How can I generate winning ideas to start my own business? Eddie blurted out hotly during one of my speaking engagements. The event was organized by a publicly-quoted company as part of their change management programs, preparatory to disengaging staff due to redundancy.
The reason for Eddie's question is obvious, and so is my answer. Gesturing towards the 50+ middle managers in the hall, I replied, "Eddie, look around you". The answer was baffling to him, but he let it rest, until later. He cornered me during lunch, and repeated his question. I was delighted, and explained to him that even though generating business ideas is so very important to starting a new business, equally important is the process through which those ideas are created, validated and implemented. I sat down with Eddie in what he later confessed to be the most impactful and eye-opening session of his career. I listed out what I consider the best check-list for generating business ideas to him. They are:
- Gather raw materials
- Set tasks for the sub-conscious mind
- Separate analyzing ideas from generating ideas
- Think and rest
- Generate many ideas, and choose the best for immediate implementation
- Have fun
- Believe and desire.
Years ago, when I was learning to sell life insurance, a co-trainee, Adaku taught me a business lesson - Business is everywhere, and you only need to see it. He made a total of N12,000 from 12 trainees within the 5 days sales training. During a recess, Adaku went round placing 2 neck ties on each of our writing desk, and proceeded to gently explain to us that nobody will be comfortable to buy life insurance from us unless we were wearing great neck ties like the ones he is providing us with.We can each take the two neck ties without any down payment, but make a commitment to pay N1,000 each when we all get our training allowances of N5,000. We all did, and we all honored the deal. Weeks later, it was revealed that Adaku bought the neck ties from the second-hand sellers at 2 for N100, washed, ironed and scented them before bringing them to class. He sold them to us for 1,000% over his cost price. MORAL: Business Ideas are all around us. But how can you get them, and put them to work for you to create your own N100 Billion business.
How Our Brain Works
In his research at John Hopkins University, Charles Limb asked Rap artists and Jazz musicians to improvise a piece of music. He measured the activity of the different areas of their brains while they were playing. He discovered that while the musicians were immersed in creating music, the part of the brain responsible for analytical thinking and judgement showed much lower activity. Numerous research studies conducted to compare the performance of the brain showed that the creative right brain (subconscious mind) is at least 2 million times faster than our analytical left brain (conscious mind).
The right brain is responsible for all activities involving creativity, and it can process enormous amounts of information within seconds. The left brain is responsible for judging, self-monitoring and internal dialogue. It prevents you from saying everything you think and doing everything you consider. The left brain (conscious mind) is not only useless for generating business ideas, research shows that it in fact blocks the subconscious mind from doing its work.
If you want to be a world-class business idea generator, you need to learn how to turn off your analytical brain during the creative process, to allow the subconscious mind do its work.
Walt Disney of Disneyland
How did Walt Disney conceived of cats that can fly, mouse that is capable of playing all manner of pranks, TV sets that can dance, and houses made of cakes etc? Does inspiration come from some fluke experience, dumb luck, or is there indeed a creative process that threw up characters such as Mikey Mouse, Snow White, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, and earned Walt Disney stupendous wealth and a record 22 Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Special Recognition Awards?
- The Dreamer: Let your mind roam unfettered by judgement, analysis or criticism. Let the subconscious mind generate a multitude of creative ideas, no matter how implausible, outlandish or crazy. Write them all down. It is the ideation stage.
- The Realist: At this stage, rather than criticizing, find out if there are ways to make such ideas work and become a reality. Find out if it is practical as it is, or requires modification, or how it can be made fit for the market. Even if you were going to dump this idea later, give it a chance to live first before you shut it down with criticisms and harsh evaluation.
- The Critic: At this stage, you want to identify potential flaws in the idea. Why might it not work? What potential problems and difficulties in implementation could your idea have. It is very important that you start judging and evaluating your ideas only after you have played the role of the dreamer and realist perfectly well. Evaluating and critiquing your ideas before the dreamer and realist stages block the creative process, and may kill the ideas too early.
If Walt had given to critiquing his ideas too early, or even gave heed to all the criticisms of others, Walt Disney Company wont be the owners of the most popular cartoon characters in the world today, and neither will they be the owners of the largest and most popular theme parks in the world.
