply start sharing all of their ideas with anyone that will listen. By talking about them more, you can overcome this barrier and also get good feedback on your ideas.
I think I have great ideas but what I do not have is follow through. A great idea will hit me and I will think to myself, "E.Stair this is brilliant - do it!!!" But without fail I get distracted by something like school, work, or a shiny new pair of shoes. If you too have this problem, my advice is to get a notebook and write down your ideas. I keep a notebook full of ideas. I like to think of the notebook as my retirement fun play book. My ideas are things to do when I have the time and attention span. For those of you struggling with being creative in the first place - I find necessity drives innovation. My best ideas come to me when I am annoyed by something or I find myself in a particularly difficult/unusual situation. Step out of your comfort zone and let the creativity flow.
I think that idea generation, over analysis and frustration are the variables that keep me from good ideas.
I struggle with idea generation from the outset, and have a hard time creating new ideas from scratch – it is much easier for me to improve upon or add to an existing idea. At some point in my past I decided that I wasn’t good at new idea generation and it has become a challenge for me to break away from the belief.
I sometimes identify a seed of a good idea, and attempt to run with it. Then my analysis of how to implement the idea leads to paralysis, and I ditch the idea. My analysis usually begins with whether there is already an idea like this out in the marketplace or world, and I most often conclude that someone else has already thought of this idea and it is taken, or they thought of it, and it failed. This is what results in frustration for me. I try to congratulate myself on having great ideas, but as soon as I realize they have already been tried, I become frustrated and incapable of generating new good ideas. And so the cycle continues…
A brief example: I used to ride the bus to work before I came to Owen. I had a friend who was always coming up with great new ideas for products and so I would try to brainstorm about new products I could invent. I came up with the idea for some headphones with a retractable cord so that when riding the bus and holding on with one hand I wouldn’t have the problem of untangling my headphone cord while remaining upright. A couple days later, I learned this was already a product. I felt unoriginal and defeated and less motivated to continue my new idea generation on each morning’s bus ride.
There are two major obstacles that prevent me from having good ideas: time and lack of incentive. The first is fairly straightforward; I just don’t have the time to devote to creativity, innovative thinking or idea generation. However this is a fairly easy obstacle to overcome, I should just allocate my time more efficiently. But this leads directly to my second problem, without the proper incentive(s) I have no reason to reallocate my time to make room for time devoted solely to creativity. As a result, I’m left to only ideas that come about from instances of pure creativity or innovative thinking. This is the harder of the two obstacles to overcome and unless I force myself to allocate time or am properly incentivized by say a class grade that depends on it, it’s a problem that I will struggle to overcome.
Also I have great ideas all the time, just other people think of them first.
Everyone has the potential to generate great ideas. You just got believe in yourself. The real barrier of getting your ideas out is not from outside but from withing one's own mental restrictions--the built in mentality frames we have built up by adapting to the ordinary life in society. Just be yourself and let the situation takes you flow and you will discover all those you need to discover. Be yourself and free your mind. The great ideas are already there, in your head and in your heart, you just need to carve out to reveal them.
What stops me from having good ideas. What advice would you give others with the same problem?
My creativity is stunted because I trust scientists, engineers, and innovative companies to come up with good ideas/solutions for me. Although I enjoy being creative, I do not enjoy the high rate of failure in regards to innovative and creative thinking.
I would advise others to be creative since creative ideas spawn innovation and are the lifeblood of a successful business. Also, without creativity companies would not create new products or improve existing products which fuel sales and profit growth for companies. The same can be said for marketing campaigns and product branding. It is often worth the risk to think outside the box and be creative in our everyday life.
What has stopped me from having good ideas is the industry I’ve worked in. Insurance is an industry intent on maintaining the status quo. Overrun by regulation, managers hesitate to be the first to implement “good” ideas. There seem to be more incentives in enforcing the current policies than seeking to change them. With longevity as a primary driver for advancement, this culture permeates the industry leaving those with the freshest ideas at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, this culture is a compelling enough reason for you to ignore your good ideas and conform.
In industries or companies like this, communicating your good ideas is just as, if not more, important as generating them. In fact, your communication strategy has to extend beyond just convincing your immediate manager, but must take into account how they will communicate your idea up the ladder to the decision maker. It helps to understand how the industry traditionally receives information used to drive change. In insurance, it’s through actuaries. Yes, change is made based on a siloed group of individuals who tell you what will generate additional profit and what won’t. If your idea doesn’t relate to increased profit and if it doesn’t originate in that side of the building, chances are you won’t be heard.
The strategy we had at my former start-up was to solicit the help of an actuarial firm to put together a study that proved voice-recorded “signatures” were just as valid as actual signatures on insurance documents. Sounds archaic I’m sure… what about all the documents I sign online with the click of a mouse? First, presenting this study was just an incremental step toward e-signatures, and believe it or not, most life insurance policies are still signed with a ball-point pen. Today, a few Fortune 500 insurance companies are actually using voice-signature based on our proposal, and we are out of business. In this case, the sale of our good idea was clearly a more carefully designed process than protecting our own business model.
What stops me from having good ideas? Several things.
Often it is a not a priority to follow through with idea development. It's not that I don't have a million ideas, but when life is busy and there are other commitments vying for my time and energy, innovative thinking takes a back seat. This is unfortunate because taking a moment to think critically about how to approach an issue from a different angle often can save time and result in a much more comprehensive and better solution.
Other times, societal expectations form a mental roadblock from which it is difficult to divert. This begins in school at a young age: the teacher is looking for one and only one answer and anything outside that expectation is 'wrong.' The only chance students have to express themselves and experiment with creativity is during art or creative writing classes.
As we get older, in the professional setting, the tables turn. In my experience, clients desire the most innovative solution and are unimpressed with one simple answer.
What advice would you give others with the same problem? As a designer, I am regularly faced with complex problems that require creative solutions. To foster a creative environment from which those ideas can develop, I ideate, get feedback from colleagues, often through critiques, and let those ideas incubate during a period of time. I set then aside for a while, come back to them with fresh eyes, and let the ideas grow through the design process. Within these parameters, innovation flourishes.
When was the last time you were inspired by a truly great idea that you came up with while performing your daily routine in the office or at school?
Often times I am at my most creative - idea generating peak when I step outside my comfort zone and try something completely new and different. Simply, getting out of the office, or the school library, and stepping into a new coffee shop, bookstore, or park can be an inspiration to think differently about a topic. Try it next time you need to generate ideas!
Most of Japanese seem like excessively sensitive to reputation others. In addition, Japanese have kind of “lock-step mentality”, and tend to do what others do. In other words, people seldom do what others did not do.
Those are the very serious obstacles that stop people from having/implementing a good idea in Japan. I often rejected my idea with this cliché: “I cannot accept your idea because we have no precedent.” So what??? A new innovative idea is one of a key factor that makes a company competitive, isn’t it?
Unfortunately we cannot persuade opponents by logic because they oppose our idea without any logical causes. That may be a cultural issue. We may not overcome it till most of Japanese change their mindset. But I believe that we can change the situation by a series of smallest things brought together. Nothing will happen if we resign ourselves. Then my advice is: “Be bold!”
"What will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No, no. They will see free men and freedom! And what the enemy will see, they will see the flash of our cannons, and they will hear the ringing of our swords, and they will know what we can do! By the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs and the courage in our hearts! Gentlemen, Hoist the Colors!” (by Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)
Who determines if they’re good?? In all seriousness, I believe it is my own inhibitions which stop me from having good ideas. It is challenging to conceive of something that is completely outside my context. Would I have been able to conceive of the internet before it existed? Probably not. Additionally, I believe that other folks are the same. People are innately resistant to change. Even in the rare instance where you perceive something that is literally “inconceivable”, it does not take hold due to the lack of context/applicability/feasibility for others. Therefore, I would say most of my “good ideas” are considered an improvement and/or enhancement to what already exists – due to my own inhibitions for idea generation and other people’s tolerance for idea adoption.
