2nd Inning
There is a general belief that everyone deserves a second
chance. If you believe in it, then you are on my side to explore this further
in the space of innovation. If you don’t believe in it, then also reading it
further may force you to re-think your position. Many companies, organizations,
and teams run innovation campaign at small and big level. They come in various forms
like drives, hack fest, hackathon etc. Ideas are collected and at the end
winners are awarded. As soon as the campaign is over, things comes to full stop.
The ideas that did not made it to winners circle are completely forgotten. Even
the submitters of those ideas feels it may not be worth taking forward. In
short, the one time drive killed thousands of potential idea in the process of
giving light to few at the top. These forgotten ideas deserves a second chance.
Ideas that did not made to top may be a case of insufficient
details, miss-aligned reviewers, time pressure, or articulation. Sometimes the
idea may be too early in the game and market is not yet ready to understand or
accept. These ideas may have hidden potential in other areas that the reviewers
or sponsors are not ready to focus or invest. They may be supplementary or
complementary to other ideas or products. All these suggests they should not be
ignored. They should be re-looked with fresh perspective and fresh mind from
time to time regularly. No idea should have an expiry date unless it is already
implemented in the same exact form. No idea should be ignored at review stage.
Often questions arise on the feasibility to maintain such
idea pools. That should be easy to resolve in today’s world. Storage has become
cheaper. Tagging and search technologies have improved. Crowd sourcing,
community funding, and VCs are always eager to invest. Further, the value of
such databases is much exceptional if someone decides to utilize it at max. In
short, it is worth investing in such ideal pools as against ignore them as lost.
By giving them a second chance, you are keeping the submitter hope alive. The submitter mature over a period of time and they themselves will see their ideas
morph into new ideas over a period of time. The submitter themselves will
maintain their ideas with latest development in the world around them.
Wikipedia is one such example where submitter maintain the content in absence
of any returns. Having such idea pools may result in small and supplementary
ideas to existing products. Having such idea pools may connect submitter to
potential champions or sponsors in future when the time is right to invest. Having
such idea pools will keep the hopes alive for many and becomes a source of inspiration
to continue on new ideas.
In conclusion, the idea of giving second chance to all ideas has merit and potential much beyond our current imagination. It may open doors into infinity to prosper innovation for ages to come. In games like cricket it is the 2nd inning which is important to conclude the game. Hence, second chance is important in the space of innovation.
What will definitely help is to ensure the idea can be revisited by everyone. Even the submitter can get a chance to enhance their thoughts over period of time
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Matches are won in the 2nd innings!
ReplyDeleteBright Spot: Comparing this to Cricket. Something anyone can relate to. Something to ponder upon: I think the key here is to have the records properly digitized and revisited. Will give the much needed metrics to attract Champions.
ReplyDelete