December 16, 2007
Have you noticed that everything seems to look like something from the past these days? I recently saw a ford mustang with retro styling from the 60’s, being driven by a young woman with hair from the 80’s, blasting music that was a bad remake of a great song from the 70’s. When did we start running out of ideas? I know we like to say that there is nothing new under the sun but it seems like new ideas and concepts are a bit rarer these days. What about Rap songs that are using older hit songs as the basis of their impact? I don’t know about you, but it makes me want to hear the original song. I watch a movie (made in the last ten years) or a new network TV show (there is some original programming on HBO and Showtime) and I can predict in the first 10 minutes how the movie will end and in some cases I can spout off the actual dialog seconds before it comes of the characters mouth. My 11yr old thinks I’m psychic (which is great because in two years at the age of 13 she’ll just hate me)! Could it be that in a world that is so busy, we don’t have time to be unique? Maybe we are so desperate for approval that we just look at what people have liked in the past and create more of that? We are all guilty of doing what works to be successful (unless you are very original and unsuccessful and in that case, this post, strangely enough, is a pat on the back for your loser status). But I thought we were supposed to get ideas from the past not just copy what’s been done before. From my experience, and the history of business (that includes show business) the way to start a creative process is to get a group of people together and get them to agree on what has not been done before (as best you can) and apply that concept to what you are trying to achieve. So the lack of uniqueness will come from the goal you seek and not the concept itself.
Originality does not have to be the brain storm of genius, but it does take some thinking. When did we stop thinking?
The bottom line: Someone else has written a similar post about originality or this will be copied and end up in USA today as the original concept of another writer.
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2 Comments | 
History, Marketing, Modern Society, Success Qualities | Tagged: business success, creative thinking, creativity, Marketing, new concepts, originality, recyling ideas | 
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Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
November 30, 2007
Why is it that some of the best ideas are never considered and idiotic concepts that we know will fail are? How did AT&T decide to focus on the picture phone and sell off the rights to the cellular telephone? Research clearly showed that the number-one reason people placed a phone call instead of showing up in person was speed and convenience. The number-two reason was they did not want to be face-to-face with the person they were calling. If you are at home on the phone in your underwear, do you really want people to see you? (OK, some of you do, and you know who you are, but let’s move on.) Why did it take so long to get squeeze-bottle ketchup? Squeeze-bottle mustard was on the market 20 years earlier! Were there really people who believed that ketchup in a glass bottle was sacred and could never sink to the lows of seemingly misguided mustard?
The issue is that some of us are just much better at getting people to agree with us than others. It’s why it took so long for people to wear seat belts and yet pet rocks sold instantly. We interviewed some of the most persuasive people in the Wynn Solutions top-performers research pool and found some interesting information about getting people to see things your way regardless of how ineffective your ideas may be:
- Find out what people value most before you start talking. People are much more likely to listen to your ideas if you can prove you know what’s important to them first (agreeing that it’s important will also help a lot).
- Make sure your ideas are clear. It does not matter how smart you are if no one knows what you’re talking about. You may need to have your top expert teach their concepts to your top presenter. A lot of great ideas are not considered because people don’t want to admit they don’t get it.
- Make sure you can explain the basic value in about 20 seconds. People buy into what they can understand quickly. “The longer it takes you to explain value, the more people think you don’t have any.” Show how it will make the person(s) you are talking with look good personally. What’s in it for them?
- Show the similarities first and differences second. The main reason people don’t want to change is that nobody wants to be a “senior beginner.” When things change, people are afraid their expertise will have less value-they may not be as important to the organization as they used to be. Show how the new way is similar to the old way first, and then the new way feels more valuable.
Our research showed that ideas have to be more than great. They have to get supported by humans as they make their way toward implementation. Some pretty weak agendas get moved forward because they are presented 10 times better than an agenda that was …well … 10 times better.
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Leave a Comment » | change, Communication, Marketing, sales | Tagged: business ideas, communicating ideas, effective presentations, gaining agreement, getting people to listen, influencing people, Marketing, negotiation skills, persuasion, selling ideas to companies | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn
