Ideas Meeting Not IRL

Plans for International Ideas Day? pic.twitter.com/VOogHx0I9G

— Modern Toss (@ModernToss) March 2, 2022

Here is contemporary commentary on The Beautiful Game. No, not that one. The sorcery of Pep, Ralf's Wingless Wonders, jumpers for goalposts and all that. But more likely, the crunch of Chopper Harris, through tragic Charles Hughes' longball mania, all the way to fifteen quid a pint plus more with a tiny cold lifeless, flavourless 'dog.

I slightly amend the original prose of columnist Jonathan Liew for the object of my ire today.

"Bob Dylan once had a piece of advice for aspiring artists: write 10 songs a day, and then discard nine. In a way this also appears to be [an anti-Remote CEO]’s approach to improving [how we work, how we sell]. They're just putting stuff out there, you see. Running ideas up the flagpole and seeing if anyone salutes them. Throwing them out on the stoop and seeing if the cat licks them up. Not necessarily good ideas. Or practical ideas. Or popular ideas. Or ideas that really bear the weight of a moment’s logical thought. But ideas nonetheless."

The ideas to which the original football buckshot was aimed - continental superleague, all-star games, relegation play-off mini-leagues - are all useless, yes.

Like kick-ins replacing throw-ins, long since trialled and exposed as failures before.

Rather than 'move the dial' - thinking that football heliotropes gently inside its own malleable Overton Window - such comments, sorry ideas, see the knob contemptuously snapped off. Forever destined to stay set at 11. Oscillation now an ever exponential climb. Like a mid-19th Century yeast amid perpetual exhale for whom so many bakers clamour for their 'deserved' starter share.

This strikes me as remarkably Canutist. Just as the King of lore could not contain the tide. The mythbuster is that he actually knew his power's limit. Yet what neither the brash new EPL superclub owner and the Remote-is-over CEO fail to grasp, is where those whom they wish to follow them really want them to go. A (ground)swell in a completely different direction.

In our selling case, the gravitational force of the moon of evolving communications tech combines with the spinning axes of productivity, career-stroke-self-actualisation and work-life balance.

The outcome of which is something that simply must be harnessed. And should you choose to do so, you will - in my humble opinion - totally outpace, outsell and outstrip your competition, targets and ambitions.

Which brings me back from this 'macro', to the 'micro' point. As alluded to by way of the imagery up-top (& their more potty-mouthed/realistic [* delete as appropriate] offerings).

One of the great parts of selling is the buzz and crackle of coming up with ideas alongside your prospect.

Those who think that this can only be done in-person are mistaken.

I'm reminded a touch of the dismissal for any activity where the true extent of tools available are unknown and thereby sadly unused;

'[it's a bit like] trying to play a round of golf with only one club in your bag'.

I am compelled to point out, that I have seen (& helped blossom) sessions where distributed attendees leave having stated how happy they are to now know video idea generation could be so productive.

As the selling wisdom from hard knocks tells;

It is difficult to get someone to understand something, when their salary depends upon them not understanding it.

And for many a layer of execs, even up to the penthouse corner-istas whose office footprint is larger then your family dwelling, included amongst such is their mantra that 'you can't brainstorm over video'.

How wrong they are.

Yet their mistaken belief holds us all, and ultimately them themselves, back.

So perhaps International Ideas Day is a a time to try out new ways to create.

Expand the 'day' into a 'week'. After all, did you, say, ever meet a chief counter of beans who managed to perfectly get their first solo-ran balance sheet to, y'know, actually balance.

Hint: online brainstorming is run nothing like when you're all in the same meeting room together...

It may take a couple of iterations, but after a few goes, you ought be seeing a beautiful new game dawning for yourself.