Connect the Dots

How to Connect the Dots:

Loosen Your Grip on Creations and Put Ideas Into Action

We need to connect the dots between disparate subjects, generating brave new ideas.

Organizations are hungry for this way of thinking. We need a “change agent” for an idea, some sort of “Weapons of Mass Inspiration” or “Ideas Factory” that can muster the courage necessary to bring about transformational changes. As a guide to creativity, we must introduce the real world to our imagination. We must know how to present an idea, why it’s better to relinquish control over your ideas, and how we can create better environments to implement innovative changes.

The challenge of implementing innovative ideas

We tend to have ideas all done by ourselves. You may think: “I’ve got to own it 100 percent, so I have to build everything about it.” But then you realize, “I’m just an ideas person at best.” You can study an idea, give it a great title, and create a prototype. But you don’t have to make that happen all by yourself. You could find someone who shares your passion. As such, you retain a small amount of ownership, because you want to do other things. Before, you’d get tangled up in making the thing for six months out of your life. Now, you have partnerships that allow you to move on.

The best thing, in the end, is to relinquish a lot of control, because that allows you to be free thinking. I’d rather have 10 percent of something that really took off than 100 percent of something that is still on the table. When you’ve got a whole ideas factory, then you’ve got 10 percent or 15 percent of 50 different things. They can all be happening at once, but we’re not worrying about that because we’re not the only ones making them.

Finding partners to work with you

When I first presented any hatched ideas to my audience, the presentation needs to be as dramatic as it can be. Perhaps, it could look like a treasure box with tons of goodies (think Turkey-Delights) in it. Learning about the hatched ideas will resemble an archeological discovery or a treasure hunt: It’ll be full of truth, and it’ll be full of all the awesome feeling that the idea is about. That’s all laid out in the presentation. When you go to someone with this, they either like it or they don’t, but they can see that you’re going to do this. Somebody is going to study it. So they go, “Oh no, I'd better not make a mistake in my decision here. This might be a huge hit!” It’s very different than just walking in and saying, “I’ve got an idea (think One-Minute-Daily-Prayer)".

Getting people to change their habits

The creative process is chaotic, especially when executing an idea. But it does not need to be chaotic, provided that you have a playroom (think Hang-Out-Time) where you can throw paint about. That really should exist in all circumstances, because if everybody’s just sitting around analyzing everything, someone else is going to slam them from the side, and they’ll be wiped out.

Many AFers are becoming to realize that we are dissatisfied with how things are going in our spiritual life and interpersonal bonding. Different officers are designing various activities they thought people will need in order to achieve the stated goals. But before we aspire to please God and grow spiritually, what is a real game-changing thing we could do? The answer is: It all starts with praying for our own aspiration to become spiritual. (Strongly recommended: encourage AFers to listen to a great sermon given by the late Dr. Greg Awyang "He Who is Spiritual". Its CD can be checked out from the FCBC library.)

Conclusion

Leading a group of people through uncertainty is a bit like sailing a ship. You always have somebody awake on deck with the binoculars, looking out. Many 'leaders' often don’t do that; they’re all down below, working away. You want to be a catalyst for a new change. It relies on creating very interesting and inspiring contents and being able to deliver it in all sorts of ways and platforms. Years ago, if you were making a proposal, you’d make the full plan, and then people tried to understand you. Now, show them a demo, step back, and listen to their feedback. If the bandwagon is moving in the approximate direction you want to go, simply jump on. The channel of inspiration must go both ways. It is better to have a 5-hour project plan, not a 5-year plan, as your Weapons of Mass Inspiration.