The little book of Ideas Unlimited
Introduction
A book of not entirely random thoughts about life, work
This is a book about everything you already know about
and people.
work, life and people but thought you weren始t allowed to admit. It始s about corporate life and life in general, and is based on our years of consulting with people in businesses, living with families in houses and running Ideas Unlimited according to our dreams.
IDEAS
WORK/LIFE BALANCE
Go where ideas can find you
Work like you don’t need the money
We all know that the BEST ideas never attend meetings
Work/life balance...life/work balance. Itʼs the either/or
at which their presence is required. Why is this? Well,
of this that we object to. Even if you believe you get
itʼs because people donʼt have ideas, ideas find people.
another chance on the planet, why waste this one doing
All you have to do is go where they can discover you.
stuff you donʼt fancy?
Ever wondered why the business world is crying out
Why not make your work and your play the same thing?
for creativity and innovation yet asks people to sit at
Bob Dylan did, Ben and Jerry did. Find what you love to
the same desk, using the same PC, watching the same
do, then find some customers who love paying for it. Itʼs
grey walls, talking to the same set of people every day?
never too late. Even when youʼre eighty.
Come to think of it, has anyone ever told you itʼs NOT OK to have your next meeting at the zoo? Weʼd take that as permission if we were you.
SAY WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND
FEAR
Spit it out!
If you’re not scared, you’re not living
Itʼs the easiest thing in the world to say that nobody
Our founder used to say, ʻIf youʼre not living on the
understands you. But if people donʼt seem to ʻget itʼ,
edge, youʼre taking up too much space.ʼ That doesnʼt
maybe you havenʼt given it to them.
mean we like skydiving or shark fishing – it can be scary enough just getting out of bed some mornings.
The thing is, humans arenʼt mind readers and the more
What we mean is that if there isnʼt at least a hint of
we voice our ideas, our dreams, our perspectives, our
tummy butterflies associated with your latest project, itʼs
questions, the better. This doesnʼt mean being a brash
probably not going to be the greatest. Why, oh why,
extrovert who tramples on others (in fact we have
in business, do we spend so much time researching
barbed wire at the Ideas Farm to keep such people
best practice and analysing risks only to find that the
OUT) but it does mean having a bit of courage to
only way to really be the BEST is to follow your own
express yourself.
path? Do your research yes, but never at the expense of instinct and hard work.
So speak with your own voice and say what you see. Scary? Maybe. Living? Definitely.
ART
BUDDHA
Make your life your work of art
Go with the flow
Imagine looking back on your life before you die.
Buddha had a point. Be clear about your intention,
Will you be happy with its features? Will it be a work
but donʼt fight against life. Be aware that there are
of art worthy of you? Will it contain everything you
bigger, mysterious forces at work and that there is an
would want it to? If you see it as a novel, will its plot
art to waiting, watching, breathing and accepting. We
be engaging? If you see it as a painting, will its colours
find this vaguely Eastern approach works for us when
reflect your style?
we donʼt confuse it with being a lazybones. Watching rivers is a good way to work this one out so pop down
We canʼt choose everything about our life, but we can
to your local waterway (canals donʼt really cut it). And
be conscious of the choices that weʼre making. And be
while youʼre there, donʼt forget to keep an eye out for
sure that what weʼre creating is at least an original – if
kingfishers – what more evidence do you need that the
not a masterpiece.
world is a bounteous and magical place?
EARS
LEADERSHIP
Is anybody listening?
You can’t lead unless you know where you’re going
So much of corporate life is about telling, instructing, cascading, informing. The art of listening has almost been forgotten. Listening to customers and employees, listening for the signs, listening to our instincts, listening to ʻIʼm Sorry I Havenʼt a Clueʼ. When did your leader last spend a whole meeting with their ears pinned back? When did you last sit with someone in your team and just hear about their stuff? The art of listening is a gift to the person being listened to. Valuable in itself as an act of care and attention, it can make customers beam and employees bloom.
Who are you? Where are you going? And why are you going there? If you canʼt explain this with passion to your followers, youʼd better move to the back and let someone else have a go.
PERFORMANCE
Try reinvesting all the money your organisation spends
If you want performance, develop purpose
a programme* that gets your leaders 100% clear on
There is a strange belief prevalent in business today that a performance management system is all you need to manage performance. Think again! How many research papers do you have to read to know that money does not motivate, forced ranking systems do not motivate, competency based appraisals do not motivate? Here are some things that do: • Clarity of purpose • Enthusiasm • Trust
on maintaining performance management systems in why anyone (including them) should bother making crisps/selling shampoo/.................................(fill in the blank according to your business) and youʼll see what we mean. *We are very good at designing such programmes.
