The Trouble with the Big Idea

Let’s say I had the “Big Idea” that the best economic planning relies on demand pull, rather than supply push.  I have reasons for thinking that and let’s pretend we all agree.

Then let’s say I had the “Big Idea” that capitalists (anyone with a savings account or pension fund) demand their savings/investments yield a useful and adequate income.

Then let’s say I had the “Big Idea” that enterprises were producing services and goods that people demand.

Lastly, let’s say I see a way for these “demands” to collaborate with each other so each of them succeeds in meeting their respective demands.

Okay, Wahoo!  I have found an exciting opportunity, a way of realizing the “Big Idea”, that I can describe as one large economic and business opportunity for people to participate in.

Now, I have taken that realization plan to people I see as prospective participants, partners, in the project and tell them how exciting the project is.

The reaction?  Well, they have all become excited by the suggested (Never promise!) benefits to each of them.

Then I begin to describe the intended operation as it will be, hoping they will see their respective roles as plain as day and jump in to assume those roles.

But, ... have you seen the movie “Moneyball”?  Good movie.  There is a scene where the general manager begins to ask hard questions about succeeding on the field without being able to do the standard thing, buy the most talented players to build a team.  The coaching/scouting staff are sitting around the meeting table, anxious to get on with things as they know them.  Billy, the g.m., isn’t too sure himself as his “Big Idea” realization is new to him too, so he can’t explain himself clearly at all.  The coaching/scouting staff keep looking at him waiting for something real to at least be said and nothing is happening.  This goes on for a while, a lot of quiet staring.

Well, that’s me in front of these prospective participants, trying to deal with a room full of blank, but expectant stares.

So, I have known all along I had to write the business plan, which is actually a project plan to bring a set of, albeit well known, theoretical relationships together to make this all happen.

The problem has remained that the “Big Idea” means that as one aspect or relationship is developed, it influences other relationships. These changes trigger the need for redesign and redefinition of the whole project.  So I then start over.  And I see that I will have to go through this again and again.

Frustrating.

So I gave up.

I then had no real idea what to do next, just that I had to do something.

I just started to write what I knew.

It eventually occurred to me that I was breaking the “Big Idea” into its component parts.

I wrote the core methodology that underlies the whole enterprise, the patent, as it were.

I wrote the benefits to the main characters in the project.

I wrote the needs for professional advice, one professional at a time.

I wrote the descriptions of the actions needed by the participants who will deliver the service as an on-going business, one participant at a time.

It seems I have a pretty good idea by now how all this will unfold.  By addressing each component separately, the plan is being built one component at a time.

I know I will have to adjust each of the components as the other components are added.

I also know that after the last component has been prepared, and I think all the pieces fit and the whole project plan is complete, once the participants start to tell me how each of them can be involved, the components will change again.

So, the moral of the story is, never be afraid to break down a project into bite-size pieces.  Breaking it down can only happen when there is a whole vision to break down, so that is the vision to achieve.  That means studying the “Big Idea” until you really know it.  Then create the components and assemble them to enable achievement of that vision.

Don’t worry, the components will be parts of the vision because the vision of the “Big Idea” is always in front of you as you work.

It’s still not simple, but the “Big Idea” then has the ability to become the “Big Thing”.

Mike