Can you believe it — we’re halfway through July already! Do you feel the days fly by? Do you get caught up in day-to-day stuff that is often urgent but not that important or particularly innovative?
Anyone who’s read Stephen Covey’s books will be familiar with the four quadrants of Important/Urgent, Not Important/Urgent, Not Important/Not Urgent and the most neglected, Important/Not Urgent.
Time keeps ticking by and we need to regularly step back from the day to day (trees) to see the bigger picture (forest/planet).
In reality the main catalyst for innovation is when there is a crisis. Sales are down or the building’s on fire. Nudie Juice and Lombard’s, the paper people, both said that a fire was beneficial as it forced them to be innovative to survive and rethink the business. But you don’t need something as drastic as a fire.
Make an appointment in your diary once a month to take the afternoon off and hide away in a quiet, stimulating place and assess where you/your business is at, where you want to be in six months time and what are some ideas/strategies to help you get there.
Keep your ideas and thoughts in a handy journal. Edward de Bono recommends writing a Creative Hit List of general areas of focus for future thought and to stimulate thinking.
Bringing your future vision into regular focus will enable you to be more innovative and fulfilled.
