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Thinking BIG

Susan Miller      

By Susan Miller

 

26 Nov 2004

The following are some notes from our “Managing Ideas” meeting at TodayCorp's offices at Mosman on November 17th.

“On the road of success, there is one habit that will accelerate you beyond all others. If you want to stay ahead of the pack, you've got to start thinking big.” (Brian Tracy, Thinking Big)

“Identify what the limiting beliefs are that hold you back. Then release them by finding evidence that contradicts those beliefs.” (John McGrath, YOU inc.)

Barriers to BIG Thinking:

  • Time (working the urgent instead of the important)
  • Short term thinking
  • Restrictive processes and systems
  • Risk aversion (organizations)
  • Fear of failure (individuals)
  • Lack of incentives
  • Negative evaluation of ideas
  • Lack of implementation funding
  • Fear of change
  • Over-analysis
  • Absence of like-minded people to share the vision

Strategies to overcome the barriers to Thinking BIG:

  • Create your own space and time for “imagining the future”
  • Take every opportunity to question everything
  • Use systems to build on ideas, not to squash them
  • “Break a few eggs to make an omelette” – know there are problems to overcome
  • Speed up decision cycle to launch big ideas to market
  • Step outside thinking within the industry you are in
  • Budget for new idea implementation
  • Artificially create a crisis: do “what if” analysis to generate big ideas
  • Develop a team of “The Initiator” and “The Worker” to generate and implement big ideas
  • Offer incentives for big ideas
  • Use an executive coach or mentor to test out big idea
  • Allocate days for thinking – no day to day business allowed
  • Create an Innovation Department or Innovation Room
  • Accept youth is no barrier to big ideas

Behaviour patterns that keep you from getting ahead:

(James Waldroop and Timothy Butler, Directors,
Harvard Business School's MBA Career Development Program)

  • The Impostor Syndrome -- Don't Be Afraid of Heights
  • The Meritocrat -- Life Isn't Fair
  • The Hero -- Success Has a Price
  • The Peacekeeper -- The Case For Conflict
  • The Procrastinator -- (No) Shame on You

(For a full transcript of this paper go to:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/42/pp_waldroop.html)

How to Sell a BIG Idea:
Share your PASSION for the idea

Why should we think BIG?
To make a difference in some meaningful way
(e.g. Micro Loans in Third World Countries; EBay)

Further reading:

  • Thinking Big!! The keys to Personal Power
    and Maximum Performance
    by Brian Tracy
  • The Magic Of Thinking Big
    by David J Schartz
    Simon & Schuster