Tuesday, April 23, 2024

NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN FROM HOWARD TULLMAN

 

Open Your Mind: There Are Plenty of Good Ideas You Can Steal.

Operating within your own information bubble may be satisfying, but it's limiting. 

 

EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1

APR 23, 2024

 

Much to the chagrin of some friends, relatives, and business associates, I'm an inveterate and shameless sharer of news, opinions and information. Lately, I've probably been overdoing things in terms of political commentary as opposed to entrepreneurial, change management and tech advice. But then again, even the most well-established and solid businesses - not to mention startups and new ventures - are likely to be adversely impacted by the end of democracy as we know if the Orange Monster returns to office.

So, to be smart and safe, it pays to pay at least some attention to what's going on around your business because you don't always know what you don't know, and you never know who's going to bring you your future. From time to time, you can actually learn important things from outside of your own bubble and even from people who you think aren't as smart as you. Ideas are like assholes.  Everyone has one.  But even assholes can have good ideas.

The most important thing to realize is that some great ideas need to be transplanted from the mind that may have created them into a mind which is capable of understanding, expanding, and executing upon them. You don't have to be at the beginning of the chain to bring the bacon home.  

One of the dangers of being somewhat successful is that you quickly forget what it took to get you to this point while at the same time you learn new things much more slowly. That's understandable, since you're reluctant to change what you think is working well for you. You instead need to develop a thick enough skin to understand and accept that -- from time to time--ideas will come along that are better than your own and which are likely to knock your precious little babies right off their pedestals unless you're sharp, smart, and swift enough to do it yourself. As Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger said a while ago, "if someone's gonna eat our digital lunch, it might as well be us".   

It would be a shame to miss the new opportunities or challenges because you were "too busy," too arrogant, or too complacent to spend some time looking and listening to what's out there in the wild.  We're all drowning in a flood of noise, news, and information, but strategic filtering is a much better bet than turning a blind eye or a deaf ear to what's out there.

My position is that most of my email recipients can take it or leave it and they're free to use their delete key. Upon request, I'll even remove people from the various distribution lists I use and - while I will generally forgive them their desire to remain uninformed - I won't forget that they chose ignorance over information. On the other hand, if it's one of our portfolio companies and I've taken the time to send them a reference, comparative studies, a relevant article, important rankings, some simple suggestion, or someone to contact, then I expect them to get on it - not to be offended or put off by the offering.

These aren't times for foolish pride, hurt feelings, grumbling about micro-management, or anything else. It's not gloating, complaining or rude to tell it like it is - especially if you're right -- whether people want to hear it or not. The truth only hurts when it ought to. If someone else is kicking your company's butt or doing things much better than you, then closing your eyes or trying to wish them away won't make it better. In the real world, you don't get to learn things the way you want to. Every day the world is changing around you and your job is to try to keep up. Facts and problems don't disappear because you ignore them.

Not everything comes in a clear package with appropriate warnings and a set of instructions, but the best entrepreneurs and new business builders make sure that they're always open to inputs, alternatives and options, and new approaches or solutions - whether it's good news or bad. No one has a monopoly on the best ideas, so no one should be reluctant to copy the smartest features and functions of their competitors' offerings, and everyone should understand that there's a whole world of bright people out there who don't happen to work for you.

The key idea is that you don't have to know everything, you just need to know how and where to find it and that's why having an ear to the ground and helpful friends and supporters outside of your day-to-day resources, team members, and traditional channels makes a lot of sense. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to borrow from many is research. You don't have to come up with every new idea. You can just wait for someone else to launch a great idea and then copy every detail except their mistakes. And, to be clear, being open to ideas is much different than thinking for even a moment that all ideas are equally valid or valuable. Another important part of the job is learning to quickly say "No" to even good ideas which simply don't fit your business's needs or plans at the moment.  

The bottom line is to widen the input aperture so that you're regularly exposed to a broader range of thoughts, ideas, and approaches than simply your internal channels without becoming overwhelmed by the volume or - worse yet - adopting a cursory approach of rapid skimming that results in being a mile wide and an inch deep and effectively informs no one.

As challenging as the prospects may be, the key to continued success in a world of constant change is non-stop and lifelong learning. Information is the lifeblood of that process and, as painful as the thought may be, even too much is not enough.