Ideas are a Dime a Dozen

Now don't get mad, but I see it every day...someone has a great idea, (heck, I get 100's daily), and nothing comes of it. Hence the saying, "Ideas are a dime a dozen, but the people who act on them are priceless!"

I'm talking about really good ideas. Not the ones that when shared are greeted with a groan or doused with a wave of reality. I'm talking about the kind of ideas that others embrace and many times offer to help turn into reality. But more often than not, the idea or ideas are never put into action. This seems particularly true in personal situations or ones where people are volunteering their time, but it surely happens every day in our business lives.

So what's the biggest problem? Complexity. Complexity, over thinking and need for perfection are real idea killers. They stop us in our tracks, many times before we get started. Remember, if we think it's going to be hard, we're right. If we think it's going to be easy, we're right. If we think it's going to take a long time, we're right. And if we think we can get it done, we're right. The brain is totally in control. No way, you say. Yep. Of course there are mitigating circumstances, but in the end you and your brain have total control. So my suggestion is do what your mom and dad told you not to...take the easy way. Not the easy way out...the easy way in. The easiest way always works no matter how complicated the problem or great the idea. It just has to be broken down into easy pieces. It's the old adage, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

So take something in your life that has been dragging on, or you're having problems completing, and try to simplify it. Forget perfection.

Here's some thoughts to keep you on track: (And no, you're not going to become a slacker, or as my husband and I like to say, an "at leaster".)

1. Keep the scope as simple as possible. Break things down piece by piece. Be happy each and every time a piece gets done. Be brutal with scope creep.

2. Practice 'Good Enough'. Perfectionism is the enemy of completion. Nitpick and worry about getting it "just right", and you'll never get it done. Having something "done" is better than not done. There's always room and time to improve.

3. Kill extra "stuff". Go for the biggest impact with the least amount of effort. When you're tempted to add bells and whistles and complicate things, remember software users typically use less than 10% of an application's "features". That will depress you into saying enough is enough.

4. Make it public, quick. Your goal should be to get your project/idea/dream in some working form out to your customers/readers/public as soon as possible. This is where the rubber meets the road and you can adjust based on the input of many. You'll end up with something much better than you ever hoped. Your project/idea/dream will become others project/idea/dream and the impact is exponential.

Ok, so help me out here. I'm still compiling my list of process and technology superstars and I'm a bit lonely on my blog. Click here to communicate and help me make my idea of streamlining how we do things bigger.