Think Big

byOldMCSEGuy

5.9K followers

8 years ago

Think Big, Start Small and Learn Fast

There are lots of innovation efforts found in the distinction between success and failure. And all of this boils down to just six words: Think Big, Start Small, Learn Fast.

So what do these six words really mean? Let’s find out as you contemplate your future plans and aspirations.

Think Big

When one says to think big, it only means imagining or dreaming. It is more of a visioning process. Being able to identify current trends, emerging competitors, technological disruptions, and many others are all part of the Think Big process. When you mix all these things together and imagine yourself existing and succeeding in such a world, you are actually visioning yourself. Can you imagine what capabilities do you have or what specific products or services you can provide? Do not limit yourself in Thinking Big. After you think big, add a time frame to your vision. It can be a year or maybe five years. This will be the roadmap to your success.

People who find success are not too proud to explore their doomsday scenarios. This may include how new developments can drive them out of business. And instead of just merely looking for incrementally faster, cheaper or better products, these people dare to dream big.

In contrast, those people who fail typically thinks small. Most of these people assume that the future will be a bit different version of their present. Yes, it is only a human nature to see change as incremental and that to think our customers will stick with us. However, incremental thinking can also be dangerous.

Start Small

The phrase “you cannot eat an elephant in one bite” is indeed true. When you start to examine your vision, you need to focus on the skills of your team. What are your organization’s capabilities as well as the structure of your processes? Identify your possible weaknesses and be ready to do bite sized projects that will begin to strengthen you. Take chances. Be creative. Use different projects not just to move forward but also to learn from them.

After thinking big, most successful innovators start small. Instead of jumping right after on that bandwagon for a potentially big product, successful innovators break ideas down into smaller pieces for testing. They don’t rely their decisions solely on mere intuition. Neither did they allow themselves to lack in on projections which are purely based on just wishful thinking. Successful innovators defer important decisions until they have enough and real data on hand.

Grow Fast

Right after you do small experimental projects that will provide you and your organizations enough experiences, you are now ready to grow fast by doing larger and more impactful projects that will help propel your growth. Aside from this, it will also help you build your organizational capabilities to scale thus, allow you to innovate smarter and much faster than your competition.

Thinking big, starting small and growing fast is just a simple phrase. So simple yet it can be a powerful guide on how to think about innovation. You, what is your vision? Do you have your first step in becoming a successful person or innovator you want to become? These six words will help you and your team have a good conceptual framework for innovation as well as orienting your own self with the different trends which will provide you with the many possibilities and challenges in the next years to come.