Why don't your dreams become reality?

I'm an idea person.  Some would say I'm a creative visionary, others might say a foolish dreamer.  Maybe you are like me with visions and ideas floating around in your head just waiting to implement.  Maybe you're also like me in that you've never had a "bad idea" in your life.  In other words, idea people thrive on new ideas and, almost always, believe that each idea is the best thing since slice bread. Why, then, do most of your ideas never come to fruition? Maybe the two best answers to that question are a) They weren't supposed to or b) they weren't given enough attention.

Have you ever been in a brainstorming session run amuck?  Idea after idea gets thrown out and the process keeps going and going.  Everything from the impractical, the irrelevant to the absurd is posted on the board.  Everyone's ideas are valued as equal.  The whole goal of this exercise is to help the team break free from conventional thinking to possibly stumble upon one great idea, or at least a general solution to the problem.  Free-thinking is a great place to be for awhile, but stay there too long and everyone's brain will be mush.  Why?  Because ideas are ultimately only useful if they have an application.  The group may come up with tons of great ideas that just don't seem to address the problem at hand.

Questions to ask for your idea.

1. Has this already been tried before? How? Was it successful and why?  Do some research to find out if anyone else has already done this.  That will save you time and frustration on the implementation.  Idea people always think that they are the first to think of something, when in reality, a hundred people have probably already "run it up the flagpole."  Find those people and learn from them.  Chances are they are just as excited about the idea.
2. Does this idea have application now? The important thing here is to write down your idea and try to find an immediate need for it.  There may be a market for your idea, but it may not be apparent at the moment.  If there appears to be a need, then do your research to confirm it.  If not, file it for later.
3. Why doesn't anyone else believe in my idea? This is a hard question to answer. People are probably used to hearing about your latest and greatest idea, only to never see it become a reality.  They get excited at first, but soon learn that you also have a hundred other ideas.  Maybe your idea is too big for them to grasp, or maybe they've just learned to tune you out because they're tired of your idea ADHD.  You may be able to spawn ideas faster than salmon eggs, but you need to learn where to spend your "selling" energy.  Not every idea is worth putting in more than a minute of thought.  Every once in awhile, however, an idea is.  It's there that you spend your social capital and rally others to your cause.
4. Did I invest enough time in my last great idea? Don't make the mistake of going from idea to idea, only to see them all fail.  Current and effective programs or products shouldn't always have to compete with the new ones for oxygen within the organization.  Some "failed" ideas were great, except that they weren't given enough attention or resources for a long enough time.  Ideas in an organization are like bricks that are built one upon another to make a stronger and stronger overall structure.  New ideas are not always better, they're just more exciting - for awhile.

Keep dreaming.  Keep brainstorming.  Keep visioning.  Just try not to drown in a pool of your unrealized dreams.  A good idea is worth putting energy into.  Very few ideas are worth pouring a lifetime into. But when they come along, they can change the world.

I would love to hear your thoughts or personal experience why ideas aren't realized?

When to Throw In The Towel On An Idea

John had a great idea for a new church program that would reach new people and impact their lives.  He was going to do something new in a church that hadn't seen anything truly new happen in years.  He wanted to start a clothes closet to serve the needs of the poor and possibly even train some as volunteers/employees.

Over the course of a few months, he did his homework, talked to people about the idea, gauged interest level and planned the project.  He researched other similar projects in other churches and, based on best practices and examples, he designed a doable program that would fit both his congregation and the needs of the community.  It was an uphill battle to get people on board with his idea, but eventually his fellow church members agreed that a clothes closet was a good idea.  He got the green light to go ahead to recruit volunteers, rent a small space and advertise the need for donations.

Things began to really move forward as more people found out about the program.  People donated their clothing, so much so that he soon needed an additional storage space.  Little by little, people were coming from the community to shop as well.  While they never broke even on their expenses, they got a lot of attention.  Everyone believed that this was good thing.  After a year of operation, however, John was frustrated.  The store wasn't selling enough to keep up with expenses and donated clothing was also piling up.  He found himself running the store most of the time as volunteers weren't consistent.  The church was also beginning to think that this wasn't such a good idea, but was struggling for some time to figure out what to do about it.  They were still subsidizing part of the rental costs due to inadequate revenue.  An unspoken tension was growing between John and his supporters.

If you are an entrepreneurial type, then you know what this feels like.  You have probably started projects like this that sounded good but didn't achieve the expected results.  That time of uncertainty about a new business or a new program is a tough place to be in.

