Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

We all have ideas. They’re so cheap. We get so many every day. We share them with each other and everyone else, but by the end of the day we forget it completely. This post is dedicated to presenting a means of saving any and all of your ideas so that you can use spilt personality as a means of moving forward with the outrageously remarkable ones.

Leechon is a result of preserving a series of ideas for a period of ten days. At the end of those ten days, the ideas were collected, filtered and analyzied. That led to coming up with actual steps to develop a project with then formed into Leechon.

Step 01 – Idea Creation/Collection
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We need to have some sort of method of collecting ideas. Always have something to write on. Have a box or folder at home to throw your ideas into. Doesn’t matter whether the idea is “good” or not. Just write it down. Set yourself a goal where every day, no matter what you’ll write down at least three ideas. Do this over a period of ten days.

Step 02 – Opportunity Evaluation
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Of the list of ideas you’ve collected over 10 days. Pick the top three. How do you pick your top three? – It’s up to you really:

• You can show them to your friends and see which ones get the best results
• You can randomly pick them
• You can have your mom pick them out
• You can see which one sounds cool
• You can pick three that start with the letter “C” (for no reason what so ever)

Bottom line is that you have to pick three.

This is where you get to use Edward de Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats” to properly evaluate those top three ideas. What are the “Six Thinking Hats”?

• White Hat - This is where you are totally objective and neutral to the idea. What information do you have on the idea. Any data of sort? Figures? Dates?

  Lets say you want to start a magazine focused towards filmmakers in the New Jersey area. – How many filmmakers are there in New Jersey? What are some trends among NJ filmmakers? How much money do they spend on subscriptions? Etc.

• Yellow Hat - Here you look at the value, benefits and feasibility of the idea with total optimism.

  If you took action on this idea, what would be the beneficial impact of it? What opportunities would arise as a result of it? What value does it bring?

• Black Hat - This is where you look at all the critical points. Approach the idea with caution. What are the negative implications and the downsides to the idea? Look at the dangers threats the idea presents logically.

  Look at the idea with pessimism. Try to see why the idea might not work. Lay out the fears associated with this. Looking at it this way will allow you to see the weak points and plan around and develop contingency plans it in the event you decide to take action on it.This method of thinking is a means of bringing you back to reality and dealing with the real issues and difficulties that may arise.

• Red Hat - What feelings do you associate with this idea? When you think of the idea do you feel fear? Threatened? Excited? Pumped? Sad? What are your gut feelings and hunches? What intuitive thoughts come to mind?

  You may also want to think about how other people will respond emotionally. Try to understand the responses of people who may not know why you’re executing on this idea.

• Green Hat – This is where you let your creativity shine.

  From the perceived problems what are some alternatives and possibilities that you can think of? What are some ways to change the idea to improve it and make it better in the face of the challenges and perceived problems. What’s interesting about the idea?

• Blue Hat - This is where you get to take a bird’s eye view of the idea. Look at the different hats in relation to one another. You may want to direction your attention to any one of the other hats.

  In this area you’re not thinking about the idea itself, rather the subject of the idea. The big picture

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What does all this have to do with Leechon?

Everything! – One of the quarter one goals for 2009 (as stated in the previous post) was to:

Start an “Idea of the Week” video series on Leechon which pitches an ideas and starts a brainstorm on outrageous and cool thoughts. – Perhaps some of those ideas will bear fruit!

My issue was that I have just way too many ideas. What I’ll be doing starting tomorrow (Friday) is everyday for ten days lay out three ideas. At the end of those ten days I’m going to follow the process I’ve laid out above.

This is a discipline I intend to keep. InshaAllah by the end of the year I’ll some some really phenominal ideas that have been thought through. If I don’t move on them, then inshaAllah others can.