Converting ideas into actions: Part II

The converting business ideas into an action program is based upon seven principles:

• Team members’ ideas for improving how work is done are valuable as they are derived from first-hand experience of their organisation’s waste of time, effort and materials.
• Team members’ voluntary contributions of ideas result in greater productivity and enhanced service quality.
• Coaxing ideas from team members sometimes meets with resistance due to previous negative feedback.
• Ideas are more likely to emerge where team members are invited to participate in solving problems and have confidence in the process.
• Some ideas need further development in order to be job ready as they may have been intended for different situations.

• Driving good ideas into reality requires leadership, commitment and persistence in order to overcome old ways and habits.
• Enthusiastic, energised and focused team members are more likely to produce winning results. Examples of team generated ideas converted into actions
• Reducing waste of materials and labour by rearranging production processes making the cost of production more competitive.
• Imaginative marketing campaigns attracting high numbers of enquiries.
• Access to useful job tracking information enabling problem solving interventions to occur sooner leading to on-time deliveries to customers.
• Fun business promotion activities enjoyed by customers and team members.
• Better use of financial information for more accurately calculating a business’ financial position.
• Informing existing and potential customers as to the full extent of a business’ service capability resulting in additional customers and increased sales.
• Enhancing trust and co-operation between team members as they participate in enjoyable and interesting team building activities.

This program is designed to tease out good ideas from team members, prepare an Action Plan and provide guidance and support as your team takes action.

It’s simple: Good ideas left undiscovered and not implemented lead nowhere, whereas, good ideas enthusiastically put into practice and actively followed through can deliver stunning business success.

Here’s what you already know: the difference between successful entrepreneurs and organisations and those that struggle is that the successful ones focus on getting the right things done. There are plenty of people with great ideas but a much smaller percentage of people who actually convert those ideas into effective actions.

Converting principles and vision into effective action precisely is what we help individuals, small companies, and organisations do. We have a special way of breaking down business activities into coherent, understandable pieces and putting them together in a way that makes sense.

You probably have a lot of the right ingredients assembled, but business success is all about putting the pieces together in the right way for you. Remember, Apple and Microsoft are in the same industry, but how they’ve put their pieces together has resulted into two companies that look radically different.

As much as we like ideas, our focus is on execution, for that’s what makes the difference. All the plans, opportunities, capital, and ideas don’t matter much if there’s little or no execution.

How we work with our clients depends on their size and scope:

For individuals

You’re either in a solo business or perhaps you have an assistant. You’re on a growth streak and are worried where it’ll end or have made it to the point where you have to radically change the way your business operates because its growth is constricted or not profitable enough. 

For small companies

It all started with you, but now you’ve got some teammates, overheads, and a company that needs to work differently than it did in the beginning. You know that, but it’s hard to figure out what changes to make. We jump in and help you build the viable, sustainable company that you want to be in. 

Having ideas is often not a problem. Our minds are problem-solving organisms, and we never stop thinking. The following tips will help you get your ideas out of your head and into the real world.

1.Capture them

The first step to putting your ideas into action is to capture them. We’ve all had the experience of having a blindingly brilliant idea at 3 a.m. in the morning, or whilst we’re in the shower, which maddeningly vanishes when we’re in a position to do something about it.

Keep a notebook, and cultivate the habit of writing down every idea that pops into your head.

2.Comb them

That blindingly brilliant idea that you noted down at 3am in the morning will probably seem utterly dumb in the cold light of day. That’s fine.

Go through your notebook and highlight all the ideas that seem most promising. Put it aside, go back and repeat the exercise a few days later. By combing through your ideas in this way, you’ll find the ideas that stand the most chance of success out there in the real world.

Important – don’t discard anything. That utterly dumb idea might become blindingly brilliant again in another context.

3.Construct them

Time to plan. How can you turn that idea into reality? The trick is to work backwards – identify the end result you want and then fill in the steps you need to take to get there. Remember to make your desired result SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.

It can be useful to do this exercise in your head. Imagine yourself a year from today when your idea has come to fruition. What do you see, hear and feel? What, where and with whom is this idea taking place? How did you get there? What was the very first thing you did?

Bring yourself back to the present, and now write down the following – what single thing can you do today, tomorrow and the day after to put that idea into action?

Once you’ve identified those steps, go and do them!

We learn from our actions, and we act from our learning. Without one, the other suffers; together, both provide clarity and truth. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about selling over the years, it’s this: There is no one way to sell. And whether it’s breaking into new accounts, making a presentation or marketing a new product, I’ve realised that no matter what someone says, action backed by confidence can dispute the naysayers and create many new opportunities and breakthroughs. But when we take action all the time and leave out the learning process, it can become dangerous. Here are two points for staying sharp, being focused and moving forward.

