I just came away from an intense encounter with a group of creatives. Ideas were flowing, presentations were given, and real change is in the wind. After spending a week on the Re:create cruise, I’ve come back home to plot a course for success.
For me, success may be a published book, a speaking opportunity, or an increased focus on my blog. For others it may be a new recording, painting, or fiction based novel. All 93 of us on the cruise witnessed a plethora of ideas and strategies to transform our ideas into reality.
So how do we get there from here?
As Seth Godin would say… How do we get our ideas to ship?
How do we get the book published, the record produced, or the painting displayed in a gallery?
While creativity starts with an idea, the final product requires a lot of hard work and a true focus on creating the best product of it’s type in the marketplace.
Our creativity requires organization to ship.
Scott Belsky has a great book called Making Ideas Happen that details the process from idea to finished product. He overcomes common myths, and zeros in on practical solutions. Seth Godin has a great intro…
Why do people avoid doing the hard work of actually bringing their work to the market?
I’ll tell you why: Because it’s safe. Ideas that never ship are never criticized. Faceless committees accept the blame for tepid products that were probably better off in the warehouse. And managers in search of a place to hide can best hide behind the unshipped product, the unrealized idea and the system gone wrong.
Scott Belsky has your number. He’s seen it all before. He knows your excuses, he’s seen your shtick and he knows all the ways to avoid doing the work. In this book, Scott’s not giving you any place to hide.
If you care about your art, your job or your market, you really have no choice. This is strategy and tactics, concepts and how-to, all in one on a topic that’s often overlooked.
–Seth Godin, author of Linchpin
Over the next few days, I want to look at some of Scott’s solutions and tie them in with some of the amazing content we experienced on the cruise. Come with me as we take the first step to get our content out the door.