Time Out
I often get my best ideas when I am out walking, exercising or just relaxing.
Sometimes this irritates me, because I often want the idea when I need it and get frustrated when it doesn’t come to me straight away. I know that when I take time to step away from what I am doing to do something else, then come back, I often see it with fresh eyes.
In 2012, Jason Fried, Co-Founder of what was then 37signals, but is now known as Basecamp Project Management & Team Communication software in an INC article, shared the idea of giving the company a month off from non-essential product work to focus on new product ideas, features, business models etc and then pitch ideas for consideration by the company.
The beauty of the “month off” approach was it encouraged employees to collaborate and create ideas, then pitch them to the company for the chance to potentially have them developed.
Whilst not every business may be able to afford to take a month off, COVID-19 has forced businesses to change the way they do things QUICKLY!
I believe it takes time to make time.
To get creative requires time away from the everyday.
Whether it is to come up with a new product or service, streamline a process, or create a new one. Each of these requires time to consider what will and will not work.
To test and measure and refine and adjust.
What are you doing to ensure you and your team can get creative and don’t keep doing the same things expecting different results?
