. . . tools index
September Tool : Ideas and Utility - 'Ideas are FREE : what you do with them is EXPENSIVE!'
A business needs ideas to survive, be competitive and grow - especially so in the current era of global competition where
barriers to trade are being reduced by government and business alike.
Some questions you should consider as a business owner/manager includes:
- Where do the ideas for your business come from?
- Are the ideas your business thrives on internally or externally generated?
- Do you deliberately seek out new ideas or do you rely on 'pot-luck'?
- Do you 'buy' ideas on the open market (e.g. licensing of IP or commissioning of ideas)?
- How do you manage the ideas that you have to maximise your return?
- Do your staff contribute ideas into your business (if not, why not)?
- How do you protect your ideas?
Ideas, creativity, innovation and business competitiveness are very closely linked. I would like to discuss the source, value and cost of ideas:
The reality of our existence is that everyone is 'floating in a sea of ideas' and is constantly bombarded with literally hundred of ideas, pleas (e.g. buy our
product/service), concepts and thoughts in a typical day whether through text (books, magazines, internet, social media, etc.), audio (radio, conversations etc.) or visual (TV, seminars, expos, trade shows, videos, social media, etc.).
For the most part, through our cultural and social conditioning (not to mention just being able to stay sane in this environment) we have become relatively immune to
even recognising the situation - let alone using it to our advantage by filtering the ideas that we see to our benefit!
Being permanently immersed in ideas means that we have an ongoing opportunity to take on new ideas and use them to shape our thoughts and
help us understand more than we would be able to on our own.
How many 'new' ideas have come to your attention recently? What have you done about them? Why?
Now to the downside of Ideas - doing something with them is usually expensive!
To make Ideas work for you and in your business requires a commitment in time, effort and resources - typically this would be significantly more than what you would think on first consideration. Also check whether the idea you intend to use belongs to someone else!
People use patents, trademarks, copyright and other legal instruments to protect their Ideas as
intellectual property (IP). If you want to use IP that has been protected you may need to pay someone money or get permission for the right to use that idea.
To find out more about how
Intellectual Property works in protecting people's ideas (with some strings attached) - see the IP Australia web site.
Remember - making an idea work for you incurs costs and gives you value!
Dr Miroslav Dosen
clarityindeed.com
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