Learn to cultivate best-of-class ideas, then act on them. It’s a community (planetary!) service
I have a confession to make.
I feel like I’m doing penance.
(Okay, if not penance, then at least balancing the scales a little.)
And I’m doing it head-on, fighting the good battle of what I’m calling ‘Crap Creep.’
Crap Creep.
It’s a good term, isn’t it? Instantly, you know what I mean.
Really. Look over there…see that pile of crap? Old receipts, unsolicited mail, flyers, packaging of all kinds and oh lord, your collection of crap is really complete if any Styrofoam peanuts have taken up residence.
Let’s not go too far into the realm of the crap on TV, in the news, or flapping around in the yard…it’s everywhere, including, I think, online.
Online, the crap has crept so high I shudder to try and visualize it.
And I think to myself, what if we were to give up, roll over on our proverbial backs and submit to all this crap…?
What if there wasn’t that one favorite (and critically acclaimed) show each season…
That stellar new talent, be it artist, singer, poet, physicist?
What fresh hell would that be, eh?
Well, I’m not ready to roll over. In fact, that’s where my penance comes in.
You see, I’ve realized something about my book, Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, published more than 5 years ago.
It could be argued, and it has in fact, this very night over dinner, that that book has brought home the message of packaging, productizing, formatting and repurposing so well to so many people, that a visitor from another planet could easily get the impression ‘ideas and content are incidental, and even irrelevant.’
(I didn’t in fact write that, but an error of omission is still an error worth correcting, when possible.)
Effective today, I’m taking my stand on the other side of the conversation.
Think. Just think of one great thought that has changed your world view. Not even inventions, but thoughts. Thoughts like –
We become most like the 5 people we spend the most time with.
Love is the answer.
The world is awash in money.*
We must be the change we want to see in the world.**
Opportunities don’t knock, they whisper, so shut up and listen.***
The thing is, every single one of us has great thoughts, but the world is so noisy, and our brains so busy fending off the infocrap that the gems don’t even register before they fall to the floor of our skull, never to be seen again.
Over, and over and over.
What if, instead of remarking ‘How fascinating!’ it is that we only use SUCH A TINY PERCENT of our brains… we actively worked to seize territory and activate new gray matter a quadrant at a time?
What thoughts could we come up, ourselves? Together? As a country or planet?
People who’ve learned to pay attention to their best thoughts, and act on them, are doing a community service. Strike that, make it a planetary service. They should get paid stipends, or get reductions on their taxes, if they aren’t already talented entrepreneurs. Maybe free gas for a year?
What if Tim Berners-Lee had received a giant pile of junk mail the day he was meant to think the thought that led to the invention of the internet, for example? I wouldn’t be typing this, you wouldn’t be reading it, and that certainly qualifies as a tragedy!
Even the New York Times is getting in on the act, reporting that thinking critically – analytically and originally, bearing in mind opposing vantage points – has begun to find its way into MBA courses. Thank goodness for small miracles.
So what’s the average, ordinary business owner to do about all of this?
1. Cultivate opinions.
In a me-too world of ‘who cares’ and ‘whatever he’s having,’ individuals who speak their mind clearly, and have something in that mind worth sharing, will become the standouts. They are the ones who’ll be heard in the marketing din, and attract evangelists.
Let me put it this way: ‘I think it’s an excellent idea to practice having strong opinions, starting at dinner parties. It allows you to build a cultivating-opinion muscle that will transfer to your business.’
2. Say NO to ‘infocrap.’
Consuming it, certainly, straight away. But also creating it. What project are you working on this week and what is the real value of it? What will it contribute to your clients? If you’re not sure, you’re either uncertain about communicating the value (a cool thing, because NEW ways of generating value are born every day and sometimes they sit just outside the realm of articulation).
Or, you’re not sure it contributes anything and it’s just crap. Taking a stand against Crap Creep is a great start. It frees you up to think those great thoughts again.
3. Birth something new of value.
Entrepreneurialism at its best is an evolutionary urge. (There’s that opinion thing again.) As business owners, we create the future. With every offering, every home-study kit, every retreat or live event, we are expressing our ourselves, and yes, our humanity.
When we look at thought leaders among us – those entrepreneurs who’re doing something different, combining unexpected things, approaching things from upside-down, solving an unspoken problem
….we get galvanized, don’t we? We know when something exciting is afoot. We’re attracted, we want to be part of it, we want to spend money experiencing it more. And we get hope. We’re reminded that we, too, could create something that great.
Creating something of real value is an act of love and commitment to our clients, and a nod of respect, to ourselves. It’s worth it, even when it feels like it’s against all the odds.
*Abraham-Hicks **Mahatma Gandhi ***Thomas Leonard
Andrea, I’ve been reading your blog for a while. Thanks for the great information. Seth Godin is someone who has definitely forged the way in creating innovative products/ideas. But something that I would love to read about is the “How To” process. Thought leadership is a great term, but I have often had self-limiting beliefs about my ability to be creative. I’m actually currently writing an article on innovation, and would love to hear your thoughts in a response or future post