Cultivating new ideas is really a three-step process.
First: Clear some space to make room for growth
Second: Feed your brain
Third: Ask the right questions to draw out the ideas
Which leaves just the final step: Figure out what to do with all those ideas.
Habaneros are my favorite pepper. We grow them in our garden every year. Now if you’ve ever tasted a Habanero, you know that they must be used in moderation. The one time I made the mistake of taking a bite of one, I suffered the consequences of a severely scorched palate for hours. Once while sitting in the Senor Frog’s bar in Nassau, I saw this poor drunk kid enter a “Jalepeno” eating contest not realizing the pepper he was slipped was a Habanero. He didn’t show his pain at the time, but I’m sure the hangover he had the next day was memorable.
So in my case, there are four uses for the cultivated Habaneros:
- Discard the ones that aren’t perfect.
- Keep some for use right now.
- Pickle a bunch for use throughout the winter and spring.
- Give some to friends and neighbors.
Your new ideas can be managed in similar fashion:
Take a look at the massive amount of new ideas and discard the ones (for now) that are too expensive, impractical, or just too outlandish to use right now.
Grab the best ones and put them into use right now. Think about who you need to influence to get the ideas approved and surround yourself with the expertise needed to get them moving.
Develop a database of some sort (I use Evernote) to keep those good but not ready for implementation ideas readily accessible. I keep a weekly blog and have now since 2007. There are some weeks I have more than enough ideas and so I’ll store the extra ones for the weeks where I just draw a blank.
Give some of those ideas away. If you’re mentoring someone, this would be a good opportunity to offer an idea and let your mentee run with it.
Creativity seems to be in shorter supply these days. Don’t allow yourself to follow this trend. Take time this week to put your strategy in action to cultivate new ideas
