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. If you move to a neighborhood you 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 to start implementing your idea, regardless of how good it is. Deadlines are a necessary evil in many 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 quick Action List. An Action List is a specific type of to-do list. It doesn't include any items that involve planning, 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
