How to Make Ideas Happen

While creativity and idea-generation excite most people, new ideas have always been a source of frustration for me. My frustration is due to the fact that most ideas never happen. It is a shame that most remarkable ideas for social change, new businesses, and other creative projects never see the light of day.

While most people and teams struggle to make ideas happen, there are some that consistently defy the odds. Through years of research, focus groups, and my team’s efforts to organize the creative world, I have found that ideas don’t happen because they are great. And ideas don’t happen by accident. On the contrary, ideas are made to happen by leaders with the capacity to stay organized, tap the forces of community, and lead others in creative pursuits.

The good news is that the insights and best practices for making ideas happen are practical and accessible to all of us. The bad news is that especially creative people (those with the tendency to generate lots of ideas) often feel like their very essence will be compromised if they become too organized. Herein lies the conundrum of the creative world: structure helps make ideas happen, but idea-generating minds don’t seem to like structure.

I have spent years studying especially productive creative people and teams that have a track record of making ideas happen, time and time again. Whether at companies like Apple, IDEO, or Disney – or in non-profit organizations, religious groups, or independent designers and photographers – there are shared best practices that we can all learn from.

For example, when it comes to everyday operations and workflow, admired leaders in the creative world have found ways to work with a bias-towards-action. They schedule and measure the outcome of meetings by the actionable nature of the content discussed. When it comes to email and communications, they take an action-oriented approach. And for all of the non-actionable reference material and stuff that we typically file away, they find ways to reduce it.

Very productive creative teams also have a unique approach to brainstorming and idea generation. They view idea generation as a brain-spinning indulgence that must be taken in moderation. It turns out that new ideas are the most likely source of divergence from a mission. Many new businesses and projects fail because a new idea captures fascination without a sober, objective vetting process. Idea generation should be a controlled substance – one that is taken carefully and sparingly. To make ideas happen, a process of discovery, debate, and execution must be established. Teams must also heed Thomas Edison’s famous advice, “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” The way your team spends it's energy should reflect this ratio!

The responsibilities of leadership in a creative world are challenging. We need to question conventional wisdom when it comes to brainstorming and starting new projects. We need to spend time on marketing our strengths and visions rather than depend on circumstance. We need to think differently about how we decide who to hire and engage in our creative pursuits. And we need to share ownership of our ideas and challenge the way we lead others.

In the pursuit to make ideas happen, we encounter many obstacles – some around us and others within us. We must be true to our strengths and weaknesses. And we must accept the humbling truth that ideas cannot happen in isolation. For this reason, we must engage the forces of community and develop our leadership capabilities.

You must take our creative pursuits seriously. Your ideas must be treated with respect because their importance truly does extend beyond your own fascinations and ambitions. Every living person benefits from a world that is enriched with ideas made whole. Ideas that are made to happen through your passion, commitment, self-awareness, and informed pursuit.

I have committed my professional life to helping well-intentioned creative people and teams lead their ideas to fruition. As such, I am honored to be involved with Catalyst. I very much look forward to meeting many of you and sharing some of my research and best-practices for making ideas happen at this year’s Catalyst Conference in October.

3 Comments »

1. Awesome stuff, I only wish Catalyst was on my radar before this week.  Next year its going to be my priority to come to this amazing event and experience the incredible teaching that happens there every year! 

   I appreciate articles like this, it challenges me to look at life differently and to go for something different, better, ............. to be stretched…..

   Jeff

   Comment by Jeff Jackson - Sep 10, 2009 @ 09:27 AM

2. Great thoughts about the tough things leaders deal with. The meeting room is good but I like the idea of community and engageing the forces to accomplish the tasks, we must get the ideas shared and bought into by all if they are to bear fruit.

   Great article
   Thanks, pastor in Mississippi

   Comment by kerry collins - Sep 16, 2009 @ 04:32 PM

3. Amazing how God works.  Just this morning I was speaking to my spiritual mentor about the fact that I am unfulfilled with my current career choice and daily work.  I have shared with him numerous times a calling I’ve felt from the Lord in relation to a specific idea.

   Then, for the first time in months I come to catalystspace.com and find this article.  This offers great motivation to begin the process.

   Thanks,

   Joe Mac

   Comment by Joe McCollum - Sep 22, 2009 @ 01:59 PM

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