Entrepreneurial Traps

There are several traps that founders, entrepreneurs and funders fall into when a program begins to fail.

1. Believing that the idea is too good to fail, and will eventually work if given more time.
2. Believing that we can always just work harder to make this work.
3. Believing that the problem is lack of promotion.  "We just need to sell this to more people."
4. Getting stuck in the emotion of not wanting to pull the plug because of who is involved.
5. Substituting antidotal stories for hard facts.

How to know when to throw in the towel?

Good Idea - Bad Implementation

Most people driven by an idea often believe that the idea itself is strong enough to carry the day, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  Their passion for the idea/project is contagious and people who care about them don't want to crush their spirit by not supporting it.  Creators of good ideas aren't always the best process thinkers that can design a successful venture of program.

One important thing to remember is that good ideas don't normally work that well the first time around. Most ideas take several attempts before they actually work as expected.  Many times the idea isn't at fault, but the implementation of the idea.  If things aren't working as expected after a period of time, the plan should be evaluated and tweaked.  If results are still not there, the plan should be scrapped and a new one put in its place that allows for new leadership, systems, etc.

If the project still isn't working as expected, it may be time to pull the plug, regroup and retry in a different way.  New projects/ideas have a greater probability of failure than of success.  Remember that failure will happen, but it's best to fail as quickly and as cheaply as possible.  If it's still a good idea after failure, then go back to planning for another attempt when possible, but don't allow one failure to ruin the entrepreneurial spirit to keep flowing.

Bad Idea

As an entrepreneur or starter, one of the hardest things to discern is when an idea is actually good or not.  The idea must be then vetted by data, research and throwing it against enough walls to see where it sticks.  If you come to the conclusion that your idea is a bad one, it shouldn't be hard to let it go and throw in the towel.  Probably the hardest thing for an idea person to admit is that his/her idea wasn't a good one.  Remember that, no matter how far down the road you are in implementing a bad idea, it's never too late to quit.  The longer you run with a bad idea, the harder it will be pull the plug due to momentum.  If you don't pull the plug, you will delay spending your energy on implementing a good one.

Conclusion

Last week I saw a boxing trainer throw in the towel while his son was getting pummeled in the last round.  After the fight he had to spend some time calming down his son, who had never experienced defeat in the ring as a pro.  I'm sure his advice is pretty much the same as I would give.  There will always be another fight, but this one wasn't worth dying over.

Finding Creative Solutions to Fulfill Your Vision

Do you wish that you had the freedom to be more creative in your position, organization or ministry?

Maybe you feel that your current reality doesn't permit the kind of creativity that God has called you to, and you may be getting frustrated by the constraints that you are working under.  I believe that every creative person feels the same way about his or her situation most of the time.  Such is the nature of the highly creative spirit.  We always imagine more than we can actually create.  Most people say "If I had more money to buy the technology, the tools or had the time I would be able to create more."  In a ministry or an organization, we complain that we don't have the freedom or control of adequate resources in our position to be the most creative.  Creativity is not something that is solely in the domain of the arts, but is what drives businesses to expand, organizations to discover solutions to social problems and ministries to bring the message of Christ to those who need to hear it. 

The creative tension between Your Vision and your Current Reality.

Everyone has constraints in their current situation.  Maybe their boss doesn't allow them to deviate from the standard ways of doing things, or maybe they don't have the time be creative due to their administrative duties.  Being creative doesn't equal working without constraint.  Most of the time, those who are most creative are those who have learned to excel even within their limiting situation.  Peter Senge, in his book "The Fifth Discipline" uses the illustration of a rubber band pulling you towards your vision and another one holding you back that represents your current reality.  

Take the people of Nigeria, where I currently am, for example.  The biggest complaint of the young people here is the lack of opportunity to use their skills and talents in the job market.  They undergo a lot of training, but rarely have the chance to put it to use.  Even so, Nigerians are a people bursting with creativity.  They have had to create ways to get things done within their limiting constraints that you or I might not even think of.  Granted, some of the creative ways are illegal, but that's not the norm for those leading ministries that I have known.  Because their reality is so constraining, their creative energy has become heightened and laser focused on solutions.  

The people of Mexico are also some of the most creative people I have known.  Again, put in their circumstances of poverty and limited opportunity, many of us in North America wouldn't be able to accomplish as much as they do.  For those with severe limitations of opportunity and resources, a hyper creativity is required just to put food on the table.  People learn to make the most of their current situation.  Again, creativity is often fueled best by necessity.

