Anatomy of a good idea...
The? anatomy of a good idea….
I get ideas all the time and I can’t stop my brain from continually coming up with new ones.
I’ve figured out what stimulates my thinking to come up with new ideas and its a combination of what my eyes see and what my ears here. So for me, its important to put myself in new or different situations with new / different people to see and hear different things. This has been tougher during COVID and various lockdowns in Ontario but courtesy of the web and Linkedin there are lots of options for learning about new stuff.?
Putting myself in "intake" mode in and of itself adds to the creative juices for idea stimulation which creates the next challenge for me.
How to prioritize, sift through or otherwise gauge if an idea is worthy of running with and devoting energy or setting it aside.? ? Fortunately, there is someone much smarter than me that came up with a tool to help with his.? Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach (?) came up with a tool called The Impact Filter (?) which provides a great resource for idea guys like me to slow down, think about some key concepts and ideally come to a conclusion about whether it makes sense to pursue or is it time to drop the idea and move on.
I haven’t yet established the discipline to do this enough and/or apply it every time I have a “great” idea but it increasingly it is in-grained in my psyche and if and when I pull out the Impact Filter(?) I know its getting serious.
The Impact Filter(?) covers the following;
A recent example of idea generation for me went something like this...
I was on LinkedIn and saw a broker listing a 58 unit apartment building in a market we’re active in. ? I was able to get the property address from the listing and from that I was able to research when the last sale was (2013) and more importantly who the buyer was.????
I then researched the owner to see what deals he had been active in as a buyer or seller using a tool that tracks this activity for the past 26 years in the market I serve.
Turns out owner is also a developer and active with some significant projects in this particular market including a student residence building that is right next door to one of my recent projects. ? I have been struggling a bit with how to best promote this recent project (smart meter on isolated cold water feed to 64 unit - 320 bed student dormitory) and increase awareness amongst others that might have similar problems and/or benefit from our solution. ? I have initiated a “warm call” to the owner / principal through LinkedIn and company website and will go digging for a direct introduction from the Listing Broker.
In context of the Impact Filter (TM) and my business of helping owners manage water in their buildings this would look like this…
Impact Filter (?) by Strategic Coach (?)??
Project
Successful Project Replication (Smart Meter Install in Student Residence)
Purpose
Increase sales of this Smart? Meter solution? in a specific market where learning and experience of recent project can be applied to the benefit of many?
Importance
Generate project revenue that leans more heavily on qualified partners that contributed to the initial project.? Create time to pursue strategic by-products of initial project which translates into lower insurance costs for owner(s).
Desired Outcome
Create relationships with prospective customers and/or existing that are in the same space and are not aware of the problem and/or solution. Present this idea and/or other water ideas to prospects that are struggling with or challenged by cost containment.
Best Case if Action is Taken
New projects for new customers in existing market where we have proven track record. Get market feedback on priority of water loss as a problem they want to solve.
Worst Case if Action is NOT Taken
Revenue expansion from this new capability (gained on initial project) is not realized. ? Benefit and awareness of this solution is limited to word of mouth and/or relies solely on good will of recent client.?
What has to be true when the Project is Completed
Sound good ? There are a ton of strategic by-products that come out applying this approach.
In a perfect world, I am increasingly applying this discipline to
A. get myself out of the weeds of the day to day;
B. regularly identify WHO's in my network to bring in and/or hand stuff of to;
C. regularly engage with more significant ways to support my clients and prospects to help them increase the value they create for themselves and / or their stakeholders
Summary
I naturally am an IDEA guy. A process to support the the review, application and implementation helps me immensely to focus, delegate and ideally help more people with less individual effort.
This process also creates accountability with myself and my team to ensure we're clear on what needs to get done, by when and by who.
If you're curious about;
Reach out to me at [email protected] or 416-625-7801
Bob Langlois
Direct: 416-625-7801
www.water-controls.com