As your ideas hit you, you get excited thinking about all the possibilities it could become a super hit. But when the stuff you work on gets a bit more abstract, you end up with an enormous mammoth at hand and it becomes overwhelming.
So how DO you chew that mammoth idea in your head?
Step 1: Identify the Mammoth Problem
Can you imagine trying to chew on a whole mammoth assuming it’s actually just a pork rib? Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly what happens when you start working your ideas into a project without defining the problem statement.
Step 2: Ideate & Scope your thoughts
The biggest reason we get overwhelmed with the mammoth ideas running in our heads is because we think “too deep, too soon”. Once you’ve defined the problem statement, you need to worry about just the solution to it and nothing else.
Step 3: Check for Chewability
Now that you have both the problem AND the solution to it, see if your idea is workable as it is. Stop planning and start doing the moment you know exactly how to action your idea.
But if your ideas still need some pruning, move to step 4.
Step 4: Break it down
Chances are your mammoth isn’t quite ready to be served yet. You still need to work on your idea and break it down into smaller pieces.
List the top N things you will have to do to get your idea, from Step 2, rolling.
Repeat
Now you have a new set of more focused ideas, opening up their own mini mammoths you’ll need to work on. Loop back to Step 1, defining each problem and working up solutions for it.
Step 5: Salt, Pepper, Garnish, and Action
As you keep breaking your idea into smaller problems and work on solutions for them, your mammoth progressively gets broken down into little bite-sized pieces you can chew. With every loop between Step 4 and Step 1, you inch your Ideas closer towards Execution.
If you nail the problem right, all you need to do is follow the loop and you’ll have actioned your entire mammoth before you even realize it. But, if you ever end up having a problem where the ideas you come up with overlap, repeat and generally end up being confusing, train your Mammoth to be more disciplined using the MECE Technique.