What are the most common obstacles to executing an idea, and how can you overcome them?

Communicate your vision with stakeholders to get feedback, this will help achieve more success with buy-in, and instead of resistance later on will create champions of your idea to help promote its success.

Additionally, seeking feedback and input from others can help clarify your vision and provide different perspectives. First, prioritize and focus on the essential resources needed to get started. Identify the most critical aspects of your idea and allocate resources accordingly. Next, explore alternative options for obtaining resources. Lastly, be resourceful and creative in finding solutions. By thinking outside the box, you can find innovative ways to overcome resource constraints. Break down your idea into smaller tasks or milestones that are less intimidating. Celebrate progress and build momentum gradually, which will help alleviate fear and boost confidence.

Most ideas can be boiled down to 5 key steps. Make it as simple as possible, even if it's complicated beyond complicated. I find a graphic works well for this. I like to flow chart out ideas to see the gaps. A lot of times it is just an "IDE" and you have to really work to get it to a full "IDEA" Think about how people will experience it. Share it with the "right" others who can add value and show you what is unique. Then think about lean canvas, and pitch deck slides that tell the story of what your idea is.

Without a vision, what is unifying our overall direction and all our goals? Having a clear and ambitious vision allows focus and engagement to flourish. It’s not only a powerful tool for alignment and achievement but also for driving positive change.

A vision statement is very important for an idea. It defines our aspirations. But for a clear vision, we need to reflect, brainstorm, and articulate our ideas.

When we want to be creative, we need some limitations; otherwise, it's very difficult to create something innovative or exciting. Limitations focus our minds and ideas on new and sometimes groundbreaking approaches. Using limitations in your favor to achieve more is one way of reimagining how we view limited resources.

Additionally, you can look for ways to collaborate or partner with others who have the resources you lack. It's also important to be resourceful and creative in finding alternative solutions or workarounds. Look for cost-effective alternatives, explore free or open-source tools, and consider repurposing existing resources or finding unique ways to make the most of what you have. Furthermore, developing your skills and knowledge in areas where you are lacking can also help overcome limited resources. Finally, it's crucial to stay focused and disciplined in the face of limited resources. Prioritize your efforts and activities based on their impact and importance, and avoid spreading yourself too thin.

Evaluate possible partnerships with parties that can provide resources in exchange for support accomplishing their goals. Another useful technique is outsourcing, in todays economy many services can be outsourced helping companies reduce their fixed costs.

I always look for budget-neutral resources. After working with hundreds of organizations, I have never not found what is needed! Regardless if it is a non-profit, start-up, small business, or legacy company, there is "gold there in them hills." Your job is to mine for it." Once you get crystal clear on your vision, it's a hop, skip, and a jump to finding what you need. Underutilized equipment, staff, and space. Seasonal workers, clients, interns, and borrowed workers. Over and underperforming units, new partners, contingency or targeted funding that can be redirected quickly (not always easily). Critical here is for it to fit the mission, so all decision-makers can see the genius in your efforts to use old resources in new ways.

Also showing what you have already achieved without approved resources so far is the single best argument to get money. Only the real innovators build prototypes and MVPs and generally find ways how to use what they have available.

Overcoming resistance to change is a formidable challenge in the pursuit of transforming ideas into reality. Whether it's the inner doubts and fears that can undermine our confidence or the external skepticism and barriers posed by regulations or norms, successfully navigating this obstacle is crucial. To prevail, ensure that you cultivate a growth mindset, embracing change as an opportunity for learning and growth. An important part is that constructive feedback becomes a vital tool, creating a feedback loop for refining ideas and building resilience. Persuasion also plays a pivotal role when facing external resistance, appealing to both logic and emotions while demonstrating empathy and active listening.

Resistance to change is natural but most of the times, it is because of wrongly implemented change, which created negative impression of any new change in the system. Hence, while implementing change management, it is important to understand from impacted stakeholders about any past instances of failed change efforts. The reasons for failure and the impact at that time, would be a learning for implementing change better in future.

People might not engage in change because they are tired of ever-changing environment. What helps to make people more active in change is (contraintuitive exercise): What will stay the same/where the process or product or way we work will not be affected by change. It provides “solid ground” from which people are willing to take off more actively:)

Using tools to understand the resistance and the "single points of failure" grows your management agility. What puts you over the top and breaks through the resistance is the dance. Data, feedback, grit.

