10 X Goal Achieving is Easier than you Think

The first time I heard about the concept of 10 X thinking, planning and goal setting,  was, a few years back, from Daren Hardy, the publisher of Success Magazine, in the USA. At the time it seemed like an interesting concept, but not one I thought would work. Since then I have read the 10 X Rule by Grant Cardone and numerous books and articles, by other thought leaders like Dan Sullivan, etc. As all these people have enjoyed massive levels of success in areas, where I wanted to play, I decided to explore the concept a little further. 

Simplicity at Work

Imagine a concept that could grow something, which is really important to you, “10 X” and yet you would end up with a much simpler, easier to manage and more enjoyable process. Would you find value in something like that? 

What is it you want?

Action Idea: Look at your own business and ask what you would like to achieve over the next twelve months. It could be something as simple as growing your turnover or profits tenfold or maybe something a little more creative like, doubling your results, with one fifth of your current clientele or maybe you want to retain your current business, as is, but would like to spend ten times more time with your family. The picture you paint, about what you would like to create in the future is up to you. The only requirement is that the results, you will achieve, must stretch you. You must aim to achieve an outcome, which is 10 X greater than you are currently achieving.

Secret to Working with 10 X Goals

Don’t look at your “10 X” goal, as an end unto itself. Rather look at it, as a means of supporting you to hone and develop a new set of skills and abilities, which will enable you to achieve 10 X outcomes, in the future. The more I explore the concept of 10 X thinking, the more convinced I become that it is not only a way to really thrive, but in this ever changing world we live in, it has almost become a necessity to survive.

 

Stretch yourself

Action Idea: Start to explore your world and look for ways to make 10 X improvements to the way you do things, find ways to achieve 10 X growth, look for ways to be 10 X more innovative and you will have uncovered a formula for becoming the best possible version of you. I believe that future belongs to 10 X thinkers.

The Rewards 

The rewards that will start to flow to you, all start with 10 X goal setting, which supports you to engage in 10 X thinking and 10 X learning. The improvements you will see in your life and business will be far greater than even you could ever imagine.  The power of 10 X goal setting, is found in the fact that, when you start to think 10 X, you are immediately thrust out of your current limited paradigm. As if by magic, limitations and obstacles, which existed before, begin to change and disappear. 10 X goals setting, does not get you out of the box you are in, it thrusts you into a completely new different box altogether.

10 X – Speeds things up

It sounds counter intuitive, but when you engage in 10 X thinking, things become far clearer, which allows you to make far greater progress, in a much shorter time frame. This happens because 10 X goals seem to act, as a really powerful filter, which allows for easier decision making and action. It effectively allows you to sort out all the issues, which are not in alignment with where you want to go. 

This clarity allows you to quickly shift through ideas, relationships, projects, activities etc. and decide if they have 10 X potential or not. You can then ask questions like:

·         Is this process going to support me to go 10 X?

·         Is this how I want to spend my time to go 10 X?

·         Does this relationship have 10 X potential?

·         Is this 10 X – you fill in the blank?

As you start to filter all your relationships, activities and decisions, through the 10 X filter of possibility, you can quickly begin to transform everything in your life. You can then eliminate all those things, which do not support exponential growth and create and attract all the things that do.

10 X Progress

You have an internal Google search engine called your RAS or reticular activating system. This is a neural net of nerves at the base of your skull, which filters out all the noise around you and only allows the crucial information you need to get through. As you know the mind only sees and the ears only hear what the mind is looking for. So if you have not programmed your mind to think 10 X and to look for 10 X ways of doing things, you will never see them. There are numerous 10 X opportunities all around you right now, but because you are not looking for them, you will never see them. 

When you start to think 10 X and set 10 X goals. It is as if by magic, that great people, with the perfect capabilities, seem to appear and they are willing to form strategic relationships with you. Unique technologies and innovative shortcuts, which eluded you for years, seem to just show up. The truth is that they have been there all the time. You have just not been thinking 10 X and did not have 10 X goals, so you did not see them.

10 X is easier, faster and more enjoyable

When I started exploring 10 X goal setting and thinking, it seemed counter intuitive to believe that achieving a goal 10 X larger,  would be easier to achieve than setting a goal of only 2 X, what I was currently achieving. The reason for this is that to go 2 X, you don’t need to change much. All you need to do is work a little harder or longer. You just need to expand on what you are already doing. If you Leverage your current capabilities, you can only grow incrementally, never exponentially. 