Follow through with the correct process to receive ideas, and when you receive them, guard them jealously and never give in to the criticisms of others until you are convinced the ideas won't work. But if it works? There you have it, your own place in history, and your own date with fortune.
The First Polaroid Camera
The inspiration for the first polaroid camera in the world came in 1943 when Edwin Land took a picture of his 3 year old daughter. She asked, "Dad, why can't i receive my picture now?" Had the little girl known why you can't have instant pictures in 1943, she would probably suppressed the question, and then deny the world the ingenuity of Edwin's invention. It took Edwin Land four years, but he did it - he gave the world the first Polaroid camera.Neither Walt Disney nor Edwin Land dismissed their ideas or ignore their dreams, because to do so would have spelt doom for the ideas before they have time to live. So whatever you do, always separate dreaming for ideas from judging ideas - the two don't go along. Remember this, and it may be the difference between the success or failure of your idea generation venture.
3 Rules of Idea Generation
- Rule Number 1 - Don't Judge: Great business ideas come from our right brain - the creative brain. Do not judge, do not analyze, no appraisal. The ideas drop from our subconscious mind in the form of a creative spark, hunch or gut feeling. Just write it down, and trap it forever.
- Rule Number 2 - Don't wait for the One Big Business Idea: Don't wait for any one big business idea that will turn you to Elon Musk, Dangote, Otedola or Adenuga overnight. When the idea comes to you, write it down, find out what will make it work, and then find out if there are potential problems or difficulties that will not allow you to bring your ideas to the market. Once you are satisfied that your idea can work and can be implemented, get ready to work it. Don't wait.
- Rule Number 3 - Implement: Whatever ideas you have left after putting them all through the first and second rules, implement. No matter how little, implement and start from somewhere. If it is too big, scale it down and start small. In the process of implementing, other ideas will come to you. Before Microsoft, Bill Gates founded Traf-O-Data without much success, but the experience of implementing the company proved invaluable in founding Microsoft.
3 Techniques For Generating Your NBillion Idea
- Technique Number 1 - Program Your Mind: Daily give your brain business problems to solve, or challenges to resolve. For example, how can you, or your business make extra income? How can you sell more products, to more people, and more frequently? How can you get more of what you want? I do not mean that you should daily over-burden your brain, but to cultivate a habit of Creative Quiet Time - 30 to 60 minutes per day. In this time, apply business challenges to your brain, think hard to see if you can receive ideas and solutions during this time. Whatever ideas that come to you, write them all down. Then leave the challenges behind and go back to your normal life. Your creative right brain will take over at this point, and start to make millions of connected thoughts. When it is done, the idea will come to you when you are relaxed, during lunch, during meetings, or even in the bathroom. Wherever you are at this time. Write down the ideas immediately, and own it forever.
- Technique Number 2 - Glass of Water Technique: Jose Silva is the author of this technique. He became famous for his many psychological exercises referred to as the Silva Method. This technique is easy to use, but is one of the most effective creativity techniques that exist. This technique is recommended for use when you are about to sleep. Here is how it works: Take a glass of water. Fill it with clean water. With both hands, take the glass, close your eyes, and look upward at a 45-degree angle. Formulate a task you wish to solve as a question. For example, how can i sell more of my products to more people more frequently? Then drink half of the glass of water, thinking "this is all I need to find the solution to the problem I have in mind". Believe that you will receive, and Desire what you want to receive. Open your eyes, and put the glass of water down near the bed, and go to sleep quietly without talking. Nine times out of Ten, while you sleep, you will receive your answer in the form of a hint, insight or a partial idea. Write it down, and own it forever.
- Technique Number 3 - Think and Rest Technique: Whether you are looking to start a new business, or trying to solve an existing business problem, this is one of the most effective technique for generating business ideas. Here is how it works: Think about the problem as hard as you can for 30 to 60 minutes in a quiet place. In this time, write down all the ideas that comes to you no matter how crazy. During this time, you are hoping to generate ideas, as well as to set a program for your creative brain (subconscious mind), and instructing it on the ideas that you need. If you have not received appropriate solutions at the end of 30 - 60 minutes of brainstorming, leave the problem or challenges and go back to your daily normal routine. The appropriate solution will come to you when you least expect - during lunch, relaxation time, meeting time etc. This is the technique used by the greatest scientists and entrepreneurs to generate great business ideas and breakthroughs. Hear some of them:
"When you get stuck on a project, simply
move on to another one, after you have intensively
thought about it ... when you come back,
you find to your amazement that you have
solved your problem - or that your subconscious mind did - without you even knowing it."
