The beginning of each new year is a great time to personally step back, reflect and plan for the year ahead. It’s the time we give ourselves permission to stop wandering aimlessly and put ourselves on a mission to push into new areas and to new heights.
This mindset also applies to the innovation and marketing work we engage in to grow our companies and brands. As you’re finalizing or optimizing your plan for this year, we’d like you to consider adopting 3 mindsets. Mindsets that we believe will put you on a trajectory to making a meaningful difference in your company and brand this year.
1. “Leveraging a 70-20-10 mindset against capabilities I lead/leverage will move our company & brand forward.”
When you adopt a 70-20-10 mindset, you’re committing to:
– Spending 70% of your time and resources improving what the organization does today
– Spending 20% of your time and resources adopting what’s proven in the world (maybe another category), but is new to your organization
– Spending 10% of your time and resources inventing the next generation of capabilities
This allocation of time and resources will force you be disciplined about how you engage your time and resources and will ensure you’re keeping your core activities strong while investing in future opportunities.
2. “Actions I take will remove fear and provide me with fresh ideas to keep moving forward.”
Some of us have great intentions but fail to act. We fail to even start working towards our ideas. Maybe out of fear of failure? Maybe out of fear of not knowing enough? Our encouragement is you’ll never have it fully figured out. Contacts, information and ideas will emerge as you engage in the process of moving your idea forward. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s reality. Also, fear that creeps up when we’re looking to do something new gets knocked out of the way when we have the courage to act.
3. “Persistence is the only sure way I’m really going to build and implement my ideas.”
What you’re setting out to create or improve typically takes a lot more effort than you expect or realize. When you meet resistance or things feel like they’re dragging on, don’t quit! Now is the time to double down and keep pushing forward.
Don’t miss out on the awesome growth opportunities that come with pushing yourself, your organization and brand into new territory. Will it be scary at times? Sure. But is it worth it? Absolutely. Do something to move things forward today!
Photo licensed under Creative Commons 2.0 via Flickr user: daveynin
The Garage Group enables corporate teams and brands to innovation like startups, including lean approaches to concept development; whitespace, trend and segment understanding; and entrepreneurial approaches to idea generation.
