One of the most special career experiences I have had over the years was working with a small rural township community on “idea generation”!  The project lasted several months and included city officials, township board members, local business people and representatives from the area school district…including students.  My consulting service plan included several county-wide meetings, three IDEAS workshops, four in-school brain-storming sessions with students and finally an IDEAS booklet to inspire anyone and everyone to share and build on their community/business/education/entrepreneurship development concepts.

There are several stories I could share but this TRIPLE III TIME message will focus exclusively on a discussion occurring at one of the last IDEAS workshops.  There were about ten attendees including one older lady who always quietly sat in the back and took a lot of notes.  And if you know me and my classroom discussion style…no one can “hide” and not participate in the sharing of ideas and how to be innovative everyday…EVERYDAY.

So when I walked over to her and simply asked:  “Why have you attended all of these workshops?”  She did not shrink away…rather she nervously stated because:  “I’ve Never Told Anyone About My Life-Long Idea”.

Well as you can guess without much encouragement she told the whole group her entrepreneurial idea (which was GREAT) and the rest of the workshop was dedicated to helping her identify the best steps forward to possibly make her creative idea a reality.

The moral and TRIPLE III TIME message of this memory reflection is best explained in a quote by Harriet Minter author of GREAT TED TALKS:  Leadership.

“Don’t be afraid to put what you know out there.  The competitive advantage gained through collaboration is greater than when you operate in secrecy.”

And don’t wait 50+ years to tell someone about your idea(s).  Holding too tightly to your IDEA to keep it totally yours may have the reverse effect on it and unintentionally “strangle it” from growing.