Ideas do not emerge from nothing, despite the hype, they do not just appear in the shower. They are always a product of a process, conscious or unconscious that connects and curates thoughts, knowledge, ideas from other domains, that can be used in a different way, connected where there was not pre-existing connection, and that have a hook of some sort that does something new. As J.M. Keynes observed: ‘The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones’
Ideas evolve and like any evolution require a set of conditions that encourages individual survival, evolution over time, and eventually success for a very few.
There are 8 ingredients to an idea stew.
Allow Prep time.
Every stew has a base, a foundation upon which the variations can be built. While the base is often obscured, it is nevertheless critical. Taking your time to determine just what you have available for the stew, that will meet the objective, and then organizing the ingredients in the right amounts to be added in a sensible order with any necessary ‘sub-assembly’ being done will improve the outcome. Your idea stew is built in the same way, on a solid foundation with research, and the results of previous trial and error to hand. The more work you put into the prep, the better the outcome usually is.
Have a pot.
To create a stew, you need something in which to hold the ingredients as they cook, each ingredient influencing the others, and the outcome. Making a great stew without the resources necessary, the time, access to ingredients, the right implements, and obviously a kitchen, is pretty challenging, next to impossible. While you do not necessarily need the top of the range, you do need enough to manage the process with some degree of control and efficiency.
Have a deadline.
Usually when preparing a stew, it is for something specific. Dinner tomorrow night, for the weekend when the neighbors come over, or standby for the freezer. Creating an idea stew is no different. The presence of a deadline, perhaps counter-intuitively, creates tension, pressure to get things done, and it focusses attention on the details so things do not get left undone.
Have a picture of the outcome.
The stew you are cooking has to serve a purpose, it has an audience, and the audience shapes the stew. Just as you would not put a pile of chili in a stew your young kids will be eating, you need to ensure that the ingredient in your ideas stew are consistent with the sort of outcome you are seeking.
Be prepared for diversity.
Sometimes, someone who may be a great pastry cook, but knows little about stews can bring across something from his discipline that adds something very different to the stew. While this diversity in the ‘cooks’ often draws comment, the last thing you want if you are looking for a different stew, is to have only those who are used to the current recipe involved in thinking about the options that may be there.
Have a process plan.
Every stew is made in some sort of sequence, separate steps taken in some order, with interdependencies amongst the ingredients. While each step is not necessarily fixed, there are some things that must come before others can be properly done, to get the best outcome. A stew also takes time for the flavor to develop, for the little touches to be added that make all the difference, a pinch of this, a dash of that, all in the context of the plan, to avoid mucking up the result with that little last minute addition.
Creativity: The vital ingredient.
Perhaps a better word is ‘catalyst’ in a commercial context, as there are elements of creativity in all of us. However, for many it has been beaten out by the education we have, the institutions we work for, and at a more base psychological level, some of us are simply not risk-takers, not outside the box thinkers, so are of limited value for creative input. It is in effect the difference between a very good cook, and a chef. Give a great cook a complicated recipe and they will execute it by following both the recipe and the methodology, but give them a limited pantry and no recipe, and many will struggle. By contrast, the chef gets bored with the recipe, and prefers to experiment. The outcomes are varied, most will be disasters, bit a few will be spectacular successes. Businesses succeed by doing the same things over and over, getting better at it all the time. A necessary ingredient of this mix is to get rid of those who cannot follow the process. However, for a business to renew itself, to cook an entirely new stew, it requires those who do not go by the rules, who think outside the box, sometimes outside the postcode. You also need to keep diligent records so that the unexpected great outcome can be reproduced, often a challenge for the creative ones who get bored with the recording when they can be doing. Pity you got rid of them all because they are a pain in the arse to manage!
Ask a friendly customer.
Asking someone you hope might put their hand into their pocket and give you their heard-earned in return for a taste of your stew seems to be a good idea at some point before you commit to the expensive launch. Generally, the earlier the better, and the more informed and critical their opinion of your evolving stew, the better.
