Stop Chasing The Shiny Things

I have found one of the biggest distractions in any organization I’ve ever worked with is chasing new ideas that don’t align with your purpose. 

I tell groups I’m working with that it’s super important to thoroughly vet new ideas. Frankly, there’s no better way to spark innovation by doing this…as well as validating your current strategic direction. 

So, STOP and TALK before chasing all the shiny things that come your way.

Sometimes new ideas may not match up with your organization’s purpose. Invest the time to make sure ideas align to your goals or you can get off track fast. 

For example, I worked for a non-profit whose board chairman was an awesome guy, but he was easily distracted by what our staff called “the shiny things.” Our organization had the potential to tap into new money from an existing donor, but the donor required us to develop a new program. 

The truth of the matter was that we already had a capacity issue – both workflow and human capital. We’d need to hire another person and pour additional money into a new program that really didn’t align to our mission at that time. 

Was it a cool idea? Absolutely. 

Was it the right time? Not at all. 

We decided to put the idea in the “parking lot” until we were able to move it to a place where the idea aligned to our mission, could fully develop AND we had the capacity to make it happen. 

We were clear on our mission and purpose.