Thinking Big: Taking an Idea From Thought to Revolution

THINKING BIGTAKING AN IDEA FROM THOUGHT TO REVOLUTION

// PHANTAMEDIA.COM #EXTRAORDINARYVIDEO

EVERY CEO, CMO, writer, or anyone who’s simply spearheaded a

project has either pictured their pensive face on a greyscale book

cover à la Steve Jobs or hearing their names discussed around

dinner tables, their visions sparking ferocious debates and

grabbing headlines.

When people idealize these Big Thinkers, there’s two very

common but equally detrimental outcomes. One is that people try

too hard to think “big” all the time and then produce a bunch of

ideas that go nowhere because they are unable to put these big

ideas in motion. The other is that people never even bother trying,

because they think big ideas are so rare and special that only

those possessing a certain je-ne-sais-quoi are able to pull off.

To those who suffer from the latter: big thinking is totally

achievable. It’s not really that complicated. And it’s necessary to

learn to think big if you ever want to be anything other than a blip

on the map.

THE FIRST WORD


To the former: big thinking needs to be

thought of as a gradual and simplistic

process. Stop focusing on the end result.

Big thinking is made up of many small

blocks; that’s why it’s so complex in the

end.

To both: when you break big thinking

down, it’s practically foolproof. Instead of

just shooting for the moon like so many

motivational posters told you to, learn to

build your rocket and plan your trajectory

first.

The perfect example of an up-and-

coming Big Thinker who didn’t just

blindly shoot for the moon is Ryan

Grayston. Grayston is not a household

name. Rylan Grayston enjoyed some

press, but mostly remained a small star

only in more exclusive tech communities.

He’s is a 28-year-old inventor from

Saskatchewan who created the Peachy

Printer — a $100 3D Printer which can fit

in the palm of your hand. Grayston did

not create such a cheap piece of

equipment through simply sourcing

cheaper parts, but through creating an

entirely new process for a 3D Printer to

follow. It’s the same kind of model that

made IKEA ubiquitous with affordable

and accessible furniture. And it’s big

thinking.

That’s because true big thinking — what

creates real, everyday revolutions — is

really just profound practicality. It might

not get published in magazines, but it

makes an impact. It reaches people.

Whether you’ve tried and failed to think big, you dream of

being the next big thing or you want to push yourself outside

of your comfort zone, learning these five steps is crucial.


How to start

THINKING BIG in small steps

1. HOW CAN I DO MEANINGFUL WORK ON A LARGE SCALE?

2. WHO IS WORTH TARGETING?

3. WHAT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE NEED BUT DON’T REALIZE YET?

4. HOW CAN I TURN A NEED INTO A WANT?

5. HOW CAN I DELIVER IN A WAY THAT MAKES MY INTENTIONS CLEAR?


HOW CAN I DO MEANINGFUL WORK ON A LARGE SCALE?

THIS is an obvious one. The core reason people go

into idea-driven work is to create something in order to

make life easier for someone. The key is pulling

yourself down to Earth and focusing on both the

intricate and the achievable.

First, manage your expectations with regards to how

much you can change a life. Few inventions or creative

works literally change lives. No one upgrades their

iPod and suddenly feels an urge to call their parents

more often, and no one attends a TED talk and

subsequently never feels sad for a day in their lives. But

the right event will trigger a small change, one that will

see an action go more smoothly or become more

enjoyable.

Second, become hyper-aware of everything you do in

your day. Keep a log (in your brain or on paper) of what

was easy and what was hard. When you go over the list,

track how many of those things you or your company

can fix.

Maybe your work is with an automotive part

manufacturer, and maybe you spilled a substantial

amount of your coffee because you couldn’t take a turn

smoothly enough. You can’t possibly be the first person

that’s happened to — but maybe you could be the last

(dramatic? Yes. But come on, you have to get excited).

Once you’ve found something that you want to make

you have to unstick yourself from your own little world

and ask how many people out there in the “real world”

it will help.

Here’s some pre-emptive advice: keep it simple.

