Don't hoard

The VAR guy has an interesting post on what he calls sustainable innovation. Basically, he emphasizes the importance of continuing to innovate, and not just putting all your eggs in one basket. I think it ties in nicely to one of the principles of having a lot of ideas. Don’t hoard them.

Ever get an idea that you loved, that you knew was a winner? But the timing wasn’t quite right. You didn’t think the audience would be receptive yet. You thought that this was the Next Big Thing and you wanted to wait until everything was perfect to roll it out. And you held on to it, and didn’t share it or act on it. Or you fell so in love with the idea in its current state that you refused to consider other possibilities for it.

When you hoard ideas like this, it puts a roadblock up. That roadblock keeps you from developing and building on the original idea. And often our new best ideas come from our old best ideas.

Lesson? Don’t hoard your ideas. Don’t fall so in love with one of them you think it has no faults or can’t get better.