How do you begin to be more creative in your current situation?  Here are some ideas:

1.  Spend time defining what your desired future is (vision).   

Most people are not focusing their creative energy because they don't know what they are creating for.  If you've ever known someone who is ADHD, you know what I am talking about.  They have so much energy and  imagination that they are bouncing off the walls without accomplishing much of anything.  Creative people without a defined vision are much like this.  You must spend time defining and refining your vision so that all your energy can go to creating bridges to that reality.  This takes time and focus, but is time well spent.  If I am not personally defining and refining my vision for the future, then my energy gets easily dissipated and I become frustrated.  As a leader of an organization, if I don't have a clear picture of the future we are trying to create, those that I lead will also become frustrated and our energy and resources won't produce as much as they could.

2.  Define your current reality.  

It is important that you spend time defining your current reality.  Start with the assets at your disposal.  These may be the relationships you have, the authority you are given, the resources you have access to, the talents you have and the tools you have to work with.  Most people have more resources at their disposal than they actually need to achieve their vision.  They only imagine that they are limited by what they don't have and their potential is never fully realized.  

For example, you may believe that you personally need a new computer or new software to be able to be more creative.  Ask yourself if you are currently maximizing what you already have.  Most people have more power in their computers than they will ever use.  I have seen some of the most creative work done by individuals who are using technology that is almost laughable.  In defining your current reality, you must ask the question if you have maximized your current resources.  If not, use what you have at your disposal and create new ways to accomplish the same goal as or more efficiently than someone who doesn't have the same resource limitations.  Begin to see every resource that you have as potential piece to the equation to solve the problem you are trying to overcome.  Write each resource down that can be used to accomplish your vision. 

3.  Create solutions

Here is where you put all your creativity to work.  Based on your current reality and your desired future, you will spend time brainstorming creative solutions to get you from point A to point B to point C, etc.  Begin a time of free-thinking where you and those working with you can imagine solutions to whatever you want to accomplish.  Allow any idea to flow without first questioning the "how."  The problem with most people is that they don't allow enough time to imagine new solutions before shooting them down with the "why not."  Many of the proposed solutions may be small steps required to move you to bigger goals, and still others may be too lofty and unreasonable to every be practicle.  Begin to sort through your ideas to select the ones that best achieve your goals in the most efficient manner possible.

Being creative doesn't always mean that every solution has to originate with you. Research solutions that others have developed that may fit your situation, or be tweaked to accomplish your goals. This normally means modifying a current solution to fit your unique problem.  Apple Computers, for example, didn't first create most of the technology that it sells.  It is, however, an extremely creative company that uses its capacity to merge multiple technologies in a way that maximizes the end-user experience.  The inventor of a particular solution may only see one application for what he/she has created while someone else may create even more applications to solve different problems or to be marketed to a different consumer base.  The bigger the problem that you are trying to solve, or the bigger the risk that's involved should determine the amount of time spent in creating the best solution possible.  Spend some time analyzing the pros and cons of your preferred solution for all areas that will be affected in your organization or your overall plan.  Again, be creative, but don't use creativity as a license to do something stupid and cause problems in other areas that could and should be avoided.

4.  Fill in the gaps 

When you have created plausible solutions and maximized your current assets, you can now begin to define where you still have gaps.  In doing so, you should also set goals for attaining them.  It may be connections to certain individuals, time, skills, money, tools and equipment that you need, etc.  Think of creative ways to fill in those gaps.  If you can't afford what you need, consider borrowing or trading services.  Again, the gaps you are trying to fill are primarily for the purpose of fulfilling your current vision.  There are many low-cost ways to access resources that you need.  Collaboration is a way to think creatively and leverage the things that you have for the things that you need.  In seeking to fill gaps, collaboration is one of the highest forms of creativity.  Two organizations or individuals attempting to accomplish the same or different goals and may each have resources that the other needs.  Those resources can and should be leveraged for the sake of fulfilling your vision.  You don't always have to purchase or own something in order to use it to fill in the gaps.

5. Execute the Plan

Without creating a plan and actually executing it, your best solution won't be fully utilized.  Enough said?

To summarize, being creative doesn't always require more resources.  Maximize your creative potential with what you currently have at your disposal.  If you always wait until you have something that you "need" to proceed, then you may never move forward towards your vision.  Creativity is at its best when there is a proper tension between vision and reality.  Learn to embrace this tension and use it as a tool to catapult your creativity to new heights.