Your Next Big Innovation—Just a Hotel Stay Away!
Perhaps the single thing that separates a good idea from a great idea is that great ideas are captured. Everyone has a great idea, or a billion-dollar idea, or even an interesting concept; but, the difference between most of those people and the ones you’ve heard of like Nikola Tesla, Copernicus, and Homer is one seemingly simple thing: They wrote down their ideas. Okay, so it might not be that simple, but it’s a start. One of the best ways to capture these ideas has been provided to us for free by almost every hotel we have ever stayed in: a notepad and a pen.
Whether you’re part of a team of 10 or a leader of an engineering team of 500 people, one of the simplest barriers to overcome is ensuring that your people have a way to capture their ideas where they are and when they have them. So, it’s easier for the hotel chains, right? They simply put the pad on a table near the bed, and perhaps one on a desk, and in your average hotel room you can reach that pad from any spot in the room.
The good news is that these hotels are just giving away the tools that you need to empower your team to capture those ideas: pens and paper. So, to capture those idea, take those tools with you and make sure your team has access to them all around your space. One of the things I’ve done at Soap Box Rocket is design an idea pad holder that can be printed by almost any 3D printer that can then be hung on a wall to store these free pens and pads you’re currently leaving behind at the hotel.
This may seem overly simplistic—and really it is—but how often have you tried to explain to someone something in your office and had to look around for a piece of paper and a writing utensil to illustrate your idea? It probably happens more often than you realize. So, give it a try, print out one of my idea pad holders, or simply make space for stacks of pens and notepads in key areas around the office—especially conference rooms—and see what ideas you and your team capture.
But, do be aware that this is just a way to ignite a culture of innovation inside your company. You also need to ensure that your team knows why the supplies are there and how they need to use them—and also why they need to use them, too. Fast Company has a good article on one of the ways that a pen and piece of paper can help boost the creativity and idea sharing in your office.
Download for free the files needed to print your own idea pad holder here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:794370
Or, if you don’t have a printer, you can order a print here: http://www.shapeways.com/product/SY6EYPTNN/idea-holder
Craig Damlo is an innovation coach and the founder of Soap Box Rocket, whose goal is to help ignite a culture of innovation for you and your team. Visit http://www.soapboxrocket.com for a list of services and contact information.
Photo Credit: Craig Damlo