//Unstick yourself from your own little world and ask how many people it will help.

“Often, our really bad decisions can be traced back to moving away from our core task. Sticking to values will help you survive.”

— Seth Goldman, Founder & CEO, Honest Tea

“


There will always be a large group of people who will not care either way.

contradictory to one another — proving you’re great to someone who

doesn’t even think you’re relevant can make you come off as

desperate, which is off-putting.

Which is why you have to be able to convey both the quality and the

need for it. You need to give people an immediate idea of what you

can do in real time. You need to be straightforward about your

strengths and forego subtlety. And you need to make one thing

obvious: they need you.

WHO IS WORTH TARGETING?//

SOMETIMES, we have a tendency to think of

our own tastes as ubiquitous. When we’re

particularly close to the product or service

we want to change up, we get so immersed

in that world that we may appreciate little

changes a little more than your average Joe.

The more people you can reach, the better.

But let go of the “everyone” goal. Not

everything has to affect everyone in the

world. “Everyone” should now mean

“potential consumers” in your book, and not

everyone in the world is a potential

consumer.

There will always be a large group of people

who will not care either way and are not

regarded as potential clients — it’s not a

matter of not caring, it’s a matter of simply

not being affected. On the other side of the

spectrum, there are those who are affected

and do care.

These are easy sells — you simply have to

convince them that you can serve them

better than someone an someone else. But

then there’s the large group of people who

could be affected, but do not care, or do not

realize that they care. Big thinking aims to

take those people and make them care. It’s

not easy.

It’s rare that you can serve both groups

through the same mission. In fact, the ways

which you go to attract them might be

“


WHAT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE NEED BUT DON’T YET REALIZE?

THE most effective way to create buzz with your idea is

to come up with something that people never realized

they needed before. People want to suddenly feel

woken up, like they never even realized how bad

something was before you came along and pointed it

out. It should feel like you’re breathing new life into a

scene.

Here’s the thing: it’s not enough for that “new life” to be

“what the other guy is already doing but better.”

Here’s an example of that: In the Summer of 2011 when

Google unveiled their plans for Google+, they made the

crucial error of not appealing to things that people

were secretly craving. Before it launched officially,

Google+ was billed as a unique new social network that

was special for its “circles” and “hangout” features.

Unfortunately something about Google+ failed tom

d……..

//resonate with most social networkers when the time

came to actually roll it out. Part of the problem was that

the features that should have been its biggest selling

points — the hangouts — weren’t played up enough or

correctly. Google+ ended up coming off as an

alternative to Facebook with a few tiny differences.

Even though they never said the word “Facebook” in

their marketing, the comparisons were

inevitable.

The layouts were similar, the uses were similar

— even if it was better, people couldn’t be

motivated to care. And yet, the hangout

features are incredibly useful communication

tools for those who have given them a chance.

But how many people are willing to do that?

Google+ should have played up those hangouts from

the beginning. Without the emphasis on the hangouts,

Google+ just came off as another Facebook clone and

wasn’t something people needed — even if the

hangouts were cool. They didn’t push them enough.

When you find that need that people don’t realize they

need, you need to sell it. Don’t apologize for it and don’t

try to disguise it or hide it because it seems too

different.

People want to feel suddenly woken up.

“


HOW CAN I TURN A NEED INTO A WANT?

“NEED” is a fact. “Want” is an emotion. And it’s emotion

that drives people to get off their couch and spend

money.

Once someone recognizes that they need you, that

doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers won’t still

feel apathetic. It’s hard to motivate people to make a

change, whether it’s a change in their outlook,

switching Internet service providers or buying a new

car. Believe it or not, people can perfectly realize that

they need something, but they just can’t be bothered to

do something about it.

Big thinking is all about creating and presenting an

alternative to the status quo — but you have to be

careful in the way you present that. You have to show

that your way is better without alienating people, and

that means not making people feel stupid for having

done it a certain way before. When Samsung chose to

//take that route in 2012 mocking

the die-hard fans of Apple’s

iPhones, it reinforced their current

consumer base, but alienated

potential converts — no one likes

to be called a sheep.