What advice can you give to others with the same problem?
Good idea generation takes practice. Devote time to fantasize and think beyond your boundaries. Also, practice sharing your ideas with others. You’ll become better at articulating the ideas so that they are labeled as a “good” idea instead of a bad idea and other people will become more familiar with consistently hearing about new ideas. Additionally, I think it important to be outside of the environment. For example, let’s say that I’m preparing for an interview and can’t for the life of me come up with an example of when I had a good idea. If I just stare at the question at hand, nothing ever comes to mind, but when I go for a walk or take shower and completely remove myself from the situation, suddenly tons of examples spring to mind. The balance of idea creation is noticing a need that needs to be fulfilled IN the current environment, but then completely taking yourself OUT of that environment in order create a wealth of ideas to solve it. Then, at least one of those ideas is bound to be “good.”
What stops me from having good ideas is lack of motivation. If there is a problem or an issue that needs to be solved with a good idea that I am not motivated to solve, I might as well quit then and there. I want to say that I am not the only one that suffers from this idea deterrent. What might be a good way to curb this lack of motivation and rejuvenate our creative drives is to re-scope the issue/problem or the outcome. When we get excited about something our adrenaline picks up and the brain moves into high gear thinking of different possibilities and directions. This drive however, is motivated by selfish underlying reasons whether we realize it or not. So in my opinion, it is key realign our own outcomes and perceive them as attractive in order to ignite that human drive to think creatively and generate good ideas.
"There is no use trying, said Alice; one can't believe impossible things. I dare say you haven't had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
-Lewis Carroll
I think if you're whacky enough it's not that hard to come up with lots of ideas. And if you come up with enough, some of them are bound to be great. My keys to this are fearlessness, silliness, and openness. If a solution to a problem hasn't been found, then you have to have these traits in order to make a change.
Time and training hold back my development of great ideas. Sometimes I can figure out how to solve an issue, but have no idea how nor have the time learn. For instance, it seems to me that it would make a lot more sense if we overlapped everyone's x-rays with data showing patient outcomes in a digital format so that doctors could better notice trends when examining two dimensional slides. It would almost make them 3-d like! I'm not a healthcare guy though so maybe this doesn't make sense. Someone should stop my creativity.
My advice:
1) Be free with your thoughts and when you notice something you don't like, think of bizarre ways to solve it.
2) Figure out your comparative advantage and then hire someone who can actually build your idea if you lack the know-how.
Left to my own devices, I tend to be a creative person. I considered going into detail here, but when I wrote it out it sounded like I was boasting, so I'll just leave it there: on my own, creativity hasn't ever been a problem for me. This is all the more true when I'm tackling a problem, topic, or project that I feel strongly about. When close friends are asked to describe me, the word "quirky" is inevitably among the first three words. This was something that bothered me when I was younger and less secure but has become a point of pride as I've aged. I think my quirkiness drives my own creativity.
Regardless, my problems with creativity come primarily in two varieties: working in groups, and working on problems that I don't feel strongly about.
When working in groups, I have an unfortunate tendency to fall back to a mediatory position. I am very good at finding common ground between opposing views, but this tendency has the negative side effect of me pushing my own views to the background as I work to find commonalities in other peoples' views. I can also be susceptible to "groupthink," although in my time at Owen I've tried to push myself to occasionally step back from group conversations and determine whether the group is suffering from this type of mentality. Groupthink is, of course, a potent creativity-destroyer.
When working on projects or problems that I don't feel strongly about, I tend towards laziness of thinking. I look primarily for quick solutions; less so inventive and ideal ones. This problem is something I've had a far greater struggle dealing with than my groups problem. Indeed, in some respects I have decided that it's something I have to live with. I've adjusted my career goals with this tendency in mind. My "past life" was spent working in professional functions where my tasks weren't things I felt passionately about, and I believe my work suffered, even if I saw relatively considerable success in my profession. My summer internship this year was the first time in my professional life that I've worked on a project that I felt very strongly about, and I promptly produced what I consider to be easily the best and most inventive work that I have ever put my name to. I felt proud of it.
My advice in groups:
1) Be situationally aware. Try and force yourself to occasionally step back from the group conversation and determine whether the group is, drone-like, moving down one path simply for the sake of having found agreement.
2) Don't let your own thinking get lost in the shuffle. Groups can be challenging to work in. There are many egos to deal with. There are disagreements. It can be easy to let the challenge of working with these interpersonal problems get in the way of your own thinking. Try and be cognizant of this.
My good ideas are limited sometimes because I tend to do most of my work in the same environment when I try come ideate(don't know if thats a word or not). I am usually in a quiet environment with bright lighting, sitting at a desk somewhere. I believe that this environemtn limits my ability to think creatively.
Advice: I would recommend to myself and others to ideate in unfamiliar environemts. I have tried to remedy my inability to be creative and come up with good ideas by generating ideas while in new or nostalgic places.
Lack of confidence in ability to generate ideas usually stops me. One thing I always think whenever I think of a new idea is, “it must be infeasible, because if it wasn’t someone would have already done it by now.” This applies not just to products but also for innovating processes. I think this happens a lot within organizations, where rather than speak up about new ways of doing things, we tend to just say “they must be doing it the old way because that is the best way”. To overcome this, I think you have to push yourself to start asking questions about why things are they way they are, and researching whether your idea does already exist or has been vetoed. If you don’t at least ask, you could be walking away from great opportunity. Ideas on how to overcome this:
•Force yourself say YES to new activities or environments or thought processes even when your initial reaction is almost immediately NO WAY. You never know what new stimulus might be the key.
•Hang out with people who challenge you to think about new ideas or topics and that like to encourage you to imagine absurd things.
•Lean into it. When you feel like you can’t possibly do the whole process, just take it one step at a time. Building a new product may seem impossible, but just doing a little research gets you one tiny step of the way.
I prevent myself from having good ideas. I have been trained to question everything, and try to come up with something better. However, whenever I have an idea, I question it and tear it apart, trying to make sure it's as good as it can be. This could only lead to the perfect idea right? Nope. I end up 1) Entirely lose confidence in the idea (and myself). 2) Convince myself that there's no way no one has already thought of it. 3) Playing it too safe.
Sure, the problem is really just me, but overall, it's about overcoming fear of failure, being able to look past the boundary of the rules, and ultimately asking "what's the worst that could happen?"
I intentionally did not read any of the previous posts because I didn't want to be influenced one way or another. What's the worst that could happen? I may say what someone else already said, or make a fool of myself? So what?
There's no harm done by coming up with new ideas and try to find the good ideas, and a lot of good could come out of it, but the downside of not coming up with new ideas is limiting oneself and continuing to live life the same boring way.
For those who typically play it safe like I do - let your guard down, fight against the instinct to be cautious, and let your brain run wild. What's the worst that could happen?
“If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.” ~Woody Allen
That quote rings so true, but why is it so hard to do? The answer is that nobody wants to fail! But maybe if we don't think of "failure" in the typical sense of the word and think of it from a different perspective, the negative connotation that most people associate with "failure" won't persist and we can learn that “failure” is not necessarily a bad thing.
I think for me, the main thing that stops me from having good ideas is a combination of the lack of confidence in my ability to come up with new ideas and the fear of failure or rejection. It's really difficult to push yourself to take risks when there is always the risk of failure, but to be innovative it's a necessary evil. Good ideas involve pushing the limit without the fear of failure in the back of your mind. Or it can involve being willing to "fail" in order to challenge yourself to do something different. Another reason we fail to come up with good ideas is the lack of confidence that we can do it! If you don't believe in yourself then you're essentially setting yourself up to fail, and what really then is the point? We must take big risks in order to reap big rewards, and this is the same with innovation.