1. It’s what you put in your head. We are – and we become – what we think about all day long. Each day, I plan who I will see and what I will read. Those are the two biggest influences on my actions. What are you learning and who are you surrounding yourself with? When you think of time management, realise that you don’t really manage time – you manage activities. What activities do you surround yourself with each day? What are you reading? Keep copies of industry magazines and newsletters that educate and update you. I also read biographies of history’s best, books on energy and other titles like The Oxford Companion to the Mind.

What does this have to do with selling? Well, it’s amazing how many ideas you can get when you learn how life works. Learning new and interesting subjects infuses you with enthusiasm and keeps your mind open to new ideas.

2. It’s right under your feet. Opportunity is all around us – we just have to be aware of our surroundings and keep asking ourselves, “What is this telling me?” Question everything and ask yourself how it can be done better or differently. It’s the commitment to learning from the first point that allows your actions to come alive.

Nothing replaces the knowledge we gain from putting our ideas into action, whether they’re creative ways to sell or new approaches to closing accounts. But after a while, we can become stale and lose the ability to move our business forward. That’s why we have to keep our learning and our actions working in unison – together, they create the opportunities for sales success.

“It is necessary to combine knowledge born from study with sincere practice in our daily lives. These two must go together” – Dalai Lama.

“That’s not a very positive thing to say!” and “It doesn’t really seem like you’re living in the present right now…” These are the types of comments I get from close friends and family members these days. I suppose these words are what I deserve for writing a blog about living positively in the present moment and not always practicing what I preach. As I’m sure you know it’s so much easier to read books and blogs and articles about positivity and happiness than it is to actually practice positive thinking all of the time. It’s so much easier read than done...

But without all of the reading, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the latest information and I wouldn’t even consider practicing most things because I wouldn’t be aware of them. I might have an idea, some great thoughts of my own, but I wouldn’t have nearly as much insight as I have because I have read and researched and learned about new ways to be positive.

As the quote above says, you need both the knowledge and the action. You need to learn and you need to do. This – as I know from experience – isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s flat out hard. You can read about almost anything, but it’s a great deal more difficult to actually put that information into action.

I often find myself wondering how I can balance all of the great information I learn with actually doing the things I’m learning about. After reading the Dalai Lama’s quote on Twitter, I started giving this topic some more thought and here are some ideas I came up with for incorporating knowledge into our daily lives.

Incorporating knowledge into our daily lives

1. Tell someone else what you learned

When you spread the word about what you’ve learned, you’re not only introducing others to a new topic, but you’re also reminding yourself of what you’ve learned. Every time you repeat it, you’re ingraining the idea more and more into your mind. The more you tell others, the more likely you’ll be to remember it. The more you remember it, the greater the chance that you’ll put the ideas into action.

2. Take notes on what you’re learning

Just like you used to (or still) do in school, taking notes on what you read is a great way to commit ideas to memory and to gain a better understanding of them. After you learn something, write it down somewhere. Make a list of what you want to do, add the action you want to take to your To Do list, or schedule time on your calendar to focus on your new course of action. Putting it in writing will make it more concrete and make it more likely that you’ll actually follow through.

3. Incorporate ideas into your routine

If you want to practice something or explore new knowledge in an action-oriented way, find a way to incorporate it into your daily (or, at the very least, weekly) routine. Take action first thing in the morning if you can to make sure that you don’t end up putting it off later in the day. If you need a little motivation, ask a friend or partner to take action with you. If you make your action part of your routine, you’ll be a lot more likely to stick with it. As I mentioned in #2, putting the action you want to take on your calendar can really help you to actually follow through with it.

4. Post reminders of ideas everywhere

Whoever invented the sticky note was a genius. You can write anything you want on those little pieces of paper and put them anywhere! Write a phrase (or a few phrases) that will remind you to take action and post it everywhere. Post it in your car, on your mirror, in your office, on your fridge—anywhere you’ll be likely to look and be reminded of the action you want to take.

5. Keep learning about the topic

The more you learn about a subject, the more space it takes up in your mind. (I’m not sure if this is a fact, but it seems to be that way in my experience.) The more space something takes up in your mind, the harder it is to forget about it. Therefore, it’s best to keep learning more about what you want to be knowledgeable about. The more you learn, the more you’ll think, and the more likely you’ll put these thoughts into action.

(Converting ideas into actions: Part I was published in the Daily FT on 29 February.)

(The writer is the Managing Director & CEO, McQuire Rens & Jones (Pvt) Ltd. He has held Regional Responsibilities of two Multinational Companies of which one, Smithkline Beecham International, was a Fortune 500 company before merging to become GSK. He carries out consultancy assignments and management training in Dubai, India, Maldives, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Nalin has been consultant to assignments in the CEB, Airport & Aviation Services and setting up the PUCSL. He is a much sought-after business consultant and corporate management trainer in Sri Lanka. He has won special commendation from the UN Headquarters in New York for his record speed in re-profiling and re-structuring the UNDP. He has lead consultancy assignments for the World Bank and the ADB. Nalin is an executive coach to top teams of several multinational and blue chip companies. He is a Director on the Board of Entrust Securities Plc.)