Are you thinking Big? – Go Ahead, Dream On

Innovating is a State of Mind

Many people might not know that TiVo is know for innovation and has a huge patent portfolio - #InnovationByTiVo.  The most satisfying and reward parts of my career have been building products that were new and a culture where ideas were accepted at all levels of the organization.  I’m not talking about the ‘Yes that’s a great idea’ and it flows into a backlog never to be looked at again.  I am talking about the culture where you get a ‘Love the idea, let’s fill up a whiteboard, and see how we can make this happen’ discussions with leaders. 

Let’s talk about a few simple steps to get your innovation juices flowing by dreaming and collaborating!

Protect Your Time and Dream On

We are going to talk about a few of these steps.

1. Block out Time
2. Dream On
3. Let your ideas evolve

When was the last time you came up with an innovative idea and proposed it to your team?  I’m especially talking to all the managers and leaders out there that might not make time because they fill up the calendars.  You are not a slave of your calendar at work.  Take back control and block out time to think about product ideas that are important to you. 

I’d like to reference Aerosmith’s popular song ‘Dream On’ because that is exactly what you should be doing in order start moving your mind towards this activity.  Dreaming about what is not possible today but you wish you had it in your product is completely different than your typical meeting where you have a set agenda.  Open your mind and let them evolve into different directions almost like a tree.  You will have a core idea and let the branches be variations or modifications that let you visualize.

Collaborate – Leverage Diversity of Experiences

Everyone reads and knows collaboration is valuable, but I believe the diversity of experiences is what yields the true value to brainstorming activity.  In my most recent patent brainstorming session, I brought in some core concepts to discuss that I thought was new to the world.  My colleague and I quickly started to bounce ideas that transformed the core idea into something much more powerful.  He was able to add perspectives from his life that enhanced the idea and made me think about new use cases for the original intent.  Overall, the value created and the core idea evolved into something much greater that we could bring to our patent review board.

Wrapping it Up

Innovating at work and developing new ideas can invigorate your current job and bring a sense of newfound energy.  Time will never exist for this activity unless you carve out purposeful usage of your day for this activity.  Once you do and build the idea with your team, I think you will be surprised on how ideas can build like a fire!  So, get to it and start building the next great thing!! 

I would love to know if this quick read helped you center your focus and move forward.