There's probably far more that many businesses could and should be doing to expedite more of a culture of action, innovation and experimentation (captured eloquently here by Vincent). But ultimately it's always down to the individuals within those organisations to affect real change. I'm not often to be found lurking on self-help blogs (honest guv) but here's something I happen to stumble across about creating an "action habit" which I thought was kind of applicable. These principles are about putting ideas into action at a personal, individual level, but bearing in mind organisations are but collections of individuals, perhaps these are not a bad place to start:
1. Don't wait until conditions are perfect. If you wait until they are, you'll probably never start, and there's always reasons why the timing is not quite right. "The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now."
2. Be a doer. Stop thinking about it, do it today. "The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes."
3. Ideas alone don't bring success. Ideas are only valuable once they've been implemented. "One average idea that's been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you're saving for the 'right opportunity'"
4. Use action to cure fear. "Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence."
5. Start your creative engine mechnically. Don't sit there waiting for inspiration to strike, use techniques to jump-start your creativity.
6. Live in the present. Focus on what you can do right now. Don't worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be doing tommorrow. "Tommorrow or next week frequently turns into never".
7. Get down to business immediately. Don't procrastinate, don't get distracted, just do it.
