Have you been putting off writing something, waiting for the right time? You might want to read the interview with Chris Heatherly, vice president of innovation, Disney Consumer Products on the cnet news blog. He describes the development process of Clickables, a new toy: “The core of it is a magical bracelet. By simply clicking their bracelets together, girls become friends in the online environment. And it's safer too because if you had to physically click with your friend that means they were in physical proximity to you, you saw them, and you know who they are. They aren't some random person online. Also, it allows kids to download virtual objects from their inventory and trade with their friends, which is another complicated thing we made simple.”
Here’s the part that I think has a message for all of us: “We moved really aggressively to find partners who shared our vision and had applicable technology. Speed is of the essence in these things. Len (Mazzocco, head of creative) always says that "God gives everyone the same ideas at the same time." If you don't move fast, someone else will have your idea and do it before you can get it to market.”
I’ve had the same experience with ideas for scripts and books. I’ve delayed and totally independently somebody has come up with a very similar idea. The moral is: if you’re convinced it’s a good idea, move fast!
He also made a good point about collaboration: “Your partners need to share your vision or you will never get the result you want. I believe it's Louis Armstrong that said ‘There's some people, if they don't listen, you can't tell them.’ You have to stick to principles. If the people you work with don't want to do the project right, it's not worth doing.”
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