3 Steps That Must Be Followed to Realize Successful Ideas
New opportunities are very exciting. It is easy to act ahead of time and follow an idea or direction without knowing the outcome, but when you start something without a specific plan, the odds of you reaching your goal are slim.
There is a saying that goes, “Get ready, aim, shoot!”, and it is said in this exact order for a reason: When you shoot first, you may hit the target instantly, but other times a lot of bullets will be lost, while your competitors will watch you and learn from you indirectly, and they will be able to conserve their own resources until they are ready; So isn't it better to set yourself up for success first?
“There is no shortcut to success,” says Jim Collins, author of Good to Great.
The Rhythm System's 3-step Think-Plan-Do approach can give you a way to develop habits and processes for making successful ideas come true. It's a simple process, but it takes discipline to follow.
3-Step approach to realizing any idea
1. Think
The process begins with thinking. People often go after the first great idea that comes to their mind, launch before they even have a plan, and inadvertently teach their competitors what they've done wrong.
A company called Jawbone launched the UP bracelet (a device that tracks the wearer's sleep, eating, and exercise habits) 11 years ago.
It was the first of its kind and boosted the wearables field. After the product was launched, complaints began to come in, many of which stopped working within weeks of its release, and in the name of Jo Pone's reputation, they took swift and decisive action, starting a massive recall and giving a full refund to all customers.
It took the company a full year to re-release the product, and the second version still had some issues. During that time, both Fitbit and Nike's Fuel Band entered the market and gained a first-mover advantage.
Developing ideas into strategies for growth takes time, and it is hard to take the time to do so, but if you schedule a regular session to work on your ideas, you will make better decisions about what opportunities or ideas to implement and how to implement them too.
Once you come up with a new idea, work on the assumptions you rely on to make your product or idea work, then test and validate those assumptions as you think about your product.
2. Plan
Many people think that their plan is ready once their idea is properly documented, but the real work will begin at that moment. Planning is about how you will take your idea from being an idea to being implemented.
Develop your plan and discuss with your team how to actually implement these great ideas or growth strategies. Who will do what, when, and with what resources? To make better use of your resources, get into the habit of planning in 13-week cycles so that everyone knows what needs to be done each quarter. And with every quarter, you will learn and improve.
The goal is to coordinate the roles of individuals so that each team member knows what they are responsible for achieving and how their role fits into the overall goal of the company. It may sound simple, but often a lack of planning is the cause of project collapse.
3. Do
You will not achieve anything until you do the work. You should keep up-to-date every week on your achievements. Start the week by making sure your team knows the priorities for that week.
Be clear about what you will actually achieve. Taking small steps will help make the project more manageable. Consider each week how you will move forward with the company's quarterly plan and whether you are on track to achieve your goals.
Once you notice that the goal is getting off track a bit, slow down and think about the adjustments you need to make, and use your weekly brainstorming meetings with your team to get back on track.
To sum it all up, thinking will help you create and develop your ideas; planning will help you work with your team to develop clear steps to implement your strategies and work more efficiently; and implementation will help you measure and review your progress each week to keep you on track towards achieving your goals.
So instead of jumping in before you make a plan or before your competition gets the better of you, next time stop before everything else and take the "think-plan-do" approach.