How do you get started with a new idea?
How do you get started with a new idea?
I’ve been getting that question for so many years.
From teachers
Superintendents
Parent groups
Principals
Neighbors
Friends
And even my wife!
I’ve been working on that myself, so I understand the struggle on a personal basis.
I’ve done a lot of things well.
And I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
You have an idea and want to start moving forward?
Where do you start? What do you do? What makes the most sense? What shouldn’t you do? Move forward by yourself or with a partner?
Here’s my advice!
Think big, act small.
Don’t overthink it.
Just get started.
So often that new idea you have never takes off or even gets started, because just getting started is usually the biggest challenge of all. The idea you have is amazing, and most times it’s just way too big to implement where you are with it right now.
Starting off with a new idea is kind of like running an ultra marathon for me. I’ve run dozens of marathons, 50k races and the hardest one of all was a 24 hour race I ran years ago.
The goal of a 24 hour race is to run the course that’s been set up, as many times as you can, in 24 hours.
New Years Eve 2017, a mile loop for an entire day.
My goal was to run 100 miles in 24 hours, which even for me was completely daunting.
The longest that I’d ever run previously, was 52 miles and I did that just two weeks prior to the 24 hour race.
Nervous?
Yes!
Worried?
You bet!
Unsure of the outcome?
100%!
But if you never try, you’ll never know.
So I didn’t think about the race in terms of my overall goal. My BIG goal was to run 100 miles, but I broke it down into smaller parts.
Instead of trying to run 100 miles, my small goal was to run for an hour. And then another hour, and then another hour, until I’d run for 24 hours straight.
Anyone can run or move their body for an hour, that’s what I told myself and that’s how I moved forward.
So here’s a strategy I’ve been using in my personal and professional life for years.
Get a regular size post-it note.
On top of the post-it, write down your new idea or goal.
Then below the idea, write out your implementation plan.
That’s it.
Then you start.
My first post-it note said -
‘Run 100 miles’
Run for one hour
Run, eat, drink, smile
Run for another hour
The amazing thing about a regular size post-it note is, you can’t make your implementation plan too complicated.
Because you don’t have the room to write down too much.
How often have you been part of a planning meeting, or committee or task force that meets for hours and hours. Someone is taking notes. Or maybe even writing everything down on a big white board in some conference room. Or even worse on a Google Doc that ends up being seven pages long.
Then what happens?
Someone takes a picture of the whiteboard, they share the Google Doc and NOTHING HAPPENS.
Nothing. Ever. Happens.
Or, nothing happens quickly. The idea fizzles. You’re back to where you were before, no new ideas.
Because it was all too complicated, too many layers, too many people involved, too many steps, too many budget line items, too many too many too many too many.
Just this week I was speaking with a few hundred school Principals in Minnesota at their state conference and my post-it idea came up after my keynote address during Q&A.
Later that evening a Principal came up to me wanting to chat and brought it up. He actually brought up his boss who schedules three hour meetings and someone takes notes on a white board, Google Doc and butcher paper all at the same time and when the meeting is over there are thirty-five bullet points, seventeen action items, notes in three different places, too many ‘things’ to assign and not enough people at the table or on the committee and everything is so dang complicated none of it is ever even going to get started.
Keep it simple and don’t overthink it.
Now don’t think you’re done with that one post-it.
After you get that new idea rolling, take another post-it note that’s the same exact size. Write down the next few steps on how you’re going to continue implementing the idea, and add it to the bottom of your original note.
Post-it note number one - ‘Run one hour’
Post-it note number two - ‘Run one hour, eat solid foods, keep smiling’
It doesn’t stop with the one post-it, it’s just the place where it all begins.
But you have to begin.
And you can’t make it too complicated. Or involve too many people, or layers, or scenarios that may never even happen.
“But what if at hour seventeen of the twenty-four hour race ‘this’ happens.”
I’m not saying don’t plan for contingencies, just don’t overthink it.
What does this look like in schools or business?
I work with teachers, administrators, authors, speakers and executives all the time that have an idea, or want to implement something that I’m talking about or even better an idea they’ve come up with.
And they just don’t know how to start?
Don’t involve everyone in your organization. If you’re trying to move forward with that new thing, bringing everyone on board in my opinion is a mistake.
Too many people, too many opinions, too many roadblocks, too many naysayers, too many ‘that won’t work here’ - you know the rest.
Collaboration is important, but collaboration at the right time is more important.
Gather a small group, start with one post-it note, see how the first trial goes, listen, learn, ask questions, adjust, and then you expand.
Maybe it’s bringing in more people. Maybe it’s adding another layer with the small group that you’ve already started with. Maybe it’s continuing where you are for a few more days to really work out the kinks?
If you think big, and act big, oftentimes that level of ambition will stifle getting the new idea off the ground. It’s better to think big, act small and adjust as you go.