You have just completed two days of brainstorming, narrowed your ideas to the fewer, bigger, and better, and are eager to put them into action. Your next step is to sell these ideas into your organization for approval to move forward.
While these ideas may help your company become THE ONLY or THE FIRST in your industry, they also may seem too scary and risky for leadership. They may end up whittled down to something boring---or perhaps not implemented at all.
A method to reduce perceived fear and risk is to demonstrate how ideas are safe and how they fit in.
Book Smart
Book descriptions often start with the words:
- "Not since ..."
- "In the tradition of ..."
These lead-ins are crafted to help us quickly "get" what a new, different book is about by comparing it to something we already know. (The book description practice is was pointed out by literary agent Raif Sagalyn and described to me by Todd Sattersten, author of 100 Best Busines Books.)
"Not since Good To Great by Jim Collins has a book ..." lets buyers know this will be like the best selling Good To Great. If you like Jim Collins, you'll probably like this new book.
"In the tradition of Tom Peters..." lets you know this book will offer a bold Tom Peters-like leadership message.
Apply this concept to your risky ideas.
Reframe
THE FIRST becomes NOT SINCE.
Instead of focusing on the first time an idea is being done, indicate how it follows some other idea with "not since." If you all look back fondly on what made project X success, show how the new idea is similar.
THE ONLY becomes IN THE TRADITION OF.
Instead of emphasizing that you're the only company trying something, sell the idea internally with focus how the idea is "in the tradition of ...," something you're already doing, or a successful idea from outside your company.
As you champion great ideas, emphasize how and where they fit into what you're already doing. While it seems counter-intuitive, demonstrating how your ideas actually fit in may be the secret to getting you to stand out.