There are many great strategies to use, but I mention just two: (1) find the greatest sceptics nad convince them first - once all others see him transformed, it will be much easier, (2) convince informal authorities: in customer related projects it could be for example the best sales people of the organization, who can have authority towards management your idea might increase sales ...

In my experience , collaboration is a direct result of degree of alignment amongst solution stakeholders. The better the alignment, higher the collaboration.

This is where the magic can happen and all the pieces you have been putting in place work together. When you actively seek budget-neutral resources out of your scope or span of control you are building alliances. Unexpected data points emerge to bolster your plan, new partners yield new patterns and thinking and you gain additional language and ways to talk about your idea that resonates with a wider group of stakeholders. Roles and responsibilities become clearer, and expectations seem reachable. Your ability to incorporate what you have learned bolsters your narrative, ideas, and collaborators become more aligned and you gain momentum.

My superpower is that I can quantify anything. Sometimes it's just a tickler system, counting inputs and outputs. Often, I have to measure the number of meetings or conversations held to move toward the outcome. The key here is to document your milestones and the inputs required. The trick to measuring is consistent review, and analysis to notice the trends and outliers to regroup, retool and reframe efforts to move the project forward.

Key part of measurement is to agree on it with stakeholders before projects starts: especially what will be considered optimal and minimal results. What kind of measures are they going to use? Amount of new customers, profits increased, market share ... and what is the scale of change? 50 thousand new customers at least - preferrably 500 000? Average margin increased from 10% to 15% in two years? Push you stakeholders to set their expectations soon.

Expert tip - be intentional with your metrics. Don't measure just to measure and don't just measure "anything". Measure specifically what matters, what will help you move the needle. Identify and include both leading and lagging indicators in your metrics. This way you can see how you are trending TOWARDS the goals and can course correct if you are getting off track, and you can also see what is happening downstream. If you are measuring just the count of something, such as number of calls or meetings, you aren't measuring the quality of them. Dig deeper. If this is an identified behavior that performing will result in goal achievement (i.e. avg 10 calls = 1 sale) then get granular.

Usually this is not a problem of individual employees. I have seen hundreds of corporations and startups and in all of them are many people with a lot ideas. If the company perceives lack of innovation, the problem is always in the culture and leadership that can lead to low motivation to push ideas through, low engagement, or even resignation. Usually more complex intervention is needed.

These are the contexts in which the term innovation is overused. Most executions of innovative ideas and solutions tends to follow predictable pathways. Once there is a proof of concept of an idea/solution, there isnt much need for innovation per se in execution.

Innovation is a new method or way of thinking or approaching a challenge. New ideas require new thinking, it doesn't have to be complicated, it can be applying a solution used in another industry to your product, or simplifying your customer journey. The key to innovation is raising the idea and finding ways to articulate it to others so they can understand your point of view. I am a visual learner and use simple graphics to describe the idea. Talk with people you don't usually cross paths with, as an opportunity to grow and learn and broaden your own perspective that will drive your innovative thinking.

The absence of effective communication can be a substantial barrier to executing an idea. Clear and open communication is vital for aligning team members and stakeholders on the vision, goals, and objectives of the idea. When communication is lacking or unclear, misunderstandings can arise, leading to differing interpretations of the idea's essence or purpose. This can result in misdirected efforts, duplication of work, or even conflicting actions within the team. Additionally, a lack of communication often means a dearth of feedback and collaborative input, hindering the idea from evolving and maturing.

The inability to take an idea through to execution is the strategy to execution gap. One of the pitfalls of execution is mistaking operational effectiveness for strategy. Engaging in activity, no matter how productive, isn't a strategy. Operational effectiveness is replicable. While it can create a competitive advantage, it's often temporary. The first airline to create online check-in created an advantage that lasted a few months.

Lack of individual accountability. If the team members who need to execute have no ownership or stake in the game, whether perceived or actual, of the activities or outcomes you are going to be challenged to successfully execute your programs or ideas. While you are communicating and collaborating, be sure to build in individual ownership and accountability.

Develop a realistic timeline with clear deadlines for each phase of the execution process. Break down tasks into manageable chunks, set priorities, and regularly track progress. Use project management tools to enhance efficiency and accountability.