Page 178 - THE DO-IT-YOURSELF LOBOTOMY Open Your Mind to Greater Creative Thinking

The Proof Is in the Selling 169

THE PROOF ISINTHE SELLING

Is your company achieving its potential creatively? The proof is in
the selling.
If the final product is compromised in any way, ask yourself, “Were
the concessions absolutely necessary, or did someone simply not do a
good job shepherding the idea through to completion?” In other
words, “Did we simply not sell the idea?”
If your ideas are compromised too deeply too often, maybe it’s not the
quality of the ideas or the execution; maybe it’s a lack of ability to have
others see the brilliance in the idea or the lack of ability to get others to
let go of their preconceptions long enough to see the potential of the new
idea. (Do I dare say the inability for others to lobotomize themselves,
conceptually? Or perhaps your inability to lobotomize them? Ouch.)

Improving your creative output means also
improving your creative sell success rate.

Idea
Quality
This up and to the right
line assumes you are
always getting better at
Present Idea Level generating great ideas.
This chart also assumes
Present Sell Level that, like most companies,
your creative sell success
rate is less than great.
Time
The creative sell success rate at most companies looks like this.
Idea
Quality
Truly living up to your
New Idea Level creative potential means
New Sell Level increasing your ability to
sell your ideas, because
Old Idea Generation Level even if you increase the
quality of your ideas, if
your sell success rate is
Former Sell Level still low, how much have
you really improved?

Time
A higher sell rate narrows the gap.