Council Post: 4 Reasons To Avoid Dwelling On Ideas For Too Long

CEO, Co-founder of Orbita.VC.

What happens to a balloon when you inflate it too much? It pops. All the effort you put into blowing it up is gone. Similar situation with ideas.

If you overthink, you won’t end up moving forward and doing what you’re supposed to do. Like a new business initiative, or developing a game-changing product feature.

Dwelling on ideas can look different ways:

• Extended project timelines due to constant revisions and reassessments.
• Missed market opportunities while competitors capitalize on emerging trends.
• Inability to pivot quickly in response to changing customer needs and preferences.
• Declining team morale and motivation because of prolonged decision-making.
• Reduced agility and adaptability to industry disruptions or challenges.
• Increased costs related to never-ending analysis and indecision.

To avoid falling down the rabbit hole of analysis paralysis, acknowledgment is key. The better you understand poor versus effective decision-making, the better the outcome.

As long as you keep the core idea of your project or company in mind and are flexible to adapt problem-solving methods, you’ll be on the right track.

Here are four reasons why you don’t have to get stuck on ideas for too long.

Problem-Solving Methods Aren’t Always Right Or Linear

What I mean by this is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to executing ideas.

Take Elon Musk’s Tesla project, for example. The mission is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and reduce CO2 emissions. A variety of methods contribute to this goal—battery technology, charging infrastructure, electric vehicle efficiency and so on.

But top-level management in some companies often sticks to problem-solving methods rather than the mission itself. And these systems don’t necessarily work from the ground up or in a linear fashion. You have to explore more out-of-the-box options that are in sync with your idea. Don’t stop just because you’re not working with an existing proven method.

Strategic Pivoting Is Oftentimes An Option On The Table

If an idea isn’t working after a reasonable number of attempts, pivot. Change the strategy. When the old approach is no longer effective, you shift the course of action. This includes looking for new opportunities and changes in the market. During project implementation, you can let go of old methods. Even if you set those up at the beginning.

The challenge to watch out for when pivoting is that—in most corporations—it runs into a common problem. That is the reluctance of employees to take responsibility if certain actions go wrong. When it comes to significant changes, teams fear the potential implications and it’s crucial to acknowledge their fears.

Resources Wasted On Ideas And Attachment Don’t Come Back

The hype of how your ideas are living in the outside world is unparalleled. That also comes with a dose of emotional attachment when they don’t work out.

There is nothing wrong with that, it’s human behavior 101. But business-wise? Not an ideal scenario. Time and money are in the middle of the equation. For the record—persistence is one thing and unrealistic expectations about a venture’s viability are another.

Behind not admitting errors lies the desire to prove oneself right and the so-called confirmation bias. This trait is normal among risk-takers who do whatever it takes.

Acknowledging mistakes is part of the personal growth and strong leadership recipe. You learn to overcome the fear of others’ opinions and make smarter decisions.

Far from weakness, here’s what you can do:

• Leverage your personal expertise.
• Network and connect with new people.
• Play around with trial-and-error approaches.
• Gather information to build compelling arguments.

Instead of relying 100% on theory and burning resources, go out and experiment. Balance the lessons from others with your own experiences, and never stop learning.

Failing Fast, Learning Fast Has A Higher Cost-Benefit Ratio

When you’ve been through tough business situations and still managed to keep an operation running, that speaks volumes. Like a sailor navigating through a storm. Turbulent waves and fierce winds make you emerge better prepared for future voyages.

You speak the same language as like-minded people. Investor or partner material, I’d say.

You won’t find a culture of embracing failure everywhere. It’s a phenomenon often found in America. It’s no surprise that the U.S. has the highest number of unicorns worldwide, 700 and counting.

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