The Big Idea

I did pretty well in school, at least academically (we can talk about the social stuff another time).  The reason I bring this up is not to pat myself of the back but to use that record as an example of what can happen when one gets focused on The Big Idea.  My method of getting through school, and college in particular, was not just to read a lot and study.  Frankly, there was too much reading to do, too many notes to digest, and not enough time to do all of the other things (be on the radio, make music, write for the school paper, etc. – what, you thought I meant party??) I wanted to do in college.  So after the first week of class I would go to the professor and ask a very simple question:

If you could distill the syllabus down into one Big Idea, what would that be? In other words, if you could sort of summarize what main theme we’re going to be studying, what would it be?

Most of the time, they told me. In fact, there was only one case where she wouldn’t and it became pretty evident what it was after a month of class anyway.  Once I had this, every single thing that went on in the class and all reading was measured against its relevance to the Big Idea.  If it was not relevant, I ignored it.  When exam time came, all I needed to do was lay out the Big Idea and use that things that were relevant to illustrate it.   Ace city!

The same thing holds true in your business. What’s your Big Idea? Are the things you’re doing relevant to it? If you don’t know what the idea is, how do you know if you’re on track? When someone wants to spend money on something, how can you tell if it’s an investment that has a chance? Odds are, if it’s not related to The Big Idea, it’s a stretch.
Next time you have a minute, write down what you think your Big Idea is. Then ask the folks that work with you for the same. If the answers aren’t all the same, you’ve got some work to do BEFORE you get any further off track!