Jump Start Your Brain. Doug Hall

odds of success.

      “Wicked easy to understand” means that at first glance, you get it. If it takes more than 10 seconds to grasp or 10 words to explain an idea, it’s probably not wicked good.

      It doesn’t matter if your challenge is a high-tech computer, a hydrocarbon chemical, a sugar-water soda pop or sliced bread. Complicated ideas never work. Complicated ideas are a sign of hazy thinking.

      Nothing delivers the kiss of death more quickly than an idea that is unclear, complex or obtuse. If your customer or your boss or your banker doesn’t understand, you lose. You are the only one who will give your idea the benefit of the doubt.

      People need to get your ideas immediately, if not sooner. Unless you live in a bubble, any idea you want to develop has to be communicated to others.

      The success of your idea will lean heavily on your ability to involve others in your mission. They can’t wax enthusiastic about your vision if they don’t know what it is. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision, as he articulated it on August 28, 1963, was easy to understand.

      “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

      I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

      I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

      I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

      I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

      I have a dream today.

      I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

      I have a dream today.”

      John F. Kennedy’s vision on May 25, 1961, was likewise easy to understand:

      I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.

      Your idea needs to be self-evident. In the hyper-cluttered Information Age, there is no other kind. Self-evident products make you want to pick them up when you see the name and the front of the package. No additional communication is required.

      Simplicity engenders impulse purchases. Complexity generates contemplation. You lose when your consumer has to contemplate your idea. In the process of all that contemplating, they begin to look at other options.

      “Simplicity is the essence of brilliance.”

      – Richard Saunders

      How to Know If Your Idea Is Wicked Easy to Understand

      Write it down and read what you wrote, speaking the words out loud.

      There is something about hearing your idea with your own ear that sparks fresh clarity. What seems easy to understand in your head may well be confusing when committed to paper.

      Then e-mail your words to three friends. Ask each to write down any questions they might have about your idea. Process the feedback, make the changes, and send it out to three more friends.

      As you clarify the idea, be very conscious about your changes. Sometimes as you bring clarity to an idea, you suddenly realize your idea is not worth any further effort. That’s OK. Better to know sooner than later, after investing significant time and money on a mirage.

      ORIGINALITY

      Ideas must be original to be wicked good. Same old, same old doesn’t cut it. You have to offer something that’s original, new, and different to get consumers to change their buying patterns.

      Wicked good ideas offer benefits that have yet to be experienced and appreciated. They chart new courses and explore new ground. Original ideas generate their own excitement and awareness. Everyone knows Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. But can you name two other Apollo astronauts who followed him? I doubt it, unless you’re related to one.

      Being the first, the original, sets you apart. Being the first is newsworthy. It makes people stop and take notice. It’s the pioneers who reap the benefits of fame, publicity, and profits.

      FACT: According to Eureka! Research on more than 4,000 innovations ideas with a dramatic difference are three times more likely to survive in the marketplace.