Written by: Vickie Sullivan | July 28, 2016
How to Pick Your Best Ideas
What I love about brilliant people: They have so many fabulous ideas. The problem with that, though: How can you pick out the most profitable option? What is worth spending months promoting?
One word: benchmarks. A benchmark is a standard you use to measure or judge the quality of your ideas. I think of it as a strategic gauntlet that my ideas have to go through before I invest time and energy to implement. Here are a couple benchmarks I use on my clients:
• What will it take to get this idea to market? Many of us don’t really understand what we are signing up for. Here’s why it’s difficult to see clearly: We fall in love with an idea so hard that we underestimate what it will take to bring that brilliance to the marketplace. It’s just human nature. So, I use my fresh eyes as a reality check.
Related: Great Example of Expanding a Platform
• Does the above journey take the best advantage of their gifts? The best path forward is the one that takes full advantage of our talents. Unfortunately, it’s too tempting to get blinded by our environment. An example from a past client: One speaker wanted to implement the same business model as his hero. The problem was he would have to hire expensive talent to pull off what was easy for his mentor to accomplish. Just because something works for one of us doesn’t mean it will work for all of us.
Many of us have more ideas than time (and effort) to implement them. If you have that problem, step back and create benchmarks first. If you have standards to measure your ideas against, you’ll make better decisions.
Other Resources You May Like:
- A Strategy to Scale Up Your Thought Leadership
- How to Determine Market Feasibility and Direction for All Your Bright Ideas