There are so many expectations about how businesses should be created, and most of them squash the bliss and the brilliance out of you the moment you try to fit into these limited ideas which are all about the 'shoulds' and almost nothing to do with the choices you would truly like to make!
If you have ever looked at how business is done and decided you didn't want any part of it you're definitely not alone!! If you are as frustrated as hell about having to fit in with all the rules of how to create a business, maybe its time to ask yourself what YOU know about creating business that is different to conventional wisdom.
How do you nurture brilliance in business?
There are two keys here... the nurturing and the brilliance. When you nurture something, you don't force it; you water it, fertilise it and allow it to grow. Most of my most brilliant ideas come from a wisp of an idea that I continually invite into growth.
Nurturing is a process of incremental expansion. It's a process of allowing timing to do the work for you. It's a process of inviting your idea to show you what it can be, rather than trying to force a fit between your resources and your ideas.
Brilliance is about out-creating what exists. Nurturing brilliance means you nurture your difference. You nurture your spontaneity. You nurture your curiosity. You nurture your revolutionary ideas. You nurture your ground-breaking 'aha' moments until they grow up and turn into things that people desire to buy. Brilliance in business is about having the BIG idea that creates the change that everyone is seeking, even if they don't know it yet.
What invites brilliance? Let's look at a few examples of nurturing brilliance in business... and the types of questions that create these possibilities.
1) Be Eccentric
When you are a multi-millionaire or a billionaire, people accept your difference without question. So use your weirdness to your advantage... the same awareness that makes you choose to be eccentric can contribute to the creation of your business empire. When you are willing to be eccentric, you are willing to receive the judgement that comes with it.
This level of receiving opens the doors to creating ideas that make money. It's not the only ingredient required though! Before you go out in your mismatched clothes on your favourite unicycle, know that many of the eccentric rich also have a talent for creating ideas that other people love...letting your weird hang out is just one tiny part of the equation!!
What question can you ask to add this energy to your business? "What can I be or do different today that will create a phenomenal business with ease?" Warren Buffet puts aside time every day to think. Not the obsessive kind of thinking most normal people engage in, but the kind of thinking that leads to an awareness of different possibilities. That's one of the things that allows him to be a contrarian investor.
2) Co-create and Collaborate - With Your 'Competitors'
Connect and collaborate with the smartest people you know. The future of our planet depends upon it! When big business buys up farms and makes it difficult for natural therapists to get supply of the herbs they need for their healing practices they don't give up. They collaborate and create a growers consortium of their own - that doesn't charge extortionate prices and that doesn't allow their supply to be stopped. This is where small can create a BIG brilliant difference.
Where do you start? Ask "Who can I talk to today that can expand my ideas beyond my wildest imagination?" Then connect with whoever pops into your mind.
3) Create Outside of Your Industry Norms
If everyone is on social media, find a way to connect with your ideal clients who are not. If your industry is male-dominated, find ways to bring a more feminine energy into your business. If your industry operates on never-ending systems and processes, create a culture where you actively live your core values every day.
My favourite local cafe is 100% gluten free - and their food is truly delicious. There was a time when gluten free meant tasteless and terrible... not anymore. When you take the 'problems' of your industry and turn them into creative possibilities, everyone wins.
4) Give Your Team More Choice Than Normal
Zappos has emerged as one of the biggest shoe retailers in the world... and their 1500 employees get to define their own job titles and have a voice in what is created and how. Size does not have to create inflexibility. They also offer new hires a $3000 bonus for quitting if they find the culture is not for them.
How do you find YOUR difference? Ask this question until you discover the new possibilities that can drive your ideas forward. "What choices can I make that will expand my business beyond all expectations?"
5) Make Work Fun
And don't make it ONLY about the fancy toys... or creative offices. If you have these things, design them to contribute to what you are creating. Pixar creates life size mockups of key scenes (e.g. an inflatable hallway full of obstacles) in its movies so that animators can get the energy of how the characters would experience the scene. Including the energy of play in the details of what you are creating invites brilliance that others cannot copy.
6) Engage Your Customers In The Creation Process
GoPro has an annual $5 million fund that they distribute to customers for producing incredible photographs and videos with their cameras. $500 for a photo or $5000 for an edited video is an incentive to create! How can you engage your customers in content creation that highlights your product?
The questions you ask are the key to nurturing your brilliance in business. Every time you ask a question, more possibilities become available. Every question you ask nurtures your ideas into reality.
I first talked about this topic on The Adventurous Creator podcast. What if what you know is more valuable to the world than what already exists?
