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99 Percent Crap

While this is one statistic I don't actually track (because doing so would take WAY TOO LONG and produce no tangible benefit), I am nonetheless certain that 99 percent of all my ideas are crap.

• Why don't they put weed killer in those blue-water toilet sanitation devices, so I don't have to have my sewers snaked every five years?
• Speaking of toilets, if they had a foot pedal that lifted the seat (and put it back down when released) it would eliminate the second biggest dispute of all time between the sexes. (The biggest is tooth paste squeeze or roll -- Cindy solved that one by giving me my own tube.)
• Why haven't they invented siding, gutters, porch railings and other outside home surface coverings with hidden compartments containing Christmas lights? Time to deck the house? Just throw a switch and all the compartments open with the lights installed and glowing.

Of course I have 10,000 or more ideas per day, so that means I'm good for at least 700 nuggets of brilliance a week. The trick, as you may imagine, is cutting the wheat from the chaff as efficiently as possible, and then boiling them down to the few that are within the realm of pursuing. (If I manufactured siding, I'd actually look hard at the hidden lights idea.)

Here's my three-step process for capturing these ideas, filtering out the garbage and deciding what to try. Maybe it will generate an idea for you.

• Idea Capture: I have a file on my computer desktop (lower right corner -- almost always visible) titled Ideas.Txt. Whenever an idea flashes, I click, type, save and close. (I don't even bother to decide how valid the idea is.) That clears my brain of the idea without losing it, so I can get back to the task at hand. I also carry a pocket recorder (it's one of the 20-year-old models with the small tape) just about everywhere I go. Same concept, click, record, click -- idea captured. In fact, one of my favorite things to do is jump on my bike for two hours with my recorder. That's usually good for more than 50 bad ideas!
• Filtering The Garbage: Once a week I scan the idea file and delete all the obviously stupid stuff, plus I listen to the recorder and transfer the good ones to the Idea.Txt file.
• Try It: Once a month I go through the Idea.Txt file and pick one to five things to try the following month. Sometimes I run them by trusted advisers. (But to be honest, most of the time I just pull the trigger and ride the bullet.)

Two years ago one of my seemingly stupid ideas was the spark that launched Yellow-Tie.

Between Christmas and New Years two weeks ago, the main idea I decided to implement in 2007 was this one:

• What if I helped salespeople for free, with coaching and training, and charged only when I helped business owners and sales managers with higher-level issues?

Of course, only time will tell whether this idea joins the 99 percent group.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Stumped For A Fun Gift?

If you're stumped for a last-minute holiday gift that is guaranteed to please anyone, I suggest you try Codebreaker, by Doublestar, LLC.

Part family glue, part memory barbell, part critical-thinking aerobics, this creative, award-winning adaptation of the old Concentration game is perfect for bridging the generation gap at any holiday gathering or family dinner table.

You can see a short video of how Codebreaker will inject fun and brain aerobics into your family gathering on the Cogno website at http://www.cogno.com. (No, I don't get anything for recommending it!)

Happy Holidays!

Gill

Where Is Inspiration?

Two weeks ago, I had three meetings (sales call, lunch, sales call) back to back to back in the same area -- about 15 miles from my office.

At about 11 a.m. the day before these meetings, my lunch got canceled. Not really having time to drive back and forth, I was therefore faced with eating alone. And since I really hate eating alone, I thought, "How can I be absolutely sure I get a lunch date for tomorrow, given the short notice?"

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From: Gill E. Wagner
To: [Full Name]
Subject: I Need A Lunch Date Tomorrow In The West End

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Hi, [FirstName],

I had lunch scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) in the Central West End, but it got canceled. However, I have meetings in the area before and after, so I have a choice to make:

1. I can eat alone.
2. I can find someone eating alone and ask if he or she wants company.
3. I can ask people to join me for lunch last minute.

Option 1 is out -- I hate eating alone.

Option 2 is always fun, but sometimes people are cranky and don't want company -- which dumps me right back into Option 1, which you already know I hate.

So I choose Option 3. And I'm thinking a Wisdom Swap might be just the ticket.

Here's how this works (someone must play timekeeper):

• We each buy our own meal. (That's the only cost.)
• One person gets one minute to pose a question to the group. (After you ask the question you must zip your lip so that others are free to brainstorm without interruption.)
• Three people get two minutes to offer an answer to your question.
• The first person gets 30 seconds to ask a follow-up question that one person will answer for 60 more seconds.

We do this throughout the entire meal, and we all get to look back and say, "I can't believe how much smarter I got in the last hour and a half."

If you're free from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and want to participate in this Wisdom Swap lunch, reply before 4 p.m. today and make a rock-solid commitment to being there.

After I know how many, I'll pick the place and let you know where. (If we get a really big group, we'll probably break into smaller groups given the short notice.)

Please don't make me eat alone!

Thanks,

Gill

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Here were my stats:

• I used mail merge to send 367 personal e-mails.
• 20 people replied and said they would attend.
• 71 replied and said some form of "I can't make this one but it sounds great. Please invite me next time."
• 12 people showed up, participated and gave glowing reviews after the lunch ended.

Want to hear something interesting? I actually made up the term "Wisdom Swap" and invented the Wisdom Swap process while I was writing the invitation -- now I'm trademarking it.

Where is inspiration? It's hiding in the shadows of complacency. To find it, do something different.

Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

What's The Word?

What is the only noun in the English language where all of the following are true?

• The singular version of the word is spelled exactly the same as the plural version. (Example: deer [one] and deer [many].)
• By adding an "s" to the end of the word, the resulting word indicates more than the singular version of the word but fewer than the plural version of the word.
• You add the "s" only when you want to be humorously insulting.

A prize goes to the first person who gets this right. (It's my riddle, so I get to decide what "right" is.)

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association