Apple themselves took a far more

subtle route years before with

t h e i r f a m o u s “ I ’ m a M a c ”

campaign starring Justin Long.

While it had fun lampooning PCs

and their alleged ineptitude, not

once did the commercials ever

chastise the fans of PCs for

choosing such a product.

To echo some advice your mother probably gave you

at some point, it is possible to build yourself up without

putting others down. In this case, however, “others” is

not your competition, it is those enamoured with your

competition. Instead of calling them sheep, insulting

their intelligence or implying willful blindness, a better

option is to let them know that they’ve been hard done

by, they’ve been doing things the hard way for way too

long, and there is a better option out there. When you

offer up what you have as hope for the future, that

takes you from something that people should use to

something that people are happy to use.

So now look at yourself: you have your big idea. You

know who will give a damn. You know it can make a

difference. You know people will want it. Now you just

have to deliver.


HOW CAN I DELIVER IN A WAY THAT MAKES MY INTENTIONS CLEAR?

SOME politicians are the best person for the job, but

due to a subpar campaign they never make it into the

desired office. It’s a lesson for anyone pushing a

product, an idea, a service, a new way of life: you are

only as good as the campaign.

You know that you have to excite

people — but are you exciting

them in a way that will keep them

energized and riled up in the

long-term? Will people look at

y o u a n d s a y , “ Wo a h ” b u t

eventually talk themselves out of

putting their money where their

mouth is? Or will the idea grow

with them the longer they sit with

it and convince them, “Yes, I need

this, this wasn’t just a flash in the

pan.”

You know that you have to show people that your idea

is smart and practical — but are you sure that you’re

ahead enough of the pack? Could someone else be

nipping at your heels? You have to be certain before

you push your idea out that it’s not merely a different

version of or an update to another Big Idea. People get

tired to the point of becoming cynical of new ideas

being so temporary and disposable, so you have to

make it clear that you are a game-changer.

Big ideas are something you need to always be on-

message about. When you’re presenting something

that’s supposed to shake up the status quo, you don’t

…..

//

!People get tired to the point of becoming cynical… so you have to make it clear that you are a game-changer.

want to take any chance in someone thinking you’re

just another copycat. Make your campaigns product-

focused, straightforward and direct. This is where you

really can be “big.”

Though in this case, don’t mistake “big” for high-

concept or overly complex. “Big” should be thought of

as celebratory and proud with a hint of defiance. After

all — you’re here to shake things up.

It’s all about rolling things out with confidence, self-

assuredness, style and leaving absolutely no stone

unturned when it comes to showing that you’re great

and showing why you’re great.


THE FINAL WORD

WHY YOU CAN’T BE AFRAID OF BIG THINKING

ANY LONGER

SOME Big Thinkers will go down in history for their

innovations and their ability to shake up a brand

landscape. Steve Jobs will forever be immortalized by

the images of him in his signature turtleneck making

grandiose announcements on a large stage as hungry

Apple fans await his newest idea.

But not all Big Thinkers are destined for the history

books. And that’s something that you need to accept.

Big thinking is, in the end, not about the celebrity or the

pressures that come with it. Big thinking is about the

product, about its effect, about its impact.

You cease to be a mere dreamer and become a Big

Thinker when you calm down and focus on the small

steps, the deliberate and intricate details of what

makes an idea truly useful.

A shift in mindset from one big idea to multiple little

facets of an idea will not only help you get single ideas

off the ground, it will help you manage expectations

and go back to the drawing board with more efficiency

and ease. It will help you figure out where you’ve gone

wrong and make effective changes.

For some, this shift to thinking in small bits of one big

idea means humbling yourself. For others, it means

empowering yourself. But either way, it means

preparing yourself for competition, for performance,

and for extraordinary achievements. //

Bree Rody-Mantha is the

Digital Content Producer

at Phanta Media


#EXTRAORDINARYVIDEO

Thinking Big: Taking an Idea From Thought to Revolution

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