Ideas That Fly

Our deepest fear is that we will run out of places to hide — that one day there will be no boss who allows us to remain invisible and no political or economic circumstance that stops us from doing the most important work of our lives. We are the ultimate paradox. There are only two things we want — we want to hide and we want to be seen.

I know you’re scared that your idea might not work.

I know that you worry about being wrong, far more than you celebrate the things you get right.

I know you waste time being anxious that you won’t measure up to someone else’s metric of success.

I know that some days you say one thing and do another. Why else would the same New Year’s resolutions happen every year?

I know you are afraid people will laugh at you.

I know that every day you walk a tightrope between getting over these fears and creating an impact.

I know you’re ‘this close’ to a breakthrough.

The insightful words above open one of the most interesting books I’ve read so far this year.

Bernadette Jiwa, in Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly, reveals the secret to success for ideas such as Khan Academy, the GoPro camera, the Dyson vacuum cleaner and Kickstarter.

We often think it is our brilliant ideas that change and transform the world.

Jiwa, after years of consulting with hundreds of innovators, found that the most successful ideas are the ones that become meaningful to others.

We build meaning by understanding our customers, insisting on relevance and making things that people want.

All of this is best described by Jiwa’s “Story Strategy Blueprint” as she applies it to 10 different companies.

The Blueprint identifies the trap many of us fall into when we try to tell others how life changing our new idea/program/product is.

In the words of Jiwa, “if it changes their lives, we won’t have to tell them”.

Check out the book if you want to learn more about The Relevance Engine, The Expectation Hierarchy and The Legacy Trap.