Carl Sagan, an American Astronomer
"All the discoveries in research laboratories
come as hunches during a period of relaxation,
following a period of intensive
thinking and facts gathering."
C.G.Suits, Chief Scientist at General Electric
Whichever of these techniques, or any combination you choose to use, you are on your way to generate great business ideas if you faithfully implement the techniques, bearing in mind the 3 rules of Idea Generation.
For Eddie and all who seeks to generate ideas and solutions to business problems. I hope you gain enough inspiration to become great idea generators. But if you need more clarity on any of these thoughts, you can leave your comments in the comment section, or shoot me an email. To the greatest idea generator in you.
- Technique Number 1 - Program Your Mind: Daily give your brain business problems to solve, or challenges to resolve. For example, how can you, or your business make extra income? How can you sell more products, to more people, and more frequently? How can you get more of what you want? I do not mean that you should daily over-burden your brain, but to cultivate a habit of Creative Quiet Time - 30 to 60 minutes per day. In this time, apply business challenges to your brain, think hard to see if you can receive ideas and solutions during this time. Whatever ideas that come to you, write them all down. Then leave the challenges behind and go back to your normal life. Your creative right brain will take over at this point, and start to make millions of connected thoughts. When it is done, the idea will come to you when you are relaxed, during lunch, during meetings, or even in the bathroom. Wherever you are at this time. Write down the ideas immediately, and own it forever.
- Technique Number 2 - Glass of Water Technique: Jose Silva is the author of this technique. He became famous for his many psychological exercises referred to as the Silva Method. This technique is easy to use, but is one of the most effective creativity techniques that exist. This technique is recommended for use when you are about to sleep. Here is how it works: Take a glass of water. Fill it with clean water. With both hands, take the glass, close your eyes, and look upward at a 45-degree angle. Formulate a task you wish to solve as a question. For example, how can i sell more of my products to more people more frequently? Then drink half of the glass of water, thinking "this is all I need to find the solution to the problem I have in mind". Believe that you will receive, and Desire what you want to receive. Open your eyes, and put the glass of water down near the bed, and go to sleep quietly without talking. Nine times out of Ten, while you sleep, you will receive your answer in the form of a hint, insight or a partial idea. Write it down, and own it forever.
- Technique Number 3 - Think and Rest Technique: Whether you are looking to start a new business, or trying to solve an existing business problem, this is one of the most effective technique for generating business ideas. Here is how it works: Think about the problem as hard as you can for 30 to 60 minutes in a quiet place. In this time, write down all the ideas that comes to you no matter how crazy. During this time, you are hoping to generate ideas, as well as to set a program for your creative brain (subconscious mind), and instructing it on the ideas that you need. If you have not received appropriate solutions at the end of 30 - 60 minutes of brainstorming, leave the problem or challenges and go back to your daily normal routine. The appropriate solution will come to you when you least expect - during lunch, relaxation time, meeting time etc. This is the technique used by the greatest scientists and entrepreneurs to generate great business ideas and breakthroughs. Hear some of them:
"When you get stuck on a project, simply
move on to another one, after you have intensively
thought about it ... when you come back,
you find to your amazement that you have
solved your problem - or that your subconscious mind did - without you even knowing it."
Carl Sagan, an American Astronomer
"All the discoveries in research laboratories
come as hunches during a period of relaxation,
following a period of intensive
thinking and facts gathering."
C.G.Suits, Chief Scientist at General Electric
Whichever of these techniques, or any combination you choose to use, you are on your way to generate great business ideas if you faithfully implement the techniques, bearing in mind the 3 rules of Idea Generation.
For Eddie and all who seeks to generate ideas and solutions to business problems. I hope you gain enough inspiration to become great idea generators. But if you need more clarity on any of these thoughts, you can leave your comments in the comment section, or shoot me an email. To the greatest idea generator in you.
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