I was asked for a magazine interview whether the idea or execution was more important.- It is execution every time.
I have a personal motto ‘If it’s meant to be it’s up to me.’ This does not mean that I have to do all the work but it does mean that I have to stay focused on the outcome and never ever, ever give up until it get’s done.
At RedBalloon we have hundreds of ideas ‘daily’ we could do this, or that – but success has come through absolute focus. An idea is useless without delivery… execution is everything. We recently had a full day off-site which we called the ‘white space day’ because we were working on ideas for dramatic growth in 2011. That day would be a complete waste of time and resources unless a program of execution was also developed to support it.
The proof, of course, will be in 2011 delivery of these projects – but knowing which investment and initiatives need to be undertaken now to get ready for those is the first step.
In the same article, I was asked ‘Is it better to be passionate or objective?’
One word that I hear regularly from people is ‘she is so amazingly passionate’. Even in a one-minute conversation with someone, they will often comment ‘you clearly love what you do’. Passion cannot be manufactured – it comes from having a clear purpose and seeing the results of what you’re doing. But passion is not enough a great team to be objective is important. I am fortunate to have surrounded myself with great people at RedBalloon who can take an objective view of the world. This offers a great balance. People who will keep you focused and look at all the various outcomes of a given idea. I definitely would never want to be a leader – such as an emperor with new clothes where no one gave him and objective opinion about what he was really doing.
Passion is infectious, which needs to be supported by objectivity so that one does not get lost on a tangent.