I think coming up with great ideas is hard.

Not hard like trying to figure out the ending to Lost or why Radio Shack always asks for your phone number when you buy batteries, but hard.

Great ideas are the fuel to everyone in a leadership. We need them to keep things fresh. We need them to solve problems. We need them to synergize backward overflow (thanks Jack Donaghy for letting me borrow that).

But great ideas are hard to generate. Great ideas, really great ideas, are the double rainbows of the leadership world – we don’t always know where to find them, but we know them when we see them. And we can get better at having them. People who have great ideas have these two keys in common:

1. Space to think.
People who have great ideas create space to think. Space in their schedule. Space in their work. Space at home, in the office, and out in nature. You don’t need to be a zen monk to make this happen. What you do need to is to be clear on what’s most important. You need to be clear on when and where you are most creative and go there as often as you can. Our lives are so busy we literally cannot hear ourselves think. We need more silence to hear the great ideas our mind is just dying to get out.

2. Systems to collect.
Great ideas need people who are ready to collect them. Have some way of collecting ideas right as they come to you. Whether that’s a moleskin notebook, your phone, a website (email me for some great ones) a sticky note, or the palm of your hand. Write them down as soon as you get them. Then schedule an appointment with yourself to plan how you’ll bring your ideas to life with action.

Great ideas come to those that want them, who make time for them, and are prepared to do something with them. Make space to think and create systems to collect them. When you do that great ideas won’t be far behind.

What’s one of the best ideas you’ve had this year?

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