In order to combat these individual constraints, we should learn to relish new environments and experiences! Don’t get caught up in the status quo, push the limits and don’t be afraid to “fail.” Get out of the box by doing something new, this will excite your brain to think differently. Finally, I think if we try not to “overthink it”, these ideas will start to flow naturally. The biggest thing that usually stops us from having great ideas is ourselves and if we try not to worry about failing, about if our idea is good enough, or about how innovative our idea really is, then we can finally let loose and start letting our brain do all the magic.
Numerous posts mention "not being afraid to fail" and "being willing to take risks", but I believe it is fine to be afraid of failure. Given the goals of companies, schools, and other organizations that we are all apart of, it is no wonder that we are trained to not take risks. Taking risks means standing out, which is not good in an economy where my former boss, for example, told me to "keep your head down until we get out of this and don't draw any attention to yourself." Taking risks also means there is an element of unknown. The reactions of people who have more power than us can be strong deterrents to innovative behavior. We don't want to innovate because for every good idea, there are 10 people to tell you why it won't work. Ultimately, there is a fear in many organizations of being bold and taking risks. While not being afraid of failure is great, the organizational constraints that often punish creative thinking are a difficult obstacle to overcome.
What stops me from having good ideas is being too close to a problem or challenge to see a way to solve it. I'm specifically talking about when I worked full-time for an entertainment company. I became so engrained in their culture that I only thought "their" way. You begin to tailor your ideas to what you know management will like and approve of. When you're constantly praised for mediocre group-think ideas, it's hard to have an incentive to present a risky, though great-potential idea.
My advice is to constantly seek information from outside sources. Don't get so caught up in your own company that you don't know what's going on with competitors, the industry, other industry, and even just world news. You'll never have good ideas if you don't expose yourself to new "inputs". Additionally, when you do have a new idea to bring to management, make sure you have data to back it up. Just showing that you've done your research is much better than going in to a meeting with the beginnings of a plan.
My ability to have good ideas is a product of how much I try to control my thought processes. This is perhaps best explained through an example. I’m in Dr. Germain Boer’s “How to Write a Business Plan” class. Before I could begin my business plan, I needed a business idea. While I knew I wanted a business in the energy field I did not have any specific ideas. As I thought about potential business opportunities I put in place several constraints. The business had to be in Nashville, the business needed to play to my preexisting skills set, the business needed to draw some revenue through contracts with a power provider. The more constraints I put in place, the worse my ideas and the more frustrated I became. After a few days of frustration, I found myself drinking a beer on my porch and complaining to a friend. My complaints led to a conversation about the business plan and this conversation led to several new ideas. By not placing constraints on what my business had to be and where I had to work on it, new ideas were able to surface. It sounds counter intuitive but when you can’t think of a new idea, sometimes its best to quit trying.
As a kid, I was always thinking of how to make something better, from ketchup dispensers, to floats, and koozies to football. However, even with all these ideas, several things stop me from being innovative to the point of bringing an idea to a reality. First, all of the numerous ideas and innovations I had, might have worked, but I never knew what to do with them. Without being taught how to go through with an idea, it makes it difficult to actually talk about it and share it with friends. As I’ve grown older, another inhibitor of innovation has been that I have not really had the incentive to go through with ideas. To get a patent costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. Not knowing how an idea will pan out really doesn’t incentivize me to go through that process. However, if I had the means (whether that be money or time) to go about the patent process and if the innovation had the potential to be successful, I would definitely try to bring it to fruition. For people who are creative and have innovation ideas, I would tell them to just go for it. Figure out how to do it and who to contact to get patents. One opportunity that has recently been created for patent protection is a Nashville startup, MyWerx (www.mywerx.com). Here you can use numerous platforms to get the initial intellectually property that is needed. With that initial IP, you can begin to talk about your idea and go about means of making it a reality.
I often feel that my generation of good ideas is limited by my tendency to focus more on the end product or outcome and less on the process. As someone who is very detail oriented, it's often hard for me to focus on brainstorming and ignore the feasibility of an idea.
For others with the same problem, I'd suggest they try to look at the big picture and proceed with idea generation before they learn too much about the constraints on the project. I'd recommend trying to write down ideas and keeping a notebook nearby at all times in case inspiration hits.
What has stopped me from having good ideas is frustration brought on by constraints. Insurance, where I spent 5 years, is an industry intent on maintaining the status quo. Overrun by regulation, managers hesitate to be the first to implement “good” ideas. There seem to be more incentives in enforcing the current policies than seeking to change them. With longevity as a primary driver for advancement, this culture permeates the industry leaving those with the freshest ideas at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, this culture of constraints is a compelling enough reason for you to ignore your good ideas and conform. Like in corporate America, we as students defend the constraints we’ve been presented with. We fight for a grading rubric or point to our class notes as evidence that counters any deviation from the norm. I get frustrated and give up on good ideas because I’m unable to communicate them convincingly in these settings. I may anchor them in my lack of experience, GPA, or low GMAT score, plus it’s so much easier to do what someone else tells you to do. I think the best advice I could give based on my experience is seek out champions for your ideas. This is especially true when seeking change at a company that resists it. Whether its group members or coworkers, you need to find people of influence that will help you cultivate your ideas and even provide the encouragement to come up with new ones.
I grew up under Asian Culture, which places much emphasis on conformity and authority. Rather than being encouraged to develop personalized and unique viewpoints, we are forced to sit quietly in the classroom, with our heads crammed by identical values. Therefore, most Asian people remain silent at back row throughout discussion or meeting. Also we don’t air our views because the rule setters-our parents, teachers and government more often than not decide everything for us.
The other common constraint is time pressure. We are supposed to perform every task effectively and efficiently that is to achieve the desired objective within the shortest time period. Similarly, risk aversion is the shared nature in business world. At most times, the companies are not able to afford the failures in testing new ideas in today's competitive market place. To rush for the deadline or simply avoid the risk, most of people normally choose the safest way, repeatedly proved to be applicable.
Most of the companies I have served before are industry establishers, which normally standardize every single task by prescribing specific and detailed steps. We are hired to put the preset rules and regulation into action rather than being an adventurous maverick.
My suggestions to overcome the above mentioned constraints are as follows:
Enhancing self-confidence and getting yourself feel comfortable in speaking in front of the public is the best way to overcome cultural constraint; achieving agreement with senior managements and seeking for their supports and trusts might works well in conquering pressures of deadline and procedure standardization.
One thing that stops me from having good ideas is a lack of resources, one of the most important of which is time.
There are many times I’ve thought about brainstorming certain ideas, just to see where they lead, but I’m often stopped by time constraints and commitments to other responsibilities.
Sometimes when I meditate (as a stress reliever), I find my mind wandering off. I begin thinking about ways to improve certain innovations. I also find inspiration elsewhere, including reading blogs such as unclutterer.com. There is a weekly blog on “unitaskers,” which are objects that are ridiculed as having only one purpose and are a waste of space. I find myself thinking about ways that I could improve these things, which then leads me to other ideas.
Other people hold me back from good ideas in two ways.
Sometimes I may withhold an idea for concern of the perception of validity of the idea and therefore of me. This can be group and situationally dependent though. If I am working in a newly formed group where there is an interest or need for a long-term relationship, I may be less inclined to share. "Hey, remember that crazy idea he had awhile ago? Can we trust him to steer this project in the right direction?" If it is a one-time group where there are no long-term incentives or with junior people, I may be more open to sharing.
Other times, you might be in a group that is not as open to ideas or has at least one strong personality. It is not necessarily the withholding of that idea that might have been the solution, but it is the subsequent ideas that might have been generated by your team or you that are lost.
I would recommend that no matter what the idea, write it down. It may not be used in the current setting and context, but it may be valuable in the future. You should also consider a variety of delivery methods that might ease any discomfort in sharing what might actually be a really good idea.
