Why Your 10x Idea Got Forgotten
You proved the ROI and two weeks later nobody remembered the deck. 10x ideas are a dime a dozen — memorable ones aren't. The first three principles of sticky ideas.
Imagine that you just completed an important PowerPoint for a new business initiative you want to lead. After spending dozens of hours and many long nights, your day has finally come to present your idea. You are excited, jittery, and presenting in front of a group of stern-faced business executives. With your well-crafted and logically laid out slides, you a layout that your initiative could drive a 10x return on investment. You spend most of your time going over the numbers that (at least in your mind) prove the initiative’s future success. As the meeting ends, they ask you a few questions and let you out. But after a few weeks of silence, you check back in only to find that most people have completely forgotten your idea, so they would not be going forward with it. Left alone with your thoughts, you wonder, “why, why didn’t they see the value”?
Well my guess is that it was because the idea did not stand out as exciting, innovative, or memorable, and 10x ideas are a dime a dozen go to a startup weekend and see for yourself.
Next time if you need to explain an idea, try using the 6 Principles of STICKY 🧲 ideas:
🕵️♀️Principle 1. Simplicity – Keep it simple, and don’t make more points than you need to prove your case. The human mind can only hold many ideas simultaneously, so don’t overwhelm them with information.
💥Principle 2. Unexpectedness – Pull people in with unexpected truths that keep your audience engaged and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
🏬Principle 3. Concreteness – Avoid long-winded Mission statements, synergies, strategies, and visions that are full of ambiguity. Instead, use clear words and metaphors that give your audience a vivid image of what you mean!
💎As for the last 3 principles? You will have to wait until Friday for those 😉