Napkin thinking. Paper power.
NAPKIN EVOLUTION — FROM IDEA TO MONEY. I wrote the initial concept of The Little Red Book of Selling on a napkin. Later that week I clarified it on a flip chart. Then transferred the ideas into a word file.
NEW IDEAS FROM TIME WORN ONES.
Who, what, why, when, where, which, and maybe even how
This way of thinking and clarifying is 100 years old
On a napkin, or on a flip chart, or in a word file write a different set of criteria about an idea or an opportunity.
Here’s my “w” list for looking at an idea:
- Wonder — what can we do? What can I do? What do I want to do? Howdo I want this to come out (outcome)? What others want, and what othersare thinking
- Write — answers that have meaning, whimsical musings,
- Watch — what others do, watch the situation evolve
- Welcome! — all new ideas and all thoughts
- Wow! — if something is obviously WOW, capture it and try it. Wowcannot be forced. In the absence of wow, move on — of hang in thereuntil wow emerges.
- Wanderlust — will this take me someplace new?
- Worry free — what is the risk combined with the aggravation factor?
- Wundarbar — what is BEYOND WONDERFUL about this? What’s the value? What’s the legacy?
What kind of list can you create?
- I think inside, on paper, and out loud.
- Visualize past vacations, and you can get over the “need” to take one now.
- (actual writing: visualize vacations, and you don’t have to take them.)
- write (thoughts and ideas) right away
- get over it and get on with it
- I stay young, even though I’m growing old
- It’s better to rob a bank than tell a lie. If you rob a bank, youget out of jail in 5-7 years — if you lie, you get a lifetime sentenceof distrust.
- You learn how to be a parent from your parents. By their actions and words, they teach you what to do, and what not to do.
- My dad taught me not to hit my children. He taught me by hitting me.
- Don’t “fake it ’till you make it.” Rather, act as though you have already achieved it. That way, when you get there it’s real.
