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Look back in history and you’ll find many companies that have missed out on smart innovations and creative ideas because someone in the organization didn’t know how to obtain the support necessary to bring those ideas to life. We hope you will enjoy the thoughts in the following column on how to get entrepreneurial ideas accepted in your organization. If you’d like to hear more about our thinking, just reply, or call me at 704.926.1345. Best regards, Kent Panther |
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Don’t let a good idea die. Know how to get the support you need. According to legend, a crate sits, like Indiana Jones’ Lost Ark, in a forgotten warehouse near Palo Alto, California. It contains the original prototype of the personal computer, devised by a few extraordinary geniuses whose names you’ve never heard. The very first personal computers were built in the ‘70s by a company that departed the computing industry long ago – Xerox. Graphical user interfaces (GUI), window systems, Ethernet networking, laser printing, and the mouse were all invented in Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. Most everyone knows the story of how Steve Jobs toured the Palo Alto facility and was inspired by what he saw. Bill Gates was similarly “inspired.” Thanks to them, the world changed, and us with it. But what happened to Xerox? The Palo Alto team could not get the needed support from Xerox management to develop the revolutionary ideas and technologies they possessed. Why couldn’t the inventors get this support? Were they unable to communicate the potential of their ideas? Perhaps they could have used findings from research revealing some of the best ways to gain acceptance of an entrepreneurial idea:
Getting the right support means knowing your stuff inside and out, but it also means understanding your audience. Is the audience a CEO, a CFO, a board, and/or a senior sales director? Be sure to consider what motivates them when vying for support of your idea. Nobody buys until they buy in. Finally, getting support also means understanding your timing. By now it’s well known that during an economic downturn, strong marketing efforts enable firms to solidify their customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position themselves for accelerated growth once recovery begins. There is perhaps no better time to launch a new idea than the very moment when many are tempted to pull back.
For help in taking your ideas forward, finding support, and timing it all strategically, call Kent Panther at 704.926.1345.
If for any reason you’d prefer not to receive our e-mails, just
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