Game of inches workbook

Game of Inches workbook
TM
small-scale everyday innovation
by nigelcollin

Game of Inches
Business is a game of inches and not a one off event. 99% of
successes come from many small, practical steps rather than
the single ‘Eureka’ idea. The big idea makes a good story in a
speech, but it’s hard for delegates to incorporate into their
everyday working lives.
!
Ask them to invent the next iPhone and they get paralysed by
the pressure. Give them achievable processes for everyday
small-scale innovation and they can achieve greatness.
TM
It ain’t about inventing the next iPhone
It’s about consistently improving everything you do
www.nigelcollin.com.au

Incremental Vs disruptive change
68%
Incremental
16%
Both
16%
Disruptive
68% of participants we surveyed thought incremental change is more important than disruptive change www.nigelcollin.com.au

4 Actions
3 Behaviours
Having interviewed well over a 100 Australian business leaders,
owners and entrepreneurs certain patterns emerged. It didn’t matter
if they were from wealthy backgrounds or were poverty stricken as
kids. Some were shy, some outgoing, some young, some old, they
came from different industries, different backgrounds, cultures and
upbringings. What they do have in common is the actions they take
and the behaviours they exhibit.
!
Many people believe you need to be a certain type of person to
succeed in the world of business or that there must be an
entrepreneurial gene of some sort. There is a plethora of books,
presenters and videos out there having certain types of
characteristics such as being an extraverts, or type-A personality.
I didn’t see any of that. What stood out were 4 actions and 3
behaviours.
!
The actions are a step by step process.
The behaviours infuse the actions, making them more effective.
It’s not who you are, it’s what you do that counts!

Let’s focus on the actions first

1. Find the Gap
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is
constantly searching for the next idea without clearly
knowing what it is they need that idea for. In the quest
of hunting down the next brilliant idea there lies
immense danger in neglecting to ask a simple question.
What problem is the idea solving?
!
It may sound simplistic but it's vital. Find the gap first -
find the ideas second. It's reverse engineering. Or in
this case reverse thinking.
!
Gaps appear in two main places.
One external, one internal
1. What it is your customers really want?
2. What areas for improvement can be found in your
business?
!
What successful businesses and individuals do really
well is find a problem to solve and then find the best
way to solve it either before any one else does or better
than anyone else does.
!
!
!

Give them what they want
Successful business leaders and entrepreneurs understand that
no matter how good or how brilliant your product or service is,
unless someone wants what you have to offer and are willing to
pay you money for it, then you are going to go broke.
!
Remember Henry Ford who understood what people really
wanted. A faster, more convenient mode of transport.
!
Giving people what they want is not about the product or service
itself but what it can do for them.
Solve a problem
Before you do anything find the problem that needs to be solved
and then figure out the best most innovative way to solve it.
!
Problems create opportunities so remember, be a problem hunter
first and an innovator second.

Task:
What do they want?
Find out what it is your customers really want, (not what you think they want).
What’s the problem?
Write down one area of your business or career that can be improved?

Write down 10 ideas to either give them what they
want or to fill (solve) the gap.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Then choose the most feasible, viable solution

2. Take action
Let’s get one thing straight. It doesn’t matter how much
you know, how great your idea or solution is, unless you
do something with it then nothing will ever happen.
!
So once you have a potential solution to what they want
or to fill the gap, you need to start.
!
I interviewed Sylvia Wilson recently who is the founder of
Bark Busters, an enormously successful global franchise
and she spoke of how she equates successful people
as those who are the ones out in front saying 'YES I'll
give that a go', while everyone else is in the back room
contemplating, pondering, having endless meetings and
never getting anything done.
!
One of the biggest standouts of successful people is
they just jump in and do stuff. They don’t wait, then just
begin.

MVP MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product?
!
To begin ask what is the minimum you need to do to test if your idea or solution is viable?
In other words don’t waste resources just do the least amount you have to in order to find
out if your idea of solution works.
!
!
Write down your MVP?
____________________________________________________________________________
!
____________________________________________________________________________

Ask what Denis would do?
I met Denis and his mate Bob in outback Australia as they
were riding their pushbikes from Port Augusta to Darwin.
!
They were doing it because they thought it would be a good
idea. They didn’t sit around thinking too much or analysing
the situation, they didn’t they a committee meeting, they just
literally got on their bikes and did it.
!
So ask what Denis would do because Denis would probably
say 'Yes I'll give that a go' and do it. In fact by the time you
ask yourself the question, Denis would already have done it.
Task:
Ask what’s the first thing you need to do.
Then do it!

3. Test and measure
How do you know if what you are doing is actually
working?
!
It's one thing to hunt down problems to solve, to find
what your clients really want and then give it to them,
and to find areas of your business to improve. And as
we discussed in rule #2 it's also vital to act on those
ideas and solutions rather than sitting around
pondering and discussing them.
!
But there's a major step which sadly is often
overlooked. You need to test and measure everything
because you need to know if those ideas and
solutions actually work.
!
It is one thing to have a brilliant idea, no matter how
big or small, yet another to know if it's actually any
good. And the only way to do that is to test it and
measure it's impact!