I would also like to add that financial constraints can hinder ideas, but they can also be the impetus for innovative solutions.
In the hierarchical society like in Japan, the boss sometimes seizes credit for my idea (work). This attitude is very particular but it stops me from having a good idea.
Solution or advice? Think about your idea contributes to something or someone such as social community or to making the world a better place. Even though the boss seized credit for your idea, your right brain develops continuously and these experiences contribute to your future career.
There has been a phrase running through my head the past few months that I can't seem to shake:
“Have you ever seen something so inspiring, it depressed you?”
The main barrier that I seem to run into is simply myself. This statement combines a sense of fear, doubt, comparison, and general feeling of “I’m already behind in the game.” This is very much an early stage problem, during the idea generation phase, but fear of moving into the unknown is a critical barrier to getting ideas off the ground. I continue to think, “Somebody else is already doing it, so why should I try?” or “If nobody is doing it already, there must be a reason I’m not seeing.”
While this problem tends to arise more in the personal, entrepreneurial innovation arena rather than corporate innovation, it is prevalent in any organization when dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity.
From personal experience, I would suggest to start putting ideas on paper as soon as possible. This takes general lofty ideas from the air and puts a defined quality to the process. It allows you to think clearly, moving on from one detail to the next without a) forgetting and b) getting lost in the clouds. Whether or not an idea comes to fruition, always write it down and keep it in a notebook. You never know when that idea will pop its head back up or spur spin-off ideas in new spaces.
Additionally, seeing your thoughts on paper also gives you the chance to take a step back to view the larger picture of your idea, leading to see what differentiates your idea from those already out there. Seeing your thoughts fully vetted on paper puts adds realness to the idea and allows you to begin to see linearity for the plan to turn into action.
Like water, the path of least resistance, is often too enticing. I find that one of the things that keeps me from coming up with new ideas is a lack of time. When a deadline approaches it is too easy to default to what I know has worked in the past.
Safety also plays a role. As I feel safe in a setting I feel more apt to come up with good ideas. If I feel socially, or otherwise, unsafe I am more likely to resort to a known commodity or way of doing something. Being safe means the ability to fail without consequence and that is very empowering.
My advice to countering the forces of inertia of ideas is to first be aware of these two main factors. Be willing to challenge those feeling of hurry or being unsafe. Being cognizant of that feeling of being unsafe, truly thinking about what the actual risks are, allow me to recognize the frivolity of that feeling. I can then, hopefully, bravely generate stellar ideas.
"Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!" - Thomas Edison
I worked in IT consulting for government clients prior to coming to Owen. I worked closely with my clients to develop new ideas that met their systems needs. On one of my projects, we were trying to introduce our client to social media. This government client was unique because it actually sold services to the public, so they were competing with private sector companies. We felt that social media would help make the organization more comeptitive and raise awareness of the services it provides. While this was a fairly simple idea and many organizations were using it, we were hit a roadblock with IT security. Basically, since the government is so slow, they didn't have any regulations about social media so we weren't able to implement a lot of the ideas we suggested. From this experience, I learned that the government in general can really hamper new ideas, but also inefficiency and lack of common sense get in the way. My suggestion to address this issue would be to show the value of the idea and the benefits it can bring to an organization. Also, show all aspects of the idea that would be of concern to the particular audience you are presenting it to. Sometimes different audiences have different concerns, so the presentation of the idea needs to be tweaked to appeal to the different audience.
Middle management and me!
ReplyDeleteThe concept of innovation is not new however for most middle management and individuals it is something that cannot be done because of the following reasons:
1. We don't have the time
2. We cannot guarantee the outcome
3. It is different from what we do around here and a middle manager does not know how to manage the process nor the creative employees
Change the actor in the previous three questions from the middle manager to yourself and you will find that all the questions still make sense.
Advice:
1. Commitment to your idea – you have to spend that extra time and energy to make this happen
2. Find middle and senior management who have a reputation to deliver turnkey projects/ideas also whose team is motivated to work for the leader. But in doing so do not disrespect your current manager
3. Patience and persistence – having a good idea is like having the potential to change the world, things will change with time an persistence. But if you don’t use the potential it remains great point to reflect on during retirement.
Below are the reasons that stop me from having good ideas and my advice to others with the same problem:
ReplyDeleteLimited number of experiences – Even though I’ve had numerous interesting experiences, I never thought I’ve had enough time to experience everything that is out there. Experiences enrich our perception which can lead us to come up with good ideas. My advice to other will be to take the opportunity to have as many diverse experiences as possible. You never know what experience may be responsible for that brilliant idea.
Thinking more than doing – Thinking about the idea rather than acting upon it often kills the idea. For instance, thinking about the negatives more than the positives. Many ideas may have a negative aspect to it, but concentrating on the negatives instead of the positives will not lead anyone anywhere. My advice would be to go ahead with the idea and then try to eliminate the negatives along the way. As you work on your idea, many more ideas for improvements will follow.
Writing the idea down when it comes to mind – Many times the idea comes to me when I am driving, running or before going to sleep. Writing the idea down as and when it comes to your mind is a good way that you won’t forget the idea.
Idea Sharing – Keeping the idea to yourself with the fear that if you share it with others, they might steal it. Sharing the idea helps in getting feedback and makes improvements to the idea. My advice here will be to share the idea with others and not fear that someone else might steal it, as an idea in itself is often not worth much anyway.
Me. I hold myself back from coming up with new ideas. I get comfortable with my regular way of doing things, whether projects, daily routines, or time contraints I give myself, and then I don't challenge myself to be bold and creative. This everyday comfort with routines really prevents me from taking the time and having the patience to come up with good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI also find that I do not take the time out of my day to read and explore new things as much as I should. Without constantly exploring what's happening in the world, I don't think there's much of a chance for me to really come up with good ideas because I'm stuck in my own, basic way of doing things.
I would recommend that others with this same problem take time to just sit and think, and to also read things on the internet/in books/in magazines, or talk to others - even if it means scheduling this thinking/exploring time into your schedule on a regular basis. Forcing this time to be creative over a long period of time may help make "idea generation" a more regular part of our lives/routines. I would also suggest writing good ideas down whenever they come to you, so that when you do take the time to sit down and think about your ideas, you'll be able to leverage those times when you were thinking creatively.
One thing that often stops me from having good ideas is accepting the world for how it is. I am an American, living in an affluent community with nice things and the financial stability to live a fun life. All in all I am pretty darn comfortable. I think great ideas stem from a true need - finding something where it is lacking. Sure, I have often thought of or talked with friends about ways to make every day things more convenient, but then I say "well, that would require a lot of work and the way it is now is not all bad."
ReplyDeleteHowever, this way of thinking is lazy and flawed. There is a lot of money to be left on the table when a new idea actually fulfills an existing need. My advice to myself and to others is to capitalize on these ideas by:
1. Observing your daily patterns and finding "pain points" that are inconvenient or where the experience could be enhanced.
2. Pinpoint and clarify that need and discuss it with friends. This will allow you to brainstorm on ideas to fill that need.
3. Come up with a list of solutions to solve the need and further refine them through open discussions.
4. Write down your final solution. This will be a reminder of bringing the idea to life rather than forgetting about it and moving on.
I like to think of a good idea like a plant. It starts with the seed. A stray thought that happens when you are interacting with the world.. Like "I hate these wires.. I wish I could get rid of them".
ReplyDeleteMost of us stop at that.. We then fill our mind with frustration and anger.. which is definitely not fertile soil for a good idea. We never get to the next thought "How can I get rid of the wires?"
We need to cultivate that thought with creativity and action. Give it the light of other's views. Let it grow and flourish.
So, what am I saying?
Instead of being frustrated and angry with things that don't work the way you want (products, systems, culture.. anything), think about how you can change them. Give it some positivity. Talk to people about it.