PRESENTATIONS
CREATIVITY
PowerPoint is a very powerful tool
Creativity is what everyone does
Well, it is if your aim is to conquer the world with
…if you get out of the way and let ʼem. If the people at
numbing boredom. How many times do we have to tell
your place arenʼt being creative, then what on earth has
you to BIN THE SLIDES! BURN THE DECK! SHRED THE
happened to them since they were five and happily ran
PACK!
around believing that a wooden stick is a laser gun that will kill a Giant Schnerzel Beast from the planet Smurg?
There is no substitute for clear, honest, well thought
To get more creativity take stuff out, make room, time,
through, look-you-in-the-eye, spoken communication.
space to play, time to imagine, time to meet people you donʼt have a reason to meet and talk about things that
If it needs writing down – give ʻem a handout. If you
donʼt seem relevant.
need a prompt, write some cards. And then donʼt forget that you havenʼt actually been Please donʼt make us tell you again.
creative unless you make something happen.
BRANDING
DUVETS
Create a great organisation then you’ll have a great brand
Staying in bed is sometimes the best option
Weʼd just like to straighten something out. Unless weʼve
going to take a crane to get you out of there. So, go
misunderstood this big time, an organisationʼs brand is a way of representing it in shorthand form. So, doesnʼt it follow that once everyone knows your organisation is great then thatʼs how theyʼll think of you when they see your brand? For goodnessʼ sake stop tinkering with your image and just focus on doing great stuff even better. If youʼre reading this and youʼre a Brand Consultant, donʼt be bitter – youʼve had a good run, thereʼs lots of other ways you can contribute to society.
There are times when the duvet is SO heavy that itʼs with the flow. Head back into your dreams and do some work on them for the day.
MEASUREMENT
TARGETS
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it and you shouldn’t do it…
Targets are to aim at, they are not a reason to exist
…so there goes love, belief, joy, pleasure, spirit, beauty,
Targets are useful. They can help you see if youʼre
enthusiasm and fun.
achieving what you wanted. But a target is not a result. A result is achieving something that matters – a number
Excessive organisational measuring of things is usually
on a spreadsheet is just a number on a spreadsheet,
caused by fear, doubt and fallacy – and the good news
even if you project it at a conference so itʼs really, really
is that it can now be cured. Measurementitis can be
big, even if it wins you a bottle of champagne and a
treated by getting the patient to focus instead on what
week in the Riviera with the company goat.
the organisation is trying to achieve and why, rather than on being a supplier of numbers that justify their
Donʼt work as if youʼre trying to achieve a target,
existence.
work as if youʼre trying to make a difference – and lo and behold the targets will take care of themselves.
See also Targets and Budgeting
Assuming they were the right ones to start with.
FUN
LOVE
Hands up if you don’t like having fun
Love is…
So why donʼt you have some more then! Who exactly
…not a dirty four letter word, itʼs one of the best ones
is stopping you? I bet the first twenty ways you think of
and it can be used a little bit more everywhere. It is said
making your work more fun arenʼt forbidden in the rule
(ie we donʼt remember where we got this from) that
book – they may be against the law but I bet theyʼre not
there are two ways of approaching anything – from
in the rule book. But beware anything which guarantees
love or from fear. So how often do you choose which
to inject fun – fun doesnʼt lend itself to intravenous
one youʼre applying at work?
delivery. Fun, a bit like creativity and play, will just happen when itʼs accepted as being an OK and normal
If you canʼt find much thatʼs loveable about your work,
thing to do at work.
donʼt go there any more.
So itʼs a bit like desk-to-desk llama jumping in that way.
E-LEARNING
CULTURE
The electric interweb
Cultures don’t just grow in yoghurt
Great for shopping, researching, communing, flirting,
They grow in organisations too. And the big word
gathering,
discovering,
here is ʻgrowʼ. Your culture and values canʼt be
surfing, dreaming, exploring. What do all these things
installed or unpacked or implemented or enforced.
have in common? You do them because you want to.
An organisationʼs culture is the way people actually
You do them in your time, guided by your passion, your
behave. So if thereʼs a certain way the organisation
interests and your fingers.
wants to be, then thatʼs how leaders should behave.
If youʼre trying to make cost savings or exert control by
You can print a description of your culture and values
using e-learning, make sure youʼre not also losing the
on plastic cards and have everyone carry them in
joy, the spirit, the dialogue, the treat, the communion,
their pockets. If you do that then one of your values
the thrill, the value, the results of a true learning
will be ʻWe carry bits of plastic in our pocketsʼ.
protesting,
communicating,
experience. You could be unwittingly destroying your organisationʼs soul.
