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KILL YOUR DARLINGS
We all have ideas. Sometimes the ideas that pop into our heads keep us up at night – ideas we feel we must follow to the end; they must be executed. Surely they’re the best ideas ever. But the truth is, as good as your ideas are, they are only ideas. Impact is created when ideas become additive and expansive: more is better.
THE BEST IDEA IN THE WORLD
All of us, every single one of us, have the answer to solve the business problems (or address the business opportunities) we face. All day long we see other companies releasing killer apps, products, and services and executing on strategies that rocket them into the stratosphere.
THE BEST IDEAS ARE WORTHLESS UNTIL THEY ARE TESTED
You might be thinking, “Surely our idea is that good. It must be. We know our company and our products better than anyone, right?”
Except it’s not. Before it has been tested in the real world, it is just an idea, based on assumptions. Like the well-known block-stacking game Jenga®, if any one of the core assumptions – the one holding up the stack – is wrong, the entire stack will fall and your idea with it. What we often fail to recognize is that our idea is just one of many possibilities. On the design and innovation journey there exists no single right solution – only many options. It’s your task to use validation to find the best ones and help your idea evolve into a viable one.
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