If you don't have the time and effort to build on it yourself, just talk positively about it enough number of times.. spread the word. Someone will steal your idea and implement it :)
Its better to have a seed stolen and planted in someone else's orchard than to let it rot in some corner of your house.
Hmm. What stops me from having good ideas? There are two parts to this problem, as I see it: 1) generation and 2) identification.
ReplyDeleteI think the generation piece has to do with a lack of effort on the front end. Too frequently, I spend my day flying from one task to the next without pausing to consider any possibility for improvement.
In addition, unless you surround yourself with people who are encouraging of 'good ideas' and who take the time to hypothesize and to encourage new solutions, it is even less likely that one would make the effort. 'Good ideas' do not emerge from a vacuum - they are a product of the right space, right time, and hard work!
In addition, unless I am in a state of mind to identify and reward good ideas, I am not certain that I would 'know it when I see it.' An idea may satisfy all of the constraints stipulated and yet not be 'good' for whatever reason or may simply not be trusted, as it is too new or too creative ('creative people must be stopped!).
To others hoping or actively working to generate good ideas, I would advise that they surround themselves with people with similar goals who will encourage these efforts. The next step, the identification of good ideas, depends on the scale of the idea which you have devised - does it affect simply your day/experience? That of your family, your community, your organization? Determine your audience and seek their feedback - do not waste your time conducting due diligence in a market that you have not targeted.
There are several considerations that have always stopped me from launching my good ideas.
ReplyDelete1. Fear of failure/rejection...i think conforming to the norm is always something that has always been something that I always felt much more "comfortable" doing. If i do have a great idea, the risk of failing always sits in the back of my mind and maybe that is already setting myself up for failure. When I wanted to implement new processes at work, my boss said go ahead. When push came to shove too many people who I shared the idea with were like "its not that great" probably not worth doing...so i was like OK i wont do it...
2. Something else is time/money. If I had time to see something through then I would totally be on board with pushing an idea through...but who has the time these days? We are overwhelmed with pressures to find jobs, make money, and spend time doing something we know has a sure fire return.
I have always had great ideas, but the determination to see it through has never been there...that might be a personal thing. definitely a personal developmental point
I have great ideas all the time. My problem is that everyone else thinks they are stupid.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is everyone else. Not me. For example: paper smocks at the dry cleaners so you can leave what you are wearing to be cleaned, scented lightbulbs, antisceptic spray for children's chew toys, a mini piano for your dashboard when you are rocking out in your car, an website where you can listen to concerts live for the same price as a ticket, etc.
You are probably asking yourself, "hey, fella, if your ideas are so good, why don't you launch one?" Valid question. Time and money are my only two variables so stay tuned.
What prevents me from having good ideas is finding the time to think about something in a meaningful way. Additionally, the things that inspire me to think differently - spending time in nature, live music performances, visiting art exhibits, or pushing my limits (like my fear of heights) - also take time, which I often don't have. So, I don't have the time to get inspired, and I don't take the time to think about things meaningfully.
ReplyDeleteFor people that encounter the same problems, I would recommend that they get some inspiration and then just sit. It's amazing what one can come up with when they simply allow themselves the time to think!
One of my largest barriers to having good ideas is my inability to focus the ideas that I do have. Even when it comes to my own carrier goals, I have difficulty narrowing down a field of focus because my mind goes in many different directions. I have this same problem with most of my ideas, and it stops me from developing my ideas from mere concepts into concrete and actionable ideas. What I have started to do to avoid this barrier, and what I would recommend to others in my situation, is to write down all of my ideas. This helps me to see where the trends lie in my ideas and also allows me to vet my ideas and whether or not I am able to properly articulate them.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, when I do come up with good ideas, my perfectionist attitude acts as another stopping point. I tend to not believe that my ideas are finished and therefore are reluctant to share them with others. The advice I would have for others that experience this problem would be to simply start sharing all of their ideas with anyone that will listen. By talking about them more, you can overcome this barrier and also get good feedback on your ideas.
I think I have great ideas but what I do not have is follow through. A great idea will hit me and I will think to myself, "E.Stair this is brilliant - do it!!!" But without fail I get distracted by something like school, work, or a shiny new pair of shoes.
ReplyDeleteIf you too have this problem, my advice is to get a notebook and write down your ideas. I keep a notebook full of ideas. I like to think of the notebook as my retirement fun play book. My ideas are things to do when I have the time and attention span.
For those of you struggling with being creative in the first place - I find necessity drives innovation. My best ideas come to me when I am annoyed by something or I find myself in a particularly difficult/unusual situation. Step out of your comfort zone and let the creativity flow.
I think that idea generation, over analysis and frustration are the variables that keep me from good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with idea generation from the outset, and have a hard time creating new ideas from scratch – it is much easier for me to improve upon or add to an existing idea. At some point in my past I decided that I wasn’t good at new idea generation and it has become a challenge for me to break away from the belief.
I sometimes identify a seed of a good idea, and attempt to run with it. Then my analysis of how to implement the idea leads to paralysis, and I ditch the idea. My analysis usually begins with whether there is already an idea like this out in the marketplace or world, and I most often conclude that someone else has already thought of this idea and it is taken, or they thought of it, and it failed. This is what results in frustration for me. I try to congratulate myself on having great ideas, but as soon as I realize they have already been tried, I become frustrated and incapable of generating new good ideas. And so the cycle continues…
A brief example: I used to ride the bus to work before I came to Owen. I had a friend who was always coming up with great new ideas for products and so I would try to brainstorm about new products I could invent. I came up with the idea for some headphones with a retractable cord so that when riding the bus and holding on with one hand I wouldn’t have the problem of untangling my headphone cord while remaining upright. A couple days later, I learned this was already a product. I felt unoriginal and defeated and less motivated to continue my new idea generation on each morning’s bus ride.
There are two major obstacles that prevent me from having good ideas: time and lack of incentive. The first is fairly straightforward; I just don’t have the time to devote to creativity, innovative thinking or idea generation. However this is a fairly easy obstacle to overcome, I should just allocate my time more efficiently. But this leads directly to my second problem, without the proper incentive(s) I have no reason to reallocate my time to make room for time devoted solely to creativity. As a result, I’m left to only ideas that come about from instances of pure creativity or innovative thinking. This is the harder of the two obstacles to overcome and unless I force myself to allocate time or am properly incentivized by say a class grade that depends on it, it’s a problem that I will struggle to overcome.
ReplyDeleteAlso I have great ideas all the time, just other people think of them first.
Everyone has the potential to generate great ideas. You just got believe in yourself. The real barrier of getting your ideas out is not from outside but from withing one's own mental restrictions--the built in mentality frames we have built up by adapting to the ordinary life in society. Just be yourself and let the situation takes you flow and you will discover all those you need to discover. Be yourself and free your mind. The great ideas are already there, in your head and in your heart, you just need to carve out to reveal them.
ReplyDeleteWhat stops me from having good ideas. What advice would you give others with the same problem?
ReplyDeleteMy creativity is stunted because I trust scientists, engineers, and innovative companies to come up with good ideas/solutions for me. Although I enjoy being creative, I do not enjoy the high rate of failure in regards to innovative and creative thinking.
I would advise others to be creative since creative ideas spawn innovation and are the lifeblood of a successful business. Also, without creativity companies would not create new products or improve existing products which fuel sales and profit growth for companies. The same can be said for marketing campaigns and product branding. It is often worth the risk to think outside the box and be creative in our everyday life.
What has stopped me from having good ideas is the industry I’ve worked in. Insurance is an industry intent on maintaining the status quo. Overrun by regulation, managers hesitate to be the first to implement “good” ideas. There seem to be more incentives in enforcing the current policies than seeking to change them. With longevity as a primary driver for advancement, this culture permeates the industry leaving those with the freshest ideas at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, this culture is a compelling enough reason for you to ignore your good ideas and conform.