Thatʼs good then.
GRUMPINESS
DIFFERENCE
It’s OK to be curmudgeonly
Respect the Dark Arts
...well someone has to be. Itʼs simply not possible to
There will always be some people in your business you
put up with all this energy, creativity and enthusiasm all
donʼt really understand. Maybe youʼre a people person
the time without occasionally having a good grumble,
who doesnʼt get those bean counters. Maybe youʼre a
in a monotone voice with a hang-dog expression. If all
sales bod who canʼt stop whinging about the production
the Tiggers in your organisation are starting to get you
team. Whatever your art, respect the arts of others
down you can always wipe the smiles off their faces
– however dark and mysterious they seem. Buy a phrase
by setting fire to their toys. Just donʼt let curmudgeonly
book and learn at least enough of their language to
become your way of life – otherwise youʼll end up in a
have a lager with them and ask about their pets. Teams
small dark place with spiky things.
are meant to be diverse – revel in it.
We would say more about this...but whatʼs the point?
FOLLOWERSHIP
BOLLOCKS
Choose your leaders
Corporate castration
OK, so we donʼt all want to be the leader. No one
In this uniquely powerful and highly integrated business
says we have to be, but who said you were stuck with
solution,
the one youʼve got? How many times have we heard
capabilities of human capital in the global organisation
ʻthemʼ (the leadership) being blamed for the ills of the
of the future by CUTTING THE BOLLOCKS.
we
propose
leveraging
the
synergistic
world? Leaders DO have responsibility but that doesnʼt mean you donʼt. If youʼre happy not to be a leader,
Well really, if bullshit bingo failed to put an end to this
you nevertheless have a responsibility to invest your
silliness, what will?
followership wisely. So if ʻtheyʼ are not doing it for you and you donʼt fancy taking over the asylum – you know itʼs time to make a move.
DRESS CODES
APPRAISALS
Dress codes are great...
Even better than an appraisal system...
…for repressive military dictatorships. But otherwise are
...is not having an appraisal system. It may seem a bit
a bit silly. If you canʼt trust people to decide what to put
farfetched, but isnʼt it just part of a managerʼs job to
on in the morning, then for Godʼs sake donʼt let these
make sure everyone knows what they should be doing,
people near any decisions about customers, each other
to let them know how well theyʼre doing and to help
or anything sharper than a melon.
them find ways of improving and progressing? OK, OK, itʼs a ridiculous idea. Sorry. Now where did I put
What on earth were you thinking of when you employed people like that?
those forms...
TRAINING
FEEDBACK
There is no such thing as a textbook answer
Anonymous and feedback don’t go together
Whatever it is you need to learn or improve, start with
Feedback means caring enough about someone to
the belief that YOU have the answer. Seek out teachers
tell them something that you believe will help them.
who will cultivate you, not ones who draw spider
Feedback means keeping 100% responsibility for
diagrams on flipcharts and tell you to go to Harvard.
the way someone makes you feel. Feedback means plucking up the courage to say something directly and
A brilliant sports coach once told us that we are more
specifically. Feedback means sticking around if they
like acorns than empty vessels. And the funny thing is...
want to talk more about it. Giving feedback is grown-up
believing this makes it true.
– BIG TIME. And leads to relationships that make life worth living.
And if youʼre still trying to learn something and itʼs not working for you, try asking yourself not ʻWhat do I need to do to improve?ʼ but ʻWHY is this important to me in the first place?ʼ
BUDGETING
Company relocation and merger
People are our greatest asset
• Budget for helping people understand what on earth
We are a people business. We have to lead hearts as well as minds. Despite how common these phrases are in company literature, people and their hearts still donʼt get enough wonga spent on them. Take a few examples:
Launching a new IT system • Total expenditure = £5 million • Budget for getting people comfortable with and excited about aforementioned system = £40 a head
• Total budget for build and move = £30 million is happening to their worlds = £25 a head Yes, itʼs intangible and difficult to measure and the business case is difficult to make. But did those reasons ever stop anyone doing ANYTHING they believed to be right? See also MEASUREMENT
MAGIC Make the impossible happen – do ordinary magic Magic is simply doing amazing and impossible things. Thatʟs all you need to know. So go do some.
The Rickyard Eashing Lane Eashing Surrey GU7 2QB 0870 160 3580 info@ideasunlimited.com www.ideasunlimited.com www.naturalbusiness.co.uk
Ideas Unlimited – 2004 ideas – like a good casserole – cannot be copyrighted www.ideasunlimited.com