Table of Contents
Introduction: Making Ideas Happen 1
Making This Book Happen 4
Why Most Ideas Never Happen 8
The Forces That Make Ideas Happen 14
A Final Note As We Begin 18
1 Organization and Execution 21
The Competitive Advantage of Organization 25
Your Approach to Organization and the Destiny of Your Ideas 26
The Action Method: Work and Life with a Bias Toward Action 30
Reconsider How You Manage Projects 32
Breaking Projects into Primary Elements 34
The Importance of Action Steps 37
Maintaining a Backburner 43
References are Worth Storing, Not Revering 45
Practicing the Action Method 49
Capture and Make Time for Processing 51
Prioritization: Managing Your Energy Across Life's Projects 58
Keep an Eye on Your Energy Line 58
Reconciling Urgent vs. Important 61
Darwinian Prioritization 67
Execution: Always Moving the Ball Forward 70
Act Without Conviction 72
Kill Ideas Liberally 75
Measure Meetings with Action 78
The Biology and Psychology of Completion 81
The Tao of the Follow-up 84
Seek Constraints 86
Have a Tempered Tolerance for Change 89
Progress Begets Progress 91
Visual Organization and Advertising Action to Yourself 93
Mental Loyalty: Maintaining Attention and Resolve 98
Rituals for Perspiration 99
Reconsider Your Work Space 102
Reduce Your Amount of "Insecurity Work" 104
2 The Forces of Community 107
Harnessing the Forces Around You 111
The Dreamers, the Doers, and the Incrementalists 112
Seldom is Anything Accomplished Alone 116
Share Ideas Liberally 120
Capitalize on Feedback 124
Transparency Boosts Communal Forces 128
Communal Forces are Best Channeled in Circles 131
Seek Competition 135
Commit Yourself in Order to Commit Others 138
Create Systems for Accountability 139
The Pressure of the Spotlight 140
The Power of the Network 142
The Benefits of a Shared Work Space 143
Seeking Stimulation from Serendipity 145
Pushing Ideas Out to Your Community 147
Overcome the Stigma of Self-Marketing 148
Effective Self-Marketing Builds Respect 151
Find Your Own Frequency, Then Tune in to Engage Others 155
Ground Your Ideas Outside Your Community 158
Recognize When You are No Longer a Solo Show 159
3 Leadership Capability 163
The Rewards Overhaul 167
Short-Circuiting the Rewards System 168
The Motivational Reward of Play 172
The Reward of Recognition 175
The Chemistry of the Creative Team 177
Engage Initiators in Your Creative Pursuits 178
Cultivate Complementary Skill Sets 179
Provide Flexibility for Productivity 180
Foster an Immune System that Kills Ideas 183
Fight Your Way to Breakthroughs 184
Don't Become Burdened by Consensus 186
Managing the Creative Team 190
Share Ownership of Your Ideas 191
Leaders Should Talk Last 193
Judge and Be Judged Amidst Conflict 194
Develop Others Through the Power of Appreciation 195
Seek the Hot Spots 199
Self-Leadership 202
Find a Path to Self-Awareness 203
Develop a Tolerance for Ambiguity 204
Capture the Benefits of Failure 206
Avoid the Trap of Visionary's Narcissism 207
Combating Conventional Wisdom with Contrarianism 209
Consider Yourself an Entrepreneur 211
Be Willing to Be a Deviant 213
Keep an Eye on the Backward Clock 214
The Love Conundrum 216
Afterword 219
An Opportunity and a Responsibility 223
Acknowledgments 225
Appendix 1 Tips for Practicing the Action Method 228
Appendix 2 The Purple Santa Experiment 230
Appendix 3 Overview of the Behance Network 233
Index 234
