Latest / Inspirations for Your Life / Your “STUPID” Idea Might Actually Be BRILLIANT (S5) S39:E3 Monday

Transcript

Your “STUPID” Idea Might Actually Be BRILLIANT (S5) S39:E3 Monday · Inspirations for Your Life

0:23
Well there, hello everyone, and welcome to the
0:26
ever-popular Inspirations for Your Life show.
0:28
It's great to have you here with me.
0:30
It is Monday, September 21st, hopefully you guys
0:34
all got through a wonderful, rested and relaxing
0:37
weekend.
0:38
If this is your very first time here,
0:40
I want to take the opportunity to say
0:42
welcome, and of course, I want to say
0:43
thank you.
0:43
If you've been here one time, five times,
0:45
10, 100, million, or maybe even more, I'd
0:49
like to say thank you, welcome, and of
0:52
course, I'd like to say the words welcome
0:53
back.
0:54
It is really great to have everyone here
0:58
with me.
0:59
Don't forget to check out BelieveMeAchieved.com for
1:02
more of my amazing, inspiring creations after this
1:04
show is over.
1:07
All right guys, if you're thirsty, if you're
1:08
hungry, or what have you, I've got some
1:11
RO water here.
1:11
Feel free to go grab yourself something to
1:13
snack, a beverage, fruit.
1:18
Right here.
1:19
RO water, filter seven times, and some fresh
1:21
lemon.
1:23
All right guys, yeah, let's get right into
1:25
the show, because this is another great show
1:27
that I think you guys are definitely going
1:29
to enjoy, yes.
1:32
So welcome everyone to another episode of the
1:34
ever-popular Inspirations for Your Life show.
1:37
I am John C.
1:39
Morley, a serial entrepreneur, engineer, marketing specialist, video
1:42
producer, podcast host, coach, passionate lifelong learner, graduate
1:46
student at Montclair State University, and so grateful
1:49
now to be a published author.
1:52
Yes, it's great to be an author.
1:53
And I don't know if I told you
1:55
guys, but I'm working on my next book,
1:57
The Truth About AI The World Is Never
2:00
Going To Tell You.
2:01
So I think that's an important thing to
2:03
share with you guys.
2:04
And I think you will definitely enjoy that
2:08
when that comes out, probably sometime Q2 or
2:10
Q3 next year.
2:14
So today I'm talking about those ideas that
2:17
enter your mind and make you immediately think,
2:20
that's stupid.
2:21
Nobody would ever do that.
2:22
But what if you're dismissing them too quickly?
2:30
That's the question.
2:31
Creativity isn't always logical, guys.
2:35
Polished or immediately practical.
2:38
Sometimes an idea has to sound strange before
2:40
you discover what it could actually turn into
2:43
or become.
2:44
So let's get into our 30 points to
2:46
help get some clarity on this.
2:48
Number one, great ideas don't always arrive looking
2:52
great.
2:54
I'm sorry, they don't.
2:55
We look backward at successful ideas and assume
2:58
their potential was obvious.
3:00
Usually it wasn't.
3:02
Early ideas can be awkward, incomplete, and difficult
3:06
to explain.
3:08
Don't judge the finished potential by the rough
3:11
beginning.
3:12
Never, never, never.
3:14
Number two, stop rejecting ideas because they sound
3:17
strange.
3:18
You know, if people that invented things acted
3:21
like that, they would have never invented anything.
3:23
They would have just been like, well, I
3:25
guess that's not going anywhere.
3:28
So strange doesn't automatically mean bad.
3:30
Sometimes it simply means unfamiliar.
3:33
When your first reaction is, nobody does it
3:36
that way, get curious instead of immediately shutting
3:40
the idea down or being judgmental that it's
3:42
probably bad.
3:45
Number three, unusual ideas deserve a second look.
3:50
You don't need to pursue every unusual thought,
3:54
but before throwing one away, why not make
3:56
the choice to examine it?
3:58
There may be something valuable hiding inside an
4:01
idea that simply isn't developed yet.
4:08
Creativity often begins outside what feels normal.
4:11
If you only think inside familiar boundaries, you'll
4:15
probably produce familiar answers.
4:17
Creativity asks you to explore beyond what you
4:20
already know.
4:21
Number five, write down the idea that makes
4:25
you laugh.
4:26
When an idea makes you think that's crazy,
4:30
capture it.
4:31
You don't have to show anybody.
4:33
Writing it down gives you an opportunity to
4:35
reconsider it later, right?
4:37
You don't have to get the answer right
4:39
now.
4:40
Number six, don't confuse unfamiliar with impossible.