ReplyDeleteIn industries or companies like this, communicating your good ideas is just as, if not more, important as generating them. In fact, your communication strategy has to extend beyond just convincing your immediate manager, but must take into account how they will communicate your idea up the ladder to the decision maker. It helps to understand how the industry traditionally receives information used to drive change. In insurance, it’s through actuaries. Yes, change is made based on a siloed group of individuals who tell you what will generate additional profit and what won’t. If your idea doesn’t relate to increased profit and if it doesn’t originate in that side of the building, chances are you won’t be heard.
The strategy we had at my former start-up was to solicit the help of an actuarial firm to put together a study that proved voice-recorded “signatures” were just as valid as actual signatures on insurance documents. Sounds archaic I’m sure… what about all the documents I sign online with the click of a mouse? First, presenting this study was just an incremental step toward e-signatures, and believe it or not, most life insurance policies are still signed with a ball-point pen. Today, a few Fortune 500 insurance companies are actually using voice-signature based on our proposal, and we are out of business. In this case, the sale of our good idea was clearly a more carefully designed process than protecting our own business model.
What stops me from having good ideas? Several things.
ReplyDeleteOften it is a not a priority to follow through with idea development. It's not that I don't have a million ideas, but when life is busy and there are other commitments vying for my time and energy, innovative thinking takes a back seat. This is unfortunate because taking a moment to think critically about how to approach an issue from a different angle often can save time and result in a much more comprehensive and better solution.
Other times, societal expectations form a mental roadblock from which it is difficult to divert. This begins in school at a young age: the teacher is looking for one and only one answer and anything outside that expectation is 'wrong.' The only chance students have to express themselves and experiment with creativity is during art or creative writing classes.
As we get older, in the professional setting, the tables turn. In my experience, clients desire the most innovative solution and are unimpressed with one simple answer.
What advice would you give others with the same problem? As a designer, I am regularly faced with complex problems that require creative solutions. To foster a creative environment from which those ideas can develop, I ideate, get feedback from colleagues, often through critiques, and let those ideas incubate during a period of time. I set then aside for a while, come back to them with fresh eyes, and let the ideas grow through the design process. Within these parameters, innovation flourishes.
Environmental constraints kill great ideas.
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time you were inspired by a truly great idea that you came up with while performing your daily routine in the office or at school?
Often times I am at my most creative - idea generating peak when I step outside my comfort zone and try something completely new and different. Simply, getting out of the office, or the school library, and stepping into a new coffee shop, bookstore, or park can be an inspiration to think differently about a topic. Try it next time you need to generate ideas!
Most of Japanese seem like excessively sensitive to reputation others. In addition, Japanese have kind of “lock-step mentality”, and tend to do what others do. In other words, people seldom do what others did not do.
ReplyDeleteThose are the very serious obstacles that stop people from having/implementing a good idea in Japan. I often rejected my idea with this cliché: “I cannot accept your idea because we have no precedent.” So what??? A new innovative idea is one of a key factor that makes a company competitive, isn’t it?
Unfortunately we cannot persuade opponents by logic because they oppose our idea without any logical causes. That may be a cultural issue. We may not overcome it till most of Japanese change their mindset. But I believe that we can change the situation by a series of smallest things brought together. Nothing will happen if we resign ourselves. Then my advice is: “Be bold!”
"What will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No, no. They will see free men and freedom! And what the enemy will see, they will see the flash of our cannons, and they will hear the ringing of our swords, and they will know what we can do! By the sweat of our brow and the strength of our backs and the courage in our hearts! Gentlemen, Hoist the Colors!” (by Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)
What stops you from having good ideas?
ReplyDeleteWho determines if they’re good?? In all seriousness, I believe it is my own inhibitions which stop me from having good ideas. It is challenging to conceive of something that is completely outside my context. Would I have been able to conceive of the internet before it existed? Probably not. Additionally, I believe that other folks are the same. People are innately resistant to change. Even in the rare instance where you perceive something that is literally “inconceivable”, it does not take hold due to the lack of context/applicability/feasibility for others. Therefore, I would say most of my “good ideas” are considered an improvement and/or enhancement to what already exists – due to my own inhibitions for idea generation and other people’s tolerance for idea adoption.
What advice can you give to others with the same problem?
Good idea generation takes practice. Devote time to fantasize and think beyond your boundaries. Also, practice sharing your ideas with others. You’ll become better at articulating the ideas so that they are labeled as a “good” idea instead of a bad idea and other people will become more familiar with consistently hearing about new ideas.
Additionally, I think it important to be outside of the environment. For example, let’s say that I’m preparing for an interview and can’t for the life of me come up with an example of when I had a good idea. If I just stare at the question at hand, nothing ever comes to mind, but when I go for a walk or take shower and completely remove myself from the situation, suddenly tons of examples spring to mind. The balance of idea creation is noticing a need that needs to be fulfilled IN the current environment, but then completely taking yourself OUT of that environment in order create a wealth of ideas to solve it. Then, at least one of those ideas is bound to be “good.”
What stops me from having good ideas is lack of motivation. If there is a problem or an issue that needs to be solved with a good idea that I am not motivated to solve, I might as well quit then and there. I want to say that I am not the only one that suffers from this idea deterrent. What might be a good way to curb this lack of motivation and rejuvenate our creative drives is to re-scope the issue/problem or the outcome. When we get excited about something our adrenaline picks up and the brain moves into high gear thinking of different possibilities and directions. This drive however, is motivated by selfish underlying reasons whether we realize it or not. So in my opinion, it is key realign our own outcomes and perceive them as attractive in order to ignite that human drive to think creatively and generate good ideas.
ReplyDelete"There is no use trying, said Alice; one can't believe impossible things. I dare say you haven't had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
ReplyDelete-Lewis Carroll
I think if you're whacky enough it's not that hard to come up with lots of ideas. And if you come up with enough, some of them are bound to be great. My keys to this are fearlessness, silliness, and openness. If a solution to a problem hasn't been found, then you have to have these traits in order to make a change.
Time and training hold back my development of great ideas. Sometimes I can figure out how to solve an issue, but have no idea how nor have the time learn. For instance, it seems to me that it would make a lot more sense if we overlapped everyone's x-rays with data showing patient outcomes in a digital format so that doctors could better notice trends when examining two dimensional slides. It would almost make them 3-d like! I'm not a healthcare guy though so maybe this doesn't make sense. Someone should stop my creativity.
My advice:
1) Be free with your thoughts and when you notice something you don't like, think of bizarre ways to solve it.
2) Figure out your comparative advantage and then hire someone who can actually build your idea if you lack the know-how.
3) Don't be that busy so you have lots of time!
Left to my own devices, I tend to be a creative person. I considered going into detail here, but when I wrote it out it sounded like I was boasting, so I'll just leave it there: on my own, creativity hasn't ever been a problem for me. This is all the more true when I'm tackling a problem, topic, or project that I feel strongly about. When close friends are asked to describe me, the word "quirky" is inevitably among the first three words. This was something that bothered me when I was younger and less secure but has become a point of pride as I've aged. I think my quirkiness drives my own creativity.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, my problems with creativity come primarily in two varieties: working in groups, and working on problems that I don't feel strongly about.
When working in groups, I have an unfortunate tendency to fall back to a mediatory position. I am very good at finding common ground between opposing views, but this tendency has the negative side effect of me pushing my own views to the background as I work to find commonalities in other peoples' views. I can also be susceptible to "groupthink," although in my time at Owen I've tried to push myself to occasionally step back from group conversations and determine whether the group is suffering from this type of mentality. Groupthink is, of course, a potent creativity-destroyer.
