How to Dream Big and Still Take Out the Trash

The basic idea: Would you hire a toaster to work in your organization? I'm thinking of one of those old, very basic toasters... it does one thing: toast two slices of bread. Before you answer, let me point out that this toaster will execute brilliantly for 20 years to come. You'll have perfectly browned toast, year after year.

No? Why not?

Sure, the toaster isn't much of a conversationalist, and it's interpersonal skills are nil. But it is impeccable at execution.

Still no?

In all honesty, I'm not surprised. Even though it executes brilliantly, the toaster still just does one thing.

A bit more background: Now for a more troubling question: are you like the toaster?

Most people – and organizations – excel at either innovation or execution. Very few know how to do both, because many people get stuck in their own comfort zone.

You know what I mean. There's the talented creative type whose head is filled with stunning ideas, but who doesn't have a clue how business works. There's the dead-serious CEO who some suspect has never had a creative thought in his life, but who knows how to make the trains run on time. These may be clichés, but they are based on facts.

The problem is that many people only do what comes naturally to them. Some are uncomfortable being in a process that has no limits–unfettered innovation–while others rebel against working in a role that is utterly confined by limits.

In other words, they make a choice between no limits and know your limits. Then, for as much of their career as possible, they stay in that "safe" place.

A wiser course of action would be to cycle back and forth between the two, making conscious decisions about which will be most valuable at this point in time.

This applies to individuals, teams and even entire companies.

To help get this across, some years ago I developed this Know Limits framework. It outlines five distinct levels at which you can operate. The closer to the top you go, the greater your focus on innovation. The closer to the bottom, the more you focus on execution.

The cycle stages are pretty easy to understand; the hard part is understanding the immense difference between how limits are treated at either end of the cycle.

To create anything tangible, you have to set limits. You can't make a product without knowing its shape, size and purpose. So ultimately any process of innovation has to descend into specifics.

But to develop truly original ideas, you have to remove any limits. If you leave too many limits intact, all your ideas will be derivative and lame. This is a huge problem for many established organizations.

By understanding that innovation and execution is a cycle, you can learn to consciously impose or eliminate limits. In other words, you get unstuck.

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