4:42
I know a lot of people do that.
4:44
They get into that corner that they kind
4:48
of put themselves in.
4:49
So never seeing something done before doesn't prove
4:53
it can't be done.
4:55
Separate the I've never seen this before from
4:58
this is impossible to do.
5:01
Those are very different statements and can have
5:06
very different trajectories, but sometimes our perception can
5:09
lead us down the exact same path, okay?
5:13
I think that's an important thing to understand.
5:17
And a lot of people don't know, but
5:21
they just guess, right?
5:24
Number seven, I want you to suppose and
5:28
ask what would happen if that strange idea
5:31
actually worked.
5:33
Temporarily assume the idea works.
5:36
What becomes possible, you're not ignoring reality.
5:39
You're giving imagination enough room to show you
5:43
something before practically entering the conversation.
5:47
Number eight, give wild ideas time before making
5:51
them practical.
5:52
I think everybody says, well, you know, this
5:54
doesn't look like the norm, right?
5:57
But is it the norm or not?
6:02
I think that causes people to maybe shut
6:06
down before they even have a chance to
6:08
get started.
6:08
So don't force brainstorming and implementation to happen
6:13
simultaneously.
6:13
Let an idea be wild before worrying about
6:16
budget, schedule, resources, and limitations.
6:19
You're just brainstorming.
6:20
You don't have to go with the idea.
6:25
Number nine, logic doesn't have to lead every
6:29
brainstorming session.
6:31
If you think it does, then you probably
6:34
have got a lot to learn, okay?
6:39
I think that's important.
6:41
Logic matters, especially when evaluating an idea, right?
6:44
But too much logic too early can, well,
6:50
shut the presses down, shut the exploration down.
6:54
Let imagination lead occasionally and invite logic in
6:57
afterward.
6:59
Number 10, let imagination go somewhere unexpected.
7:04
Follow an unusual connection.
7:06
Ask a strange question.
7:08
Imagine the opposite.
7:10
Creativity often appears when your mind travels somewhere
7:14
you weren't originally planning to go.
7:17
That's the important thing.
7:20
Number 11, guys, stop immediately explaining why something
7:24
won't work.
7:29
We're often great at finding problems.
7:32
An idea appears and we instantly produce 10
7:34
reasons it will fail.
7:36
Save that skill for later.
7:37
Don't destroy an idea before you've had a
7:39
chance to fully explore it.
7:42
And the reason that we shut down isn't
7:44
because we want to shut down.
7:46
It's because of perception.
7:48
It's because of something somebody else has told
7:50
us.
7:50
And we feel, you know what?
7:51
We don't have a chance, right?
7:53
We don't have a chance.
7:55
And the chance is that we have to
7:58
believe in ourself.
8:01
And by believing ourself, we can really make
8:07
a very, very big difference.
8:11
It's a minor perception, but that different perception
8:14
could be the difference between success and failure.
8:18
Number 12, ask how it could work instead.
8:22
Change the question from why won't this work
8:26
to what would happen for this to work?
8:30
Or what would it look like if this
8:31
worked?
8:32
That shift will move your brain from rejection
8:34
toward problem solving, right?
8:38
Number 13, challenge assumptions everyone else accepts.
8:43
Every workplace, industry, relationship, and routine has assumptions.
8:48
Some exist for good reasons.
8:50
Others survive because nobody has asked why they're
8:54
still there.
8:56
Number 14, what seems obvious today was once
9:00
somebody's unusual idea.
9:05
Many things we consider ordinary today once seem
9:10
strange.
9:12
That doesn't mean every unusual idea succeeds, okay?
9:17
It means every opportunity out there isn't bad.
9:22
It means unfamiliar alone isn't enough reason to
9:24
reject one, right?
9:29
We don't want to reject one, but yet
9:32
a lot of people do reject.
9:33
And the reason they reject is because they
9:35
think that they're nowhere near the promised land.
9:39
When you know what, guys, they actually are.
9:43
They're closer to the promised land than you
9:46
and I believe.
9:53
That's an important thing, guys.
9:56
Something that might change who you are, okay?
10:05
That's a very important thing.
10:11
Important because you can change things.
10:16
Number 14, what seems obvious today was once
10:19
somebody's unusual idea.
10:21
Many things we consider ordinary, well, today once
10:25
seem strange.
10:26
That doesn't mean every unusual idea succeeds.
10:30
It means unfamiliarity alone isn't enough reason to
10:33
reject one.
10:37
Number 15, guys, creativity often violates expectations.
10:45
Original thinking doesn't always fit comfortably into what
10:48
people expect.