To go 10 X on the other hand means that the way you have always done things, will no longer cut it. To achieve 10 X goals, you need real change. You need to change the way you look at things and start to make leaps in your value creation, huge improvements in efficiency, resourcefulness and productivity. This new way of thinking, puts you in the driver seat. Instead of always feeling like you are trying to catch up, you will feel like you are in the driver’s seat.

Evolving technology and other changes are going to force you to change in the medium to long term anyway. So why not adopt 10 X goal setting and thinking, which will allow you to be ahead of the crowd, where you make those same changes in the short term.

Sales Training

Being Innovative is not as hard as you think

If any organisation wants to thrive going forward, innovation should be a way of being, not just something they occasionally do, when they want to try come up with new and innovative ideas. As Bill Damaschke, chief creative officer for DreamWorks says. Each new movie starts out with tiny teams of two people. He believes that is where true innovation comes from. Two people given free rein to be creative and innovative, thereby coming up with new ideas. 

Bill says that, as the writer and director need more support; more people are added to the team as they go along. As the teams get bigger, they once again break up into smaller creative units. This keeps people thinking, creative and no one feels like just a cog in the wheel. Everyone feels valued and remains creative. Lines of communication between the various teams, is kept open with regularly weekly “show and tells”, where all the teams get to share and support each other’s creativity. 

I believe that the secret to innovation within any organisation is to encourage a culture of creativity, where everyone is made to feel important and their ideas are given a voice during “show and tell” sessions. 

Avoid the Lure and comfort of your Brand

Bill Damaschke, also believes that companies should avoid the lure and comfort of their brand, as this can severely restrict and limit any organisations ability to be innovative and creative. He believes that the key to innovative success is to forget about branding altogether. 

He believes that the moment you allow yourself to think narrowly about what you do, is the moment you become restricted and lose your ability to innovate. When you allow yourself to be too attached to your brand, you kill any possibility to be really innovative and creative.

I believe that Branding is a crucial part of any business, but take cognisance of what Bill says, he is after all the leader of one of the most creative and innovative organisations around. The secret I believe is to find a positive compromise between building and supporting your brand, yet never allowing this to limit the culture of creativity and innovation within your organisation.  

Learn the art of Living in the Now

One of the most important requirements to be innovative and creative, is to be observant. Learn the art of always being present, observe what is going on around you and try to uncover better or new ways of doing things. You can only innovate, if you have open eyes and see opportunities to innovate and create.

Encourage an environment of Innovation

Most people are creative, when encouraged and supported to be so. As a leader, encourage your team to be innovative and creative. The best way to do this is to project an attitude of creativity and innovation yourself. As you know people always mirror what they see. When they observe that an atmosphere of innovation, permeates through the organisation and they experience it as a way of being, within the organisation, you will be amazed at how innovative and creative people will become.

Self – Belief

Encourage people to believe in their ability to be creative, by showing support and understanding for any innovative ideas they may have. When it comes to creativity, nothing will support people to be creative, more than their own self-belief in their ability to come up with great new ideas. Society has forced people to comply with rules for so long, that most people doubt their ability to be creative. When you encourage, support and reward creativity, you create and environment, which is conducive to innovation. As your team experiences this new supportive environment; creativity will gradually become a way of being, within your organisation.

Creativity Mentors

If you are really serious about creating a culture of innovation within your organisation, then it is crucial that you support key people, with creative mentors to help them to unlock their creativity. These mentors can come from within your organisation or they can be external people you hire to support your team.

Study Creativity

Encourage your teams to study creativity. The more books they can read around creativity, innovation or the use of creativity models, the better equipped they will be to become creative. As they discover new ideas or strategies, which will help them with their creativity, encourage them to have the courage to try them. Support your team to incorporate the study and use of creativity into their daily routine. Encourage your team members to study the history of your business, markets and environment and to search for better or more innovative ways of doing things. 

Action Idea: Here are a few examples of books on creativity I recommend that you get your team to read.

·         Serious Creativity – Edward De Bono

·         Lateral Thinking – Edward De Bono

·         Cracking Creativity – Michael Michalko

·         Thinkettoys – Michael Michalko

·         Six Thinking Hats Eaward De Bono

Creative Models

There are a number of excellent models in the books, which I have described above. You can encourage your team to use any of the models described in the books above. All of them work really well. As I am in the business of sales, I like the SCAMPER model, as I feel it works really well for sales people. Based on your industry and requirements, you may find a more appropriate model for your industry.

