Editor's note: This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared under the title, “The right (and wrong) way to fall in love with your idea” and was published by the Ignite 360, a San Francisco-based market research firm.
What do you do when you are passionate about an idea, but it doesn’t seem to be gaining any traction?
To help you overcome your unrequited affection, we are sharing two personal business stories of idea-love gone wrong. Then, we’ll give you four techniques that will build strong client relationships and get you the idea admiration you deserve.
The wrong way
The shelf of good ideas.
A cautionary tale from Rob Volpe, CEO, Ignite 360.
When I first started Ignite 360, I was in love with the idea of providing livestreaming from our in-homes. It was a risk for sure. The technology hadn’t been used like this before. Clients hadn’t experienced it. We weren’t sure if it would work, which merely heightened the attraction for me. We branded it Stanley TV.
While I’d love to say it was a huge hit, we ended up in beta for several years. The technology we based it on is used by local TV stations to be live on the scene of a fire or in front of City Hall. Unfortunately, the technology wasn’t able to send a stable signal from inside a building like a person’s suburban home or urban apartment where cell coverage is spotty. That led to some misfires where clients had gathered to view ethnographies, but instead saw frozen images – if they saw anything at all.
Despite setbacks, I insisted we keep going, determined it could work. With ever-shrinking client travel budgets, I was convinced the idea was a good one. I was in love with it.
It took me four years of trial and much error to finally accept the fact that Stanley TV was either ahead of its time or beyond what was possible. It was disappointing to have to let the idea go. However, it was better to have a stable service that clients could rely on rather than something shaky and unreliable that was more promise than proof. Stanley TV is on my shelf of good ideas – a repository of former loves that can be revisited and resuscitated when the time is right.
“Could you just write the words on the screen?”
A story of heartbreak and redemption from Andy Rostad, executive producer, Media Beyond.
The idea is sometimes expressed, somewhat inelegantly, as killing your darlings. It’s this idea that when creating, there will become a point at which you grow attached to an idea either as a result of your own participation in its genesis or, if you're working in a small group, due to the energy that collects around it.
I remember a very specific project where we had constructed an elaborate method of putting information on screen. It was beautiful. It had a very rigorous logic to it. We were all very proud of it. And when we presented it to the client, they said, “Could you just write the words on screen?”
That hurt my feelings. There was this misunderstanding.
Read how Andy turned this painful moment into triumph for the client and the team.
The right way: Creating ideas worth loving
Passion and conviction are necessary risks to take at work. Conviction is what your superiors see in your eyes when you are pitching an idea. It’s the spark that ignites when the data in your head strikes the knowing in your heart. And when you know something to be true, it’s that much harder to challenge it.
Here are four ways to create ideas worth loving.
- Ground down in reality. An idea can’t become real unless you’ve built it from the ground up – what’s the business challenge the idea will solve? What makes it better than other approaches? Consider the other angles or ways of solving the problem. What makes this the right approach?
- Listen to outsiders. Are you really listening to what you need to hear or only what you want to hear? Passionate people often put blinders on and either won’t listen to what consumers have to say, or do so with selective hearing. In the end, you are only hurting yourself and your business. Your customer knows themselves better than you do. Are you willing to let them open your eyes?
- Recalibrate your message. Are you providing the right information to enroll your stakeholders? Consider their point of view, what might be missing that would get them to an enthusiastic yes? Is your own enthusiasm appropriately tempered or are you being a little too much cheerleader and not enough captain of the team?
- Be open to rejection. Rejection sucks. None of us likes it, but it is part of life. Try to use it as a learning experience. What was the rationale given for the rejection? What could you do better next time? Is this a forever “no” or just no for right now? And don’t take it personally, you might have better success with the next one.
When it comes to idea love – be open, flexible and keep it real. Now go eat some chocolates.