10:49
If every idea looks exactly like everything that
10:52
already exists, you're probably staying safely inside familiar
10:56
territory.
10:57
And if you're safe, you're comfortable.
11:00
If you're comfortable, you're not growing.
11:05
Success doesn't live in the comfortable world.
11:09
It doesn't start there, okay?
11:12
That's probably the most important thing that I
11:13
want to share with you.
11:14
It does not start there, but we have
11:17
to be aware of it, guys.
11:18
We have to be very aware of what
11:21
it actually means.
11:24
Number 16, don't make originality pass a popularity
11:28
test.
11:28
There's no need for it.
11:29
An idea doesn't become good because everybody immediately
11:32
likes it, and it doesn't become bad because
11:36
people don't immediately understand it.
11:41
But this happens in so many companies and
11:42
organizations.
11:44
Popularity isn't the only measurement of creative potential,
11:47
guys.
11:48
Number 17, people may not understand an idea
11:51
immediately.
11:54
You probably spent more time thinking about your
11:57
idea than the person hearing it for the
11:59
first time.
12:00
Give people time to understand what you're seeing.
12:05
When you hear an idea from someone, if
12:07
you don't really know it, do you shoot
12:09
it down just because it seems unpopular?
12:14
You know, there's something I want to share
12:15
with you, and that is nobody seems to
12:18
want to come on your plane that's safely
12:20
in the hangar or the boat that's at
12:24
the harbor.
12:25
Or the train that's in the station, right?
12:28
Or the plane that's on the runway.
12:31
But they will risk their lives to get
12:34
on these vessels when they're moving.
12:39
Just like in life, you know, maybe you
12:42
have an organization that hasn't gotten off the
12:43
ground yet.
12:44
Nobody wants to help you in the beginning,
12:46
but they want to be part of the
12:48
success once they see how you're growing.
12:52
Kind of weird, but it's true.
12:54
Number 18, confusion doesn't automatically mean the idea
12:58
itself is bad.
13:00
Confusion might mean you need to explore and
13:04
explain the idea better.
13:05
It might reveal a weakness, or it might
13:08
simply mean a concept is unfamiliar.
13:10
Find out which one it is before you
13:13
decide to, you know, throw the towel in
13:15
on it.
13:16
Because it might just need a minor tweak.
13:19
Number 19, explore before you defend.
13:22
Don't become emotionally attached to proving every idea
13:26
is right.
13:28
Explore first, ask questions, find strengths and weaknesses.
13:33
Curiosity will teach you more than defensiveness will.
13:38
Number 20, test before you dismiss.
13:43
Now, you might not get the chance to
13:45
test, and I'll tell you why.
13:46
Because you're believing that your success or your
13:50
idea being good or bad is only based
13:54
on what somebody else thinks or perceives.
14:00
That's a key.
14:03
It's a real key.
14:06
And you might be saying to me, John,
14:08
how does that change?
14:12
It changes quite a bit.
14:15
Stories that maybe are going to make your
14:17
life different.
14:23
It could change.
14:26
But are you ready and open to that,
14:31
right?
14:31
I think that's an important thing for us
14:39
to be aware of.
14:44
And maybe something that a lot of people
14:47
don't understand.
14:50
But it is a potential, a perspective, if
14:56
you will.
14:59
Whenever possible, create a small experiment.
15:02
Build a rough version.
15:04
Try the process or gather some initial feedback.
15:08
A simple test can teach you more than
15:11
hours of speculation.
15:14
Number 21, turn ridiculous ideas into experiments.
15:19
If an idea sounds ridiculous and crazy, ask
15:23
what the smallest version would look like.
15:25
You don't have to risk everything.
15:27
Give the idea an opportunity so it gets
15:29
some legs to produce some evidence.
15:31
And then you could make a truthful statement
15:34
about whether this makes sense or whether it
15:39
doesn't.
15:42
I think that's a very important thing that
15:45
many people miss today.
15:47
Number 22, take one strange idea one step
15:52
further.
15:52
You don't need the entire plan.
15:55
Sketch it.
15:56
Research it.
15:57
Write about it.
15:59
Build something small.
16:00
One step can reveal information you couldn't discover
16:04
by thinking alone.
16:06
Number 23, guys, combine two ideas nobody would
16:11
normally combine.
16:13
Creativity often happens through combinations.
16:18
Take something from technology and connect it with
16:21
education, entertainment with business, or something from a
16:24
hobby and apply it somewhere completely different.
16:27
I think when we do things like this,
16:30
our brain likes it.
16:32
And there is strong potential for growth and
16:36
also, guys, profitability.
