1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: tip is to find an idea partner. If you need 4 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: to come up with a lot of ideas in your life, 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: consider finding someone who will help you develop your ideas 6 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: and who can help you do the same. As I 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 1: am writing this episode, I will soon be getting together 8 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: with my Best of Both World's podcast co host Sarah 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: Hart Hunger for what has become our annual retreat. We 10 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: go somewhere I mean usually in Florida, because Florida is 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: better in March than Pennsylvania, and we come up with 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: ideas for episodes for the next few months. Now, sometimes 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: a good guest will come to us, and we're happy 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: to make room for that. But sometimes we come up 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: with topics and then look for guests and we help 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: each other own idea ideas that each of us has 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: come up with on our own. For instance, we might 18 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: see that something is not a full episode on its own, 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: but combined with another topic we've been mulling, we could 20 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: get a really good hook. Now, you might not need 21 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: to come up with podcast ideas, but plenty of people 22 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: have to come up with ideas for something. Maybe it's 23 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: ideas for marketing things, or ways to recruit new employees 24 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: or perks that will make them stay. Maybe it's new 25 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: ways of displaying products, or which kinds of products you'd 26 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: like to sell. Larger organizations often have formal structures for 27 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: developing ideas, but people still need to come up with 28 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: these ideas. One of the most pleasant ways to do 29 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: that is to have someone in your life that you 30 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: can bounce ideas off. This is someone you find creative 31 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: and supportive. Ideally, this person thinks this way about you too. 32 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: You get together regularly to chat about your ideas and 33 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: to help you develop them. The person is your sounding board, 34 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: and you likewise serve as a sounding board for them. Now, 35 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: there might be practical limits on who this person should be. 36 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: You might be better off with a colleague than someone who 37 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: works at a rival company. Indeed, there might be policies 38 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: against too much idea sharing with competitors, but plenty of 39 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: us work in different situations. Even if another writer is 40 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: technically my competition, we would execute on ideas in different ways. 41 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: There's more to be gained by getting feedback than just designing. 42 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: At the whiteboard. As they say, ideas tend to get 43 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: better when smart people think about them and critique them 44 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: and add on them. You see problems you wouldn't have seen. 45 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: You see opportunities you wouldn't have seen either. So if 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: you don't have someone like this in your life, see 47 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: if you have someone who could become your idea partner. 48 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: It could be multiple people, but one person is often 49 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: easiest to manage. Schedule wise, you might come up with 50 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: other things you can do together, so it's not just 51 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: a straightforward, transactional sounding thing like here are my ideas, 52 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: what do you think? I know that some academic collaborators 53 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: have gone on long walks together. On those long walks, 54 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: they'd work out ideas and ways to test those ideas 55 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: through ingenious research. Design walks are good for ideas in general. 56 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: Walks with another thoughtful person could be even better. If 57 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 1: you have to come up with a lot of ideas, 58 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: then anything you can do to boost the quantity and 59 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: quality is probably good. An idea partner will help you 60 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: do that, and collaborating can be quite pleasant, certainly more 61 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: pleasant than just staring at a blank screen or notebook 62 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: and thinking now, what so why not give it a try. 63 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 64 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for 65 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, 66 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 67 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts 68 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 69 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.