Chapter 20 Chapter 19: Turn all bad ideas into good ones (1)

The story of one of Endeavor's founders, Leila Velez from Brazil, is very inspiring.Leila lives in a slum on the hillsides of Rio de Janeiro, cleaning houses for a living.However, Leila is a thoughtful person, and she has noticed that many women in Brazil are particularly eager to have soft, flowing hair.So Leila and her sister-in-law, Heloisa Assis, came up with a product that would make curly hair straight.It took them several years to invent this product, and the many failures during this period almost drove them to despair.Finally finding a solution, Laila immediately set about opening a hair salon.The hair salon business is booming, and Laila begins to have the idea of ​​franchising. At this moment, Endeavor comes and helps Laila realize her dream.Leila's business, Beleza Natural, now employs 1,000 people and rakes in millions a year.

Leila's story is just one of hundreds of successful startups at Endeavor.Two years ago, I attended Endeavor's annual meeting and was immediately overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and energy of the attendees.These entrepreneurs should be grateful for the entrepreneurial resources and incentives that Endeavor provides.None of this would have happened if Linda had listened to others and believed her ideas were crazy. Turn all bad ideas into good ones One of the biggest hurdles to taking on a Mission Impossible is that someone will jump in and tell you right away that your idea is totally unworkable.It's certainly not easy to solve tough problems, but once you get started, it's equally difficult to break free from conventional thinking.

In order to help everyone break through the limitations of traditional thinking, I have set up an exercise beyond the routine.First, ask relevant questions to the group participating in the exercise.For example, if the trainee is a manager of a public utility company, the topic of energy conservation can be raised; if the trainee is from a theater, the question can be how to attract audiences and increase attendance; if the trainee is a business student, the challenge may be set as Brilliant new business idea.Then, the participants were divided into groups, and each group had to come up with the best and worst solutions.The best solutions are the ones that the group agrees to solve the problem beautifully, and the worst solutions are the ones that don't work, don't make money, or make the problem worse.Once you have decided on two options, write them down on two sheets of paper, one marked "best" and one marked "worst".When I do this exercise, I have the groups hand me both slips, and then tear up the "best" solution.They were surprised and displeased to see their hard-won good idea crumble to pieces.