16:39
Because you're doing something different.
16:42
Number 24, ask the question nobody else is
16:47
asking.
16:48
Well, John, that's a great question.
16:49
What is that?
16:53
Sometimes the breakthrough isn't a better answer.
16:58
It's a better question.
17:00
Look at what everyone is discussing and ask
17:03
yourself, what's missing?
17:06
What's being overlooked?
17:07
Or simply, what are we all assuming?
17:14
And when you have a chance to clear
17:16
away the noise, you can say, wait a
17:17
minute.
17:17
This actually makes sense.
17:20
This actually makes sense that I actually can
17:23
do this.
17:28
And when you have a chance to understand
17:30
that, you're going to realize that it's something
17:34
that a lot of people don't pay attention
17:37
to.
17:42
And then when you have a chance to,
17:44
let's say, think about that deeper, you could
17:47
say, wait a minute.
17:48
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something.
17:51
Maybe I've got a false perception.
17:58
Maybe.
18:00
Maybe I was given wrong information.
18:03
Maybe I ascertained the facts wrong when they
18:06
were right.
18:16
Interesting, right?
18:18
That's the truth.
18:22
And I know a lot of you out
18:23
there are going to say, hey, you know
18:24
what?
18:25
This is interesting, but I don't know how
18:28
I do this because I'm always so careful.
18:32
Yes, you can be careful, but you can
18:33
still miss details.
18:36
Let me give an example.
18:37
If you write something down, okay, a lot
18:41
of times if you write something haphazardly, you
18:44
may forget certain words, but they're in your
18:47
mind.
18:48
And when you read it, they're there.
18:49
But then we come back to, wait a
18:50
minute, that word's not there.
18:52
You put it in your mind, put the
18:53
word there and didn't even notice it wasn't
18:55
on paper.
18:57
That's why when you give it to somebody
18:58
else to read, they're like, and this is
19:00
the boat.
19:04
That's sure.
19:05
And it is at home.
19:09
You're missing words, but you don't notice it
19:13
because when you read it, you're filling in
19:17
those missing words, at least when you first
19:19
do it.
19:21
I think that's important, right?
19:29
I think thinking and understanding is something that
19:34
most people don't realize how the perception can
19:38
change you, but it really can change you
19:41
in a very special way.
19:45
Number 25, look where everyone else stopped looking.
19:52
Yeah, go where other people stop going.
20:00
People often stop searching when they find an
20:03
acceptable answer.
20:05
Creativity asks us whether another possibility exists.
20:10
Sometimes the interesting discovery is one step beyond
20:13
where everybody else is going or has stopped.
20:16
Number 26, your weird perspective may be your
20:21
unique advantage.
20:23
Thinking differently can sometimes make you feel the
20:28
outsider, but that difference may help you notice
20:33
connections others will often miss.
20:36
Don't automatically edit that part of yourself away
20:40
because that might be your gift.
20:42
That might be uniqueness of you that gets
20:45
you to the next point.
20:48
Something other people may not have.
20:52
So even our flaws can be positive things
20:55
for us.
20:57
Number 27, don't remove personality from your ideas.
21:02
Fear of judgment can make us sanitize ideas
21:04
until there's nothing distinctive left.
21:07
Let your experience, humor, curiosity, and personality influence
21:11
what you create.
21:12
Number 28, don't do what senior people do
21:16
in hierarchical software development teams.
21:20
They make everything at the low level.
21:23
And then as higher magic gets involved, they
21:26
suddenly filter out the bad stuff.
21:28
And by the time it gets to the
21:29
very top, oh, we're right on target.
21:32
When they've shared what's wrong, like, well, we're
21:35
a little behind or this isn't working.
21:37
The next person was like, oh, we're having
21:39
a slight delay on this.
21:40
Oh, everything is right on track.
21:45
That's important.
21:46
Number 28, guys, originality requires risking being misunderstood.
21:54
If you create something genuinely different, somebody may
21:57
not understand it.
21:58
You can't completely eliminate that risk without also
22:01
eliminating much of what makes original thinking possible.
22:08
Yeah, sometimes we cut off that last line,
22:12
but the line that we didn't think we
22:14
were needing is actually the one that's our
22:17
lifeline.
22:18
Number 29, give unconventional thinking somewhere to grow.
22:23
Keep notes, build prototypes, experiment, play, talk with
22:29
curious people.
22:30
Give unusual ideas enough space to develop before
22:35
exposing them only to people determined to explain
22:38
why they won't work.
22:41
Number 30, the ideas you're embarrassed to mention
22:44
might be the one worth exploring.
