# Making Ideas Happen  ## Metadata - Author: [[Scott Belsky]] - Full Title: Making Ideas Happen - Category: #books ## Highlights - What IDEO does provide is an incredibly effective structure for the execution of ideas—often ideas that their clients may have already had. For Truslow, IDEO’s tendency to constantly “make stuff ” throughout the creative process is perhaps the most critical ingredient to the company’s success. ([Location 998](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=998)) - Truslow explained to me that there is less need for consensus in a team when individuals are empowered to take incremental actions on their own throughout the creative process. Fledgling ideas are road tested early on, exposing dead ends and leading to prototypes that point the way forward. ([Location 1012](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1012)) - As a leader of a creative team, you should create an environment that allows premature action. Whether you work alone or with a team, a commitment to early action—without too much conviction—will help ideas materialize.2 ([Location 1017](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1017)) - If you can learn to take action more quickly, you will reap the rewards of having more preliminary data about new possibilities. But the ability to act on fledgling ideas will help only if you also have the willpower to abandon them when necessary. ([Location 1020](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1020)) - An article by personal development specialist Keith Trickey describes how, when developing feature-length films, Disney implemented a staged process using three different rooms to foster ideas and then rigorously assess them: ([Location 1030](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1030)) - Room One. In this room, rampant idea generation was allowed without any restraints. The true essence of brainstorming— unrestrained thinking and throwing around ideas without limits—was supported without any doubts expressed. ([Location 1032](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1032)) - Room Two. The crazy ideas from Room One were aggregated and organized in Room Two, ultimately resulting in a storyboard chronicling events and general sketches of characters. ([Location 1034](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1034)) - Room Three. Known as the “sweat box,” Room Three was where the entire creative team would critically review the project without restraint. Given the fact that the ideas from individuals had already been combined in Room Two, the criticism in Room Three was never directed at one person—just at elements of the project. ([Location 1036](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1036)) - The best practice here is to value the skeptic’s role in idea generation. When you find yourself (or your team) rallying around a brand-new idea or applying creative touches to a project, you must summon a dose of skepticism to ground your judgment. ([Location 1045](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1045)) - And it comes from saying no to a thousand things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important. ([Location 1056](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1056)) - Note: Steve Jobs. BusinessWeek - The wise creative leader understands that idea generation is a wild animal that requires a stolid trainer to tame excitement with a healthy dose of skepticism. You need to say “no” more than you say “yes,” and you need to build a team and culture that helps kill ideas when necessary. ([Location 1060](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003NX75W2&location=1060))