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.