Honestly, I
am the kind of people that come up with ideas and then think everything needed
around the idea, including planning, resources, etc, etc, having in mind the
best implementation of that idea.
Regrettably,
very few times (believe, very few L) I can achieve that kind of
implementation and hence, maybe a good motivating idea turned into a
demotivating one, because the complex I made the implementation. Even worse, on
the middle a lot of value was lost.
Why? Because
the real value of any creation is in the
implementation, not the idea itself.
The more concrete an idea becomes, the
more valuable it is.
I came up
with this concept and reflection [mostly about myself], after reading this
article from Steve Pavlina http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/05/the-value-of-ideas/
I will share
some key phrases/concepts for me about the article and I strongly recommend
reading it:
Generating
Good Ideas
-
Coming up with good ideas is easy, anybody can generate new ideas. If
you do not have anything on mind, just make a brainstorming, you will find lots
of good ideas.
-
That
is not the problem, neither the challenge.
The
Value of Implementation
-
Implementing ideas is hard because
that's where things get complicated. The devil is in the details. Turning
something mental into something physical is often quite a challenge.
-
The more concrete your ideas become,
the more valuable they are.
-
I
keep trying to find more optimal solutions to problems when it would be faster and easier to just
implement a mediocre solution and deal with the consequences. I have to
remind myself that getting some value is better than none.
Making
Ideas Concrete
-
Part
of implementing an idea is making it
more concrete, such as by creating a design doc or business plan.
-
The more concrete your ideas become,
the more valuable they are. The ultimate value, however, isn't delivered until your idea is in some
kind of physical form that can be shared.
Focusing
on Implementation
-
In many situations, mistakes can be
easily corrected.
If you make a mistake in building a website, you can reprogram it to fix the
mistake. Ifyou move to a neighborhoodyou don't like,you can
move again. If you get in a bad relationship, you can break up. If you quit a
job and later regret your decision, you can find employment again. If you write
a bad draft of your book, you can rewrite it. Sure there are consequences, but
in many cases it's not the end of the world if you jump to implement a
half-baked idea. At least your
implementation will still provide some value, and sometimes that's good
enough.
-
If
you're not sure if you're stuck in the idea phase, give yourself a deadline tostart implementing your idea,
regardless of how good itis. Deadlines are a necessary evil inmany
creative fields like movies and game development.
-
For
example, my website has a fairly basic design. I put together something simple
and functional in order to get the site launched without worrying about
perfecting it. If I were starting from scratch today, I would have done a few
things differently.
-
If an idea doesn't quickly lead to
its own implementation, maybe it's not such a great idea after all. Maybe you're overcomplicating the
idea to the point where it actually becomes demotivating. Can you define the
idea in simpler terms, so simple that you can actually start working on it
today?
-
What
you release may not be the perfect implementation, but at least you'll get it out the door.
Action Time
-
Time
to work on implementation, but when If I am up to my head of work!! ? Well, a
technique that Steve says and I also recommend is: to have Action Hours or Action Days. Do set aside a block of time
such as an hour or a day to do nothing but implementation.
-
To kick off this period of action, create
a quickAction List. An Action List is a specific type of to-do list. It doesn't include
any items that involveplanning, high-level decision-making,
communication, or discussion. Every item
on the list must be geared towards moving some project forward to the point of
value delivery. This means each item on the list must shift a task or
project further along the spectrum from mental idea to physical action.
Well, hope
this post delivers some value too. When I saw Steve's article I said to myself ‘I
will put it on my To-Blog list'. Then I thought twice and said to myself ‘Let's take it to the implementation'. Maybe
this is not the perfect post but at least I think this way I am delivering some
value instead of just putting it on my list and wait to have the right time and
the right words to write the right post J.
Thanks,
PP