Thursday 8 November 2012

Struggling for new ideas? Get out of the office!

I had an eureka moment a few weeks ago. I realised just why working with the teams I do, in the way I do is so rich, so creative and so productive. I realised why I never seem to run out of fresh ideas. I realised why my enthusiasm and my drive can seem endless. I realised what satisfies me and how I have made a success of my life... and it's all down to the the magic that happens when ideas have sex! 

It was a video talk by Matt Ridley (When Ideas Have Sex) that, for me, clarified just why I have found such inspiration in looking outside whatever organisation I'm in. Why I've sought to find out more; see new things, meet new people, hear new experiences. Why I never feel I know enough, and constantly feel like I can learn from others. And why that has enabled me to achieve more.

It's how I have always run my professional life and how I run my business.

Using the best people
Some five years ago I moved from a salaried position, to working as a sub-contractor. It was a daunting prospect, but once I started thinking in a new way, the possibilities opened up. First I could tailor people's jobs far better than I'd been able to before. I wasn't stuck with a certain team for everything I wanted to do. I could use the best people for the things they were best suited to. If a member of my team wasn't so good at one task that needed doing, well then I could use someone else, instead of having to use them simply because they were on the payroll.

Un-used talent
There was another bonus: I could tap into talent that was being unused, parents who were at home looking after children. I didn't mind when they did their hours, it gave me access to some very skilled people who were delighted to have a position that they could work around their childcare needs. I got highly experienced and dedicated people that proved a real asset. My team was stronger. No longer was I stuck with appointing someone willing to work in a particular location, I could simply find the best people, regardless of where they lived.

And so the team was built... where you might have four full time staff, I had seven, all working part time. I had a wider team of freelance writers and photographers as well - again, rather than filling the hours of a core team with things that didn't suit their skills, I would use them for the bits that suited them.

The input of new ideas
As much as we worked as a team, we all worked on other projects, and this proved to be an added bonus, the true value of which took me a few years to appreciate.

Because we were all working with other clients, on other publications, other websites, or writing or taking photographs in other areas, we were all learning. Coming across new systems, different ways of organising things. Our experience working on the magazine together fed into our approach with those new projects, but in turn the new experiences fed fresh ideas back. New systems for communicating, for running meetings, for handling content. Ideas, ideas, ideas. We were in different parts of the country, working on other projects with different teams, and when we came back together, these experiences went into the pot, helping us to improve on what we were doing.

We were stronger for the time spent apart, fresher, and whenever we met up again, our new ideas met as well, joined together, interacted with one another, and produced new ideas of their own, resulting in improvements in the way we were doing things as well as injecting a fresh shot of inspiration.

It's when ideas meet in this way that your work, your business, your life moves forwards. Shut yourself away in your office, with the same people, the same processes, the same way of doing things and you'll stand still... get out there, harness the diverse ideas and input of others, and your business will move forwards, faster. You can become more efficient and better at what you do. I've valued the input of others for years... now I have a better understanding of just why it's so valuable.