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Turn Your Idea into Reality

Getting Good Ideas Off the Drawing Board

How many times have you thought of a really fantastic idea? Maybe it was something that would revolutionize the way your office operates. Or perhaps it was a great product that would appeal to millions of people worldwide.

Most of us have been in this situation at least once, and we'll probably have to admit that this great idea never became a reality. Sure, it was creative - and it could be done. But we never acted on it.

Why? Why do we think of ideas that we know are good, only to let them sit in the back of our minds - without doing anything about them?

One reason is that putting an idea into practice can seem like a huge amount of work. Even if it's a small idea, most of us see nothing but potential obstacles when we imagine taking action. We assume we've lost the election before we've even started the campaign!

Another reason can be fear - fear of moving out of our current, comfortable space.

In this article, we'll detail steps and tips for turning your ideas into reality...

Full text of this article is available to members of the Mind Tools Career Excellence Club. If you're a member, please click here for full text, or sign in below.

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New Articles (Not included in the Mind Tools E-book.)
* Shows articles available in full only to Career Excellence Club members

Kano Model Analysis - Developing products that delight*
Synectics - A useful backstop creativity process*
Metaphorical Thinking - Using comparisons to express ideas and solve problems*
The Charette Procedure - Brainstorming multiple ideas with multiple stakeholders
Crawford's Slip Writing Method - Gathering ideas from many contributors
Practical Innovation - Managing ideas effectively*
Generating New Ideas - Think differently and spark creativity

A full list of Mind Tools articles is available here.

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