“If you want to show up and be seen in your life, you’re going to get your ass kicked.”
I recently finished a book by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn entitled Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric that Matters. The book talks a lot about ideas and their power. The authors go to great lengths to explore ways to nurture ideas, how to work in teams to enhance ideas, and how to turn ideas into reality. They also talk about how organizations and leaders can act to nurture ideas instead of quashing them and the creativity that creates them. It’s that creativity that is essential to a vibrant, innovative enterprise.
I thought a lot about this book and its “ideas” while at the American Bar Association TechShow this past week. Lots of ideas flowing out of the exhibit floor and from an incredible array of thought-provoking speakers and commentators. As always, it’s a great show. It’s great because it’s powered by ideas and the wherewithal of idea makers to push their ideas often in the face of unrelenting pressure.
Ideas
The truth is nothing happens without ideas. To solve any problem, you have to have ideas. In most cases, there needs to be a plethora of ideas, some you might think are good, some bad, some you think will work, and even some you think won’t. That’s part of the process of getting a good result.
Utley and Klebahn make clear that you won’t get the best result without this kind of brainstorming process, either individually or as a group. I agree. I approach any problem by first writing down as many solutions (ideas) as possible. I try to take those ideas and work with a team to come up with more ideas and to
