Page 68 - Free the Idea Monkey

Idea Monkey: “I have an idea.”
(Ring)leader: “Terrific. Show me the need it is fulfilling and how
you know that the need is significant. If you aren’t ready for that,
I can help you map out some efficient research to verify the need.”
Idea Monkey: “We’re going to have a brainstorming session.
Want to come and participate?”
(Ring)leader: “Sure, but before I do, tell me about the one or
two needs we’ll be brainstorming to solve. Also, we don’t want to be
spending too much time on old thinking, so what outside resources
have you invited to brainstorm with us?”
Idea Monkey: “We’ve come up with about 15 different things
our customers want us to fix.”
(Ring)leader: “Terrific! Let’s do some research to figure out the
top two areas of need and how our customers talk about them. Then
you and your experts can start coming up with ideas to solve them!”
Idea Monkey: “We have the idea, and here’s the good news. It
has way more functionality than any of our competitors’ products.
It is unbelievably cool!”
(Ring)leader: “Awesome. About which function is our customer
most excited? How are they talking about it? Let’s make sure we use
their words—not ours—in stressing the function they like best.”

WHO CHANNELS YOUR MONKEY?
There is a famous story about Roy and Walt Disney. Walt, once

again, had gotten incredibly excited about an idea that he’d been
thinking about and had made an enthusiastic presentation to his
brother, Roy, who ran operations. Roy’s response was that Walt’s
idea was going to cost more than $1 million to execute, to which
Walt responded, “Roy, why do you bother me with these meaning-
less details?”

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