When working on projects or problems that I don't feel strongly about, I tend towards laziness of thinking. I look primarily for quick solutions; less so inventive and ideal ones. This problem is something I've had a far greater struggle dealing with than my groups problem. Indeed, in some respects I have decided that it's something I have to live with. I've adjusted my career goals with this tendency in mind. My "past life" was spent working in professional functions where my tasks weren't things I felt passionately about, and I believe my work suffered, even if I saw relatively considerable success in my profession. My summer internship this year was the first time in my professional life that I've worked on a project that I felt very strongly about, and I promptly produced what I consider to be easily the best and most inventive work that I have ever put my name to. I felt proud of it.
My advice in groups:
1) Be situationally aware. Try and force yourself to occasionally step back from the group conversation and determine whether the group is, drone-like, moving down one path simply for the sake of having found agreement.
2) Don't let your own thinking get lost in the shuffle. Groups can be challenging to work in. There are many egos to deal with. There are disagreements. It can be easy to let the challenge of working with these interpersonal problems get in the way of your own thinking. Try and be cognizant of this.
Intellectual laziness:
1) I honestly have no idea.
My good ideas are limited sometimes because I tend to do most of my work in the same environment when I try come ideate(don't know if thats a word or not). I am usually in a quiet environment with bright lighting, sitting at a desk somewhere. I believe that this environemtn limits my ability to think creatively.
ReplyDeleteAdvice:
I would recommend to myself and others to ideate in unfamiliar environemts. I have tried to remedy my inability to be creative and come up with good ideas by generating ideas while in new or nostalgic places.
Lack of confidence in ability to generate ideas usually stops me. One thing I always think whenever I think of a new idea is, “it must be infeasible, because if it wasn’t someone would have already done it by now.” This applies not just to products but also for innovating processes. I think this happens a lot within organizations, where rather than speak up about new ways of doing things, we tend to just say “they must be doing it the old way because that is the best way”. To overcome this, I think you have to push yourself to start asking questions about why things are they way they are, and researching whether your idea does already exist or has been vetoed. If you don’t at least ask, you could be walking away from great opportunity.
ReplyDeleteIdeas on how to overcome this:
•Force yourself say YES to new activities or environments or thought processes even when your initial reaction is almost immediately NO WAY. You never know what new stimulus might be the key.
•Hang out with people who challenge you to think about new ideas or topics and that like to encourage you to imagine absurd things.
•Lean into it. When you feel like you can’t possibly do the whole process, just take it one step at a time. Building a new product may seem impossible, but just doing a little research gets you one tiny step of the way.
I prevent myself from having good ideas. I have been trained to question everything, and try to come up with something better. However, whenever I have an idea, I question it and tear it apart, trying to make sure it's as good as it can be. This could only lead to the perfect idea right? Nope. I end up 1) Entirely lose confidence in the idea (and myself). 2) Convince myself that there's no way no one has already thought of it. 3) Playing it too safe.
ReplyDeleteSure, the problem is really just me, but overall, it's about overcoming fear of failure, being able to look past the boundary of the rules, and ultimately asking "what's the worst that could happen?"
I intentionally did not read any of the previous posts because I didn't want to be influenced one way or another. What's the worst that could happen? I may say what someone else already said, or make a fool of myself? So what?
There's no harm done by coming up with new ideas and try to find the good ideas, and a lot of good could come out of it, but the downside of not coming up with new ideas is limiting oneself and continuing to live life the same boring way.
For those who typically play it safe like I do - let your guard down, fight against the instinct to be cautious, and let your brain run wild. What's the worst that could happen?
“If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative.” ~Woody Allen
ReplyDeleteThat quote rings so true, but why is it so hard to do? The answer is that nobody wants to fail! But maybe if we don't think of "failure" in the typical sense of the word and think of it from a different perspective, the negative connotation that most people associate with "failure" won't persist and we can learn that “failure” is not necessarily a bad thing.
I think for me, the main thing that stops me from having good ideas is a combination of the lack of confidence in my ability to come up with new ideas and the fear of failure or rejection. It's really difficult to push yourself to take risks when there is always the risk of failure, but to be innovative it's a necessary evil. Good ideas involve pushing the limit without the fear of failure in the back of your mind. Or it can involve being willing to "fail" in order to challenge yourself to do something different. Another reason we fail to come up with good ideas is the lack of confidence that we can do it! If you don't believe in yourself then you're essentially setting yourself up to fail, and what really then is the point? We must take big risks in order to reap big rewards, and this is the same with innovation.
In order to combat these individual constraints, we should learn to relish new environments and experiences! Don’t get caught up in the status quo, push the limits and don’t be afraid to “fail.” Get out of the box by doing something new, this will excite your brain to think differently. Finally, I think if we try not to “overthink it”, these ideas will start to flow naturally. The biggest thing that usually stops us from having great ideas is ourselves and if we try not to worry about failing, about if our idea is good enough, or about how innovative our idea really is, then we can finally let loose and start letting our brain do all the magic.
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ReplyDeleteNumerous posts mention "not being afraid to fail" and "being willing to take risks", but I believe it is fine to be afraid of failure. Given the goals of companies, schools, and other organizations that we are all apart of, it is no wonder that we are trained to not take risks. Taking risks means standing out, which is not good in an economy where my former boss, for example, told me to "keep your head down until we get out of this and don't draw any attention to yourself." Taking risks also means there is an element of unknown. The reactions of people who have more power than us can be strong deterrents to innovative behavior. We don't want to innovate because for every good idea, there are 10 people to tell you why it won't work. Ultimately, there is a fear in many organizations of being bold and taking risks. While not being afraid of failure is great, the organizational constraints that often punish creative thinking are a difficult obstacle to overcome.
ReplyDeleteWhat stops me from having good ideas is being too close to a problem or challenge to see a way to solve it. I'm specifically talking about when I worked full-time for an entertainment company. I became so engrained in their culture that I only thought "their" way. You begin to tailor your ideas to what you know management will like and approve of. When you're constantly praised for mediocre group-think ideas, it's hard to have an incentive to present a risky, though great-potential idea.
ReplyDeleteMy advice is to constantly seek information from outside sources. Don't get so caught up in your own company that you don't know what's going on with competitors, the industry, other industry, and even just world news. You'll never have good ideas if you don't expose yourself to new "inputs". Additionally, when you do have a new idea to bring to management, make sure you have data to back it up. Just showing that you've done your research is much better than going in to a meeting with the beginnings of a plan.
My ability to have good ideas is a product of how much I try to control my thought processes. This is perhaps best explained through an example. I’m in Dr. Germain Boer’s “How to Write a Business Plan” class. Before I could begin my business plan, I needed a business idea. While I knew I wanted a business in the energy field I did not have any specific ideas.
ReplyDeleteAs I thought about potential business opportunities I put in place several constraints. The business had to be in Nashville, the business needed to play to my preexisting skills set, the business needed to draw some revenue through contracts with a power provider. The more constraints I put in place, the worse my ideas and the more frustrated I became.
After a few days of frustration, I found myself drinking a beer on my porch and complaining to a friend. My complaints led to a conversation about the business plan and this conversation led to several new ideas. By not placing constraints on what my business had to be and where I had to work on it, new ideas were able to surface. It sounds counter intuitive but when you can’t think of a new idea, sometimes its best to quit trying.
As a kid, I was always thinking of how to make something better, from ketchup dispensers, to floats, and koozies to football. However, even with all these ideas, several things stop me from being innovative to the point of bringing an idea to a reality. First, all of the numerous ideas and innovations I had, might have worked, but I never knew what to do with them. Without being taught how to go through with an idea, it makes it difficult to actually talk about it and share it with friends.
ReplyDeleteAs I’ve grown older, another inhibitor of innovation has been that I have not really had the incentive to go through with ideas. To get a patent costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. Not knowing how an idea will pan out really doesn’t incentivize me to go through that process.
