Every now and then a book comes along that will just change the way we look at things. Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky is one of those literary masterpieces that can change lives. It’s a book about… guess what? Making our ideas happen! The premise of the book is pretty straightforward — we attribute the success of a lot of people to their “ideas”. However ideas that stay on powerpoint presentations or in our brains are no good unless they become reality. It’s just like what Thomas Edison said “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. This book will show you how a lot of successful people did their 99%.
Lessons Learned while reading Making Ideas Happen
As with all of our book reviews here at NMP, we will stick to sharing 2-3 lessons that we learned while reading the book.
- CREATIVITY x ORGANIZATION = IMPACT: This is one of the insights in the book that really stuck to my head. Belsky says that the number 1 reason ideas die and don’t evolve into actual projects that launch is because people don’t have the necessary organization to make the idea happen. Most of the time when we have “eureka” ideas, we keep it to ourselves or share it to only a handful of people. Without organization there is no collaboration. Without collaboration you will have to do all the work yourself. If you’re in a day job, have family and friends, then the chances of your ideas maturing is close to zero. The book illustrates this using the equation above. If you have 100 Creativity and 0 Organization, then you have 100×0 = 0. If you have just half the amount of creativity but 2 organization then you have 50×2=100.
- Dreamers, Doers, and Incrementalists: Belsky posits that there are three types of people. Dreamers are those who have insanely good ideas but rarely get it done since they have no organization and they rarely collaborate. Doers are people who are good at execution and follow through. Incrementalists are those who can do both but not exceptionally well. Belsky says that there is no ideal type. They ideal scenario would be having a team that compliments one another. For example, you’d want to have a Dreamer and a Doer or a Dreamer and an Incrementalist in your team than a Dreamer and a Dreamer. Two dreamers combined will mean a lot of cerebral exchange with no action. If you have a two Doers that results to mediocre projects with no vision. Know what type you are and partner with those who can compliment you so that you can actually start shipping.
- Insecurity Work are daily habits that aren’t really productive. You should limit your time doing stuff like this or at least schedule them only for a particular time in the day. An example would be constantly checking social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter throughout the day. There’s nothing wrong with recreational activities but it should take up too much time or else you’re giving up opportunities to advance your projects.
Over-all I highly recommend this book to both entrepreneurs and those who are still in corporate, especially managers and supervisors. Making Ideas Happen has several practical tips and techniques which you can apply and customize to your own life which can definitely make a difference at how to “ship” your projects. The book will talk about how you should run meetings, check e-mail, manage projects, and a whole lot more.
If ever you find this in Power Books or Fully Booked, I highly encourage that you grab yourselves a copy. 
Post Script: If you want to read more about the book, then please do check out their blog – www.the99percent.com.
Great Book!
Yup! Definitely one of the best that I’ve read all year.