22:50
I'm not saying every embarrassing idea is a
22:54
brilliant one.
22:55
I'm saying embarrassment isn't a reliable test of
23:00
true value.
23:02
Sometimes you're uncomfortable because an idea is different,
23:06
unfinished, or vulnerable.
23:08
Explore it before you bury it anyway.
23:11
And that's what I want you to think
23:12
about today, ladies and gentlemen.
23:14
How many ideas have you rejected before they
23:16
had a chance?
23:17
Maybe you thought somebody would laugh.
23:19
Maybe you couldn't immediately explain how the idea
23:22
would work.
23:22
Maybe it seemed too different from everything around
23:25
you.
23:26
So you killed it before you tested it.
23:28
Creativity doesn't require every idea to succeed.
23:32
It requires enough freedom to explore possibilities without
23:35
demanding certainty at the beginning.
23:39
There, of course, will be bad ideas, guys.
23:41
There will be experiments that fail.
23:43
There will be things you create that lead
23:45
absolutely nowhere.
23:48
That's part of the process.
23:50
The goal isn't to make every idea brilliant.
23:53
The goal is to stop killing potentially brilliant
23:56
ideas because they don't look brilliant yet.
24:01
They don't have the luster, the shine, the
24:04
nice cover.
24:05
The polish.
24:07
So when that strange idea appears, write it
24:11
down.
24:13
Ask what would happen if it worked.
24:16
Ask how it could work.
24:17
Challenge an assumption.
24:19
Take the idea one step forward.
24:21
Take a small version.
24:22
Then see what you learn.
24:23
You can evaluate practically anything later.
24:28
You can study the risks.
24:30
You can decide whether it's worth pursuing.
24:32
But give your imagination a chance before asking
24:35
logic to deliver a final verdict.
24:39
Your strange idea, it might fail.
24:42
It might also transform into something completely different
24:46
and remarkable.
24:47
It might lead you toward another idea you
24:49
never would have discovered.
24:51
Or that idea you almost threw away because
24:54
it sounded stupid at first might be brilliant.
24:58
Ladies and gentlemen, stay curious, okay?
25:01
Keep experimenting.
25:03
Ask different kinds of questions people aren't willing
25:08
to ask.
25:09
And don't be afraid to think differently.
25:11
What would it look like when?
25:14
What would happen if I change this?
25:22
What would people do when?
25:29
How would I improve this to be better?
25:33
How would I make a difference that could
25:36
be revolutionary?
25:41
How can I get people to make my
25:44
product a household name?
25:47
What problem does my product or service solve?
25:51
That's the real question, guys.
25:56
What problem does it solve?
25:58
Does it solve any problems?
26:01
Or does it just create more issues for
26:04
you?
26:06
These are the things that seem very subtle.
26:10
But they're also the differences between a success
26:13
and a failure.
26:17
There's such slight difference between success and failure.
26:23
It's a slight pivotal shift is how I
26:26
like to name it.
26:28
It's a perception.
26:30
It might be looking at a six instead
26:32
of looking at as a nine.
26:33
That's not a huge difference depending on what
26:36
angle you're at.
26:36
The six look at nine, the nine looks
26:38
like a six, right?
26:39
We've learned that from golf clubs.
26:41
Six, nine, depending how you look at it,
26:43
right?
26:43
They had to put the line below to
26:45
tell you it's a six.
26:47
So you know you're looking at it that
26:48
way.
26:50
Those are important things, guys.
26:53
I want you to stay curious, not because
26:54
you have to, but because you should want
26:56
to.
26:57
Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't know who
26:59
I am by now, allow me to reintroduce
27:02
myself.
27:02
I'm John C.
27:03
Morley.
27:04
I'm a serial entrepreneur, engineer, author, so much
27:06
more.
27:07
And this has been another amazing, powerful episode
27:11
of Inspirations For Your Life.
27:13
I thank you so much for choosing to
27:16
spend this precious time with me today.
27:18
And I want you to keep something in
27:21
your heart.
27:22
I want you to keep questioning, keep creating.
27:28
And remember that the ideas you're embarrassed to
27:30
mention might be exactly the ones worth exploring.
27:38
Just because no one else is sharing your
27:41
vision right now doesn't mean your ideas are
27:44
bad, doesn't mean they don't have potential.
27:48
That's the real truth, guys.
27:51
That's the ultimate truth that can set you
27:54
free from where you want to be.
27:57
And ladies and gentlemen, I will see you
27:59
real soon in the next episode.
28:00
Check out BelieveMeAchieve.com for more of my
28:02
amazing, inspiring creations.