What’s the measure of success?
Early on in the piece you need to determine what success looks like.
!
If you don't know how your idea or solution has worked then how
will you know if your idea or solution has worked. Is it by increasing
sales and if so by how much? Is it by improving employee
performance and if so what's the impact? Is it to boost production
and if so what are the numbers?
!
Remember...business is a game of inches and it’s easier and less
expensive to backtrack an inch than wait till you’re a kilometre down
the road. It's also easier and less expensive to test on the go and
know exactly where you are and where you need to go next.
Task:
Write down what the measure of success is.
______________________________________
Then constantly monitor it.

4. Delete or improve
After you've found a problem to solve, acted on it
and tested and measured it every step of the way
you then need to either get rid of it or figure out
how to improve it.
!
Let's get one thing straight. If your idea isn't
making you money, or driving your business
forward, then you need kill it off and kill it quickly.
!
On a happier note of course, if your idea is
working then the game becomes how to improve
it and how to make it the very best. Not once but
constantly. And that’s important because
otherwise complacency sets in and complacency
leads to failure.

If it’s a dog it’s a dog!
We've all had so called brilliant ideas only to find at the end of the
day they were dogs! Sadly, because we have so much time, effort
and money invested in them we find it almost impossible to let them
go. We cling to our ideas even when they don't work. The world is
full of businesses holding onto products and services that are dogs,
trying desperately to morph them into unicorns.
!
We all need to be brave enough and step away emotionally, be
objective and decide if our ideas are worth pursuing or letting go.
Task:
Take time and answer the following question honestly.
Is your idea doing what you wanted it to? YES | NO
!
If yes then figure out how to improve it.
If no then get rid of it and find another idea.

Now let’s focus on the behaviours

1. Know why
Without doubt every successful person I’ve
interviewed knows what drives them. They have a
passion for what they do because they are on
‘purpose’. They know ‘why’ they are doing it.
!
That’s vital, especially when things get tough and go
wrong because it is what keeps you going.
!
It’s also vital to disseminate ‘why’ to your teams and
find ways for them to engage with it and take
ownership of it as well.
!
I don’t want to get into ‘pop’ psychology but here
are one trigger question to start you thinking.
Question:
What drives you?
_____________________________________________

1.Mindset is everything
As mentioned earlier that success isn’t about personality
traits but it is dependant on having the right mindset. One
that is growth oriented. And successful people are
constantly working on their mindset.
!
Here are two keys.
1. Fixed vs growth mindset
Fixed is set and sees thing black and white, win or fail
Growth focuses on effort and process
Task:
Check out ‘Mindset’ by Carol Dweck (Google it if your feeling
lazy)
!
2. Opportunistic view of failure and mistakes
As Mark Evans said to me ‘You don’t learn anything if you
don’t fail’. Making mistakes has two benefits. We learn from
them and we discover new things from them.
Question:
How can you start welcoming mistakes? (hint; it’s about
giving yourself and your team permission to make them)
________________________________________________
_______________________________________________

The never 3. ending doctorate
Successful individuals are always reading, watching, listening, and
associating with other successful people. The never stop learning.
Siimon Reynolds built one of his homes around a bookshelf. Yes you
read that right.
!
You can’t keep constantly improving if you aren’t constantly learning.
Even self development is a game of inches.
Question:
Write down 3 ways to constantly learn
1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
Question:
Jot down how you can encourage your team to constantly learn
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

Start here
Here’s a moment of truth.
!
Everything in this workbook is rubbish if you don’t
act on it. Sure you may have answered the
questions and filled in the blanks but unless you act
on the information then it has been a complete
waste of time.
!
So to finish up…what’s the one thing you can do to
make sure you get value from this and start
consistently improving your business? Not three
things or six things (that’s too hard and you’ll never
do any of them).
!
Just do one.
Here is a four step, no brainer, action plan
1. Pick one thing you are going to do?
2. Do that one thing
3. Then do the next thing
4. Repeat

What’s Next?
!
!
Blog of inches
Stay up to date with Nigel’s blog www.gameofinches.com.au
!
!
Conference presentations
Nigel is constantly speaking at conferences. Topics include ’Game of Inches’. “Igniting Viable Ideas’ or ‘Better Business
Conversations’ contact your speakers bureau
!
!
Mentoring and Consulting
We offer a number of ways to help ensure you get and keep traction as well as get results. Whether it’s one-on-one, group
mentoring or consulting directly. For more details contact your speakers bureau
!
!
The book
The book is in production with an ebook of the first three chapters available soon. If you’d like a copy of the ebook just email
to support@nigelcollin.com.au and we’ll send you one when it’s ready.
!
!
Talk to us
Always happy to chat about how we can help.
Contact your speakers bureau

Nigel Collin
Game of Inches
support@nigelcollin.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission from the publisher.
!
All the information, techniques, skills and concepts contained within this publication are of the nature of general comment only, and are not in any way recommended as professional advice. The intent is to
offer a variety of information to provide a wider range of choices now and in the future, recognising that we all have widely diverse circumstances and viewpoints. Should any reader choose to make use of
the information contained herein, this is their decision, and the author and publisher does not assume any responsibilities whatsoever under any conditions or circumstances. It is recommended that the
reader obtain their own independent advice
!

Game of inches workbook

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Game of inches workbook