However, if I had the means (whether that be money or time) to go about the patent process and if the innovation had the potential to be successful, I would definitely try to bring it to fruition. For people who are creative and have innovation ideas, I would tell them to just go for it. Figure out how to do it and who to contact to get patents. One opportunity that has recently been created for patent protection is a Nashville startup, MyWerx (www.mywerx.com). Here you can use numerous platforms to get the initial intellectually property that is needed. With that initial IP, you can begin to talk about your idea and go about means of making it a reality.
I often feel that my generation of good ideas is limited by my tendency to focus more on the end product or outcome and less on the process. As someone who is very detail oriented, it's often hard for me to focus on brainstorming and ignore the feasibility of an idea.
ReplyDeleteFor others with the same problem, I'd suggest they try to look at the big picture and proceed with idea generation before they learn too much about the constraints on the project. I'd recommend trying to write down ideas and keeping a notebook nearby at all times in case inspiration hits.
What has stopped me from having good ideas is frustration brought on by constraints. Insurance, where I spent 5 years, is an industry intent on maintaining the status quo. Overrun by regulation, managers hesitate to be the first to implement “good” ideas. There seem to be more incentives in enforcing the current policies than seeking to change them. With longevity as a primary driver for advancement, this culture permeates the industry leaving those with the freshest ideas at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Unfortunately, this culture of constraints is a compelling enough reason for you to ignore your good ideas and conform.
ReplyDeleteLike in corporate America, we as students defend the constraints we’ve been presented with. We fight for a grading rubric or point to our class notes as evidence that counters any deviation from the norm. I get frustrated and give up on good ideas because I’m unable to communicate them convincingly in these settings. I may anchor them in my lack of experience, GPA, or low GMAT score, plus it’s so much easier to do what someone else tells you to do.
I think the best advice I could give based on my experience is seek out champions for your ideas. This is especially true when seeking change at a company that resists it. Whether its group members or coworkers, you need to find people of influence that will help you cultivate your ideas and even provide the encouragement to come up with new ones.
I grew up under Asian Culture, which places much emphasis on conformity and authority. Rather than being encouraged to develop personalized and unique viewpoints, we are forced to sit quietly in the classroom, with our heads crammed by identical values. Therefore, most Asian people remain silent at back row throughout discussion or meeting. Also we don’t air our views because the rule setters-our parents, teachers and government more often than not decide everything for us.
ReplyDeleteThe other common constraint is time pressure. We are supposed to perform every task effectively and efficiently that is to achieve the desired objective within the shortest time period. Similarly, risk aversion is the shared nature in business world. At most times, the companies are not able to afford the failures in testing new ideas in today's competitive market place. To rush for the deadline or simply avoid the risk, most of people normally choose the safest way, repeatedly proved to be applicable.
Most of the companies I have served before are industry establishers, which normally standardize every single task by prescribing specific and detailed steps. We are hired to put the preset rules and regulation into action rather than being an adventurous maverick.
My suggestions to overcome the above mentioned constraints are as follows:
Enhancing self-confidence and getting yourself feel comfortable in speaking in front of the public is the best way to overcome cultural constraint; achieving agreement with senior managements and seeking for their supports and trusts might works well in conquering pressures of deadline and procedure standardization.
One thing that stops me from having good ideas is a lack of resources, one of the most important of which is time.
ReplyDeleteThere are many times I’ve thought about brainstorming certain ideas, just to see where they lead, but I’m often stopped by time constraints and commitments to other responsibilities.
Sometimes when I meditate (as a stress reliever), I find my mind wandering off. I begin thinking about ways to improve certain innovations. I also find inspiration elsewhere, including reading blogs such as unclutterer.com. There is a weekly blog on “unitaskers,” which are objects that are ridiculed as having only one purpose and are a waste of space. I find myself thinking about ways that I could improve these things, which then leads me to other ideas.
Other people hold me back from good ideas in two ways.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I may withhold an idea for concern of the perception of validity of the idea and therefore of me. This can be group and situationally dependent though. If I am working in a newly formed group where there is an interest or need for a long-term relationship, I may be less inclined to share. "Hey, remember that crazy idea he had awhile ago? Can we trust him to steer this project in the right direction?" If it is a one-time group where there are no long-term incentives or with junior people, I may be more open to sharing.
Other times, you might be in a group that is not as open to ideas or has at least one strong personality. It is not necessarily the withholding of that idea that might have been the solution, but it is the subsequent ideas that might have been generated by your team or you that are lost.
I would recommend that no matter what the idea, write it down. It may not be used in the current setting and context, but it may be valuable in the future. You should also consider a variety of delivery methods that might ease any discomfort in sharing what might actually be a really good idea.
I would also like to add that financial constraints can hinder ideas, but they can also be the impetus for innovative solutions.
In the hierarchical society like in Japan, the boss sometimes seizes credit for my idea (work). This attitude is very particular but it stops me from having a good idea.
ReplyDeleteSolution or advice?
Think about your idea contributes to something or someone such as social community or to making the world a better place. Even though the boss seized credit for your idea, your right brain develops continuously and these experiences contribute to your future career.
There has been a phrase running through my head the past few months that I can't seem to shake:
ReplyDelete“Have you ever seen something so inspiring, it depressed you?”
The main barrier that I seem to run into is simply myself. This statement combines a sense of fear, doubt, comparison, and general feeling of “I’m already behind in the game.” This is very much an early stage problem, during the idea generation phase, but fear of moving into the unknown is a critical barrier to getting ideas off the ground. I continue to think, “Somebody else is already doing it, so why should I try?” or “If nobody is doing it already, there must be a reason I’m not seeing.”
While this problem tends to arise more in the personal, entrepreneurial innovation arena rather than corporate innovation, it is prevalent in any organization when dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity.
From personal experience, I would suggest to start putting ideas on paper as soon as possible. This takes general lofty ideas from the air and puts a defined quality to the process. It allows you to think clearly, moving on from one detail to the next without a) forgetting and b) getting lost in the clouds. Whether or not an idea comes to fruition, always write it down and keep it in a notebook. You never know when that idea will pop its head back up or spur spin-off ideas in new spaces.
Additionally, seeing your thoughts on paper also gives you the chance to take a step back to view the larger picture of your idea, leading to see what differentiates your idea from those already out there. Seeing your thoughts fully vetted on paper puts adds realness to the idea and allows you to begin to see linearity for the plan to turn into action.
Like water, the path of least resistance, is often too enticing. I find that one of the things that keeps me from coming up with new ideas is a lack of time. When a deadline approaches it is too easy to default to what I know has worked in the past.
ReplyDeleteSafety also plays a role. As I feel safe in a setting I feel more apt to come up with good ideas. If I feel socially, or otherwise, unsafe I am more likely to resort to a known commodity or way of doing something. Being safe means the ability to fail without consequence and that is very empowering.
My advice to countering the forces of inertia of ideas is to first be aware of these two main factors. Be willing to challenge those feeling of hurry or being unsafe. Being cognizant of that feeling of being unsafe, truly thinking about what the actual risks are, allow me to recognize the frivolity of that feeling. I can then, hopefully, bravely generate stellar ideas.
"Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!" - Thomas Edison
I worked in IT consulting for government clients prior to coming to Owen. I worked closely with my clients to develop new ideas that met their systems needs. On one of my projects, we were trying to introduce our client to social media. This government client was unique because it actually sold services to the public, so they were competing with private sector companies. We felt that social media would help make the organization more comeptitive and raise awareness of the services it provides. While this was a fairly simple idea and many organizations were using it, we were hit a roadblock with IT security. Basically, since the government is so slow, they didn't have any regulations about social media so we weren't able to implement a lot of the ideas we suggested. From this experience, I learned that the government in general can really hamper new ideas, but also inefficiency and lack of common sense get in the way. My suggestion to address this issue would be to show the value of the idea and the benefits it can bring to an organization. Also, show all aspects of the idea that would be of concern to the particular audience you are presenting it to. Sometimes different audiences have different concerns, so the presentation of the idea needs to be tweaked to appeal to the different audience.
ReplyDelete