Converge Often...
Welcome back!
Last week, I wrote about the concept of, "Diverge Sometimes."
The keyword there was #sometimes.
It's good to get messy.
It feels good.
It feels productive.
But.
Errr....
Hmmm...
Roll with me on this one for a moment, because I might be hitting a third rail here [ #sorrynotsorry and please repost this article if I am hitting a nerve or you want to remind "someone" ].
The Problem: I Just Create Ideas
This week, imagine you and I are at a grocery store together. Wandering the aisles and having some deep conversations.
You can decide which grocery store and what aisle we are on right now. What weird thing are we looking for together? Use your imagination :-).
ME: "Hey, how are you?"
YOU: "I. Just. Create. Ideas."
I know a few people who get paid to come up with new ideas.
Do you?
And this would be a killer fun job (to me at least); however, out here in the real world, if you and I just come up with idea after idea after idea after idea...
Guess what will happen?
If we are NOT getting paid to do "just" that as our main job (for someone -- usually some organization that is not correlating your paycheck to delivering actual value to your customers and end users), it can / will get you into soooo much trouble.
Spoiler Alert: I am not digging on people who come up with ideas for a living. If this "person" is you, cool! Idea away. And. PLEASE remember, eventually, for you to stay employed -- ideas have to turn into reality somehow. Someone is doing that.
So.
Create an idea factory of ideas.
Diverge.
Have discussions.
领英推荐
SOMETIMES.
Otherwise....
The Actionable Tip:?Converge Often
Converge often.
But Mike (you are thinking), last week you recommended that we diverge -- come up with new ideas.
Sometimes.
Yep.
Notice the difference?
Disagree with me? Let me know why.
Agree with me? Let me know why too.
Your Next Step...
Messy time is over (from last week and the idea factory being filled up).
It's time to wipe the slate clean, clear out the idea factory, and deliver something.
Converge.
Pick ONE thing.
Do it.
[ even if it's wrong -- hmm... some foreshadowing of a future article here maybe! ]
Here is the part where?I need YOU to contribute YOUR actionable tip?for others who are reading this short article....
Please share?ONE?actionable tip in the comments below about how "converging often" has helped YOU become even more productive by doing less.
Convergence time.
Go.
Focus. #deliver
Thank you.
Proactively disruptive leader who unleashes creativity and uses the power of gamification for good | President @USDLA
1 年Stephen R Donaldson wrote: "Without?order,?nothing?exists:?without?chaos,?nothing?grows.." Yeah, others have said similar things, but that's the quote that I remember. All of us have a default setting something along the divergent-convergent scale and finding a teammate, collaborator, who falls along the other side of the scale can be great for both getting things done and keeping things fresh and innovative. One of the best projects I work on is one where my mildly in the box defaults keep my out of the box (idea hamster) co-creator on track.