Risk Failure

Creativity and innovation is most certainly not an exact science. To become successful and to consistently flex your creativity muscle, you must accept that not every idea is going to work out quite the way you wanted it to. You must make your team feel safe to innovate. Never punish people for any failures, as this will put a huge damper on any creative concepts and ideas, any other team members may have. You must encourage team members to put their necks out and risk failure. As Tom Watson, President of IBM said, “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate”.

Support all creative ideas in action

To really instil an environment of creativity within your organisation, you must encourage and support all creative ideas. As your team experiences positive support for creativity and innovation, they will gradually incorporate it into the unwritten corporate code or the way they see things within the organisation. As you know it is never the way the leadership sees things, but rather the way the team experiences things within the organisation, which adds up into the corporate culture.

Creative and innovative organisations are the ones, which are flourishing and prospering in these times of massive change. If you want your organisation not to only survive, but to thrive going into the next 10 years, it is crucial that you start the process of developing and encouraging a culture of innovation and creativity within your business. Innovation is no longer a nice to have. It has become a crucial cog in the wheel of every business. 

Sales Training

Brainstorming made Easy

The term brain storming has been around for over 50 years now. It was the brain child of Alex Faickney Osborn. (He is the “O” in BBDO, the powerhouse advertising agency). He observed that when groups came together to discuss concepts, they were able to come up with far more inventive and creative ideas, than individual employees, were able to on their own. Alex coined and popularised the term in his 1953 best seller, “Applied Imagination”. 

Since then brainstorming has become a common term and common practice, in most organisations. People and organisations are brainstorming simple things, like what to get their dad for his birthday, all the way through to the strategic path an organisation should follow, over the next five to ten years. The secret to get the most from a brainstorming session requires far more than just passing a chocolate box around the room. 

I would like to share a few ideas in this article, on how you can get the most out of your brain storming sessions. 

Keep the sessions short

Many leaders want quick results, so they schedule a half day or full day brain storming session. The challenge with this is that, people can only sustain their creative efforts for a maximum of 60 minutes. During the first 10 minutes they regurgitate the same old stuff they have heard before. The second 10 – 20 minutes is probably the most valuable session, where the most innovative and creative ideas will come out. After this the rush, seems to fade. The best results are obtained during sessions of 30 – 45 minutes. As people deliver their best and feel energised and creative for this time frame

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Excursion Technique

Another great idea, to get the most from these sessions, is to use the excursion technique. After a 30 – 45 minute brain storming session, allow the participants some time to go to their creative place, where they can digest and think about the session for between 60 minutes to 24 hours. My experience shows 24 hours to be the optimal time for this.

During this time they would go for a walk, a hike or go to any place where they can just allow their mind to explore and wander. This allows the information time to incubate in their subconscious. During this time, incredible new ideas often materialise. When you give your mind time to wander, that is often the time it generates the best ideas.

Defer Judgement

To get the most from any brain storming session, do not evaluate or judge any ideas as they come up. Try to allow the ideas to flow freely. Simply listen and record all the ideas as they come up. Say thank you to anyone who offers an idea, ask if they have anything else to add and then move on to the next person.

Quantity over Quality

Make everyone feel comfortable to offer ideas. Not every idea will be a grand slam every time. When people are made to feel that every idea is valuable, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, they will be far more eager to contribute to the session. Let everyone know that you are after quantity; quality will come when you invest time to unpack all the ideas.

Make the atmosphere fun

Try to keep the proceedings as fun and relaxed as possible. Toss a ball around, encourage people to make jokes. The more fun you can make each session, the better will be the results you will enjoy.

Schedule a critique Session

A couple of days after the brainstorming session, schedule a meeting to analyse the results. As you go through the list, focus on all the great ideas, those you really appreciate. Don’t eliminate the really absurd ideas, before you have given the team time to analyse them properly. As you dig deeper, you may uncover some really great new innovative concepts, which may come from a few really absurd ideas. Sort the ideas, hash them out, discuss them, vote on them and try to uncover the best idea, which as closely as possible, matches the original goal of the brainstorming session.

   

Brain storming is a really powerful process to support you and your team to come up with new creative or innovative ideas, which is a crucial concept for any organisation in these ever changing and evolving times, we live in.  

Motivational Speakers