Creativity
Can Charge Into and
Conquer the Marketplace
Expanding
On One Theme To Create Another
by
MLM Consultant Michael L. Sheffield
MLM and Direct Sales Expert
What
do a bull and a bicycle have in common? If you’re Pablo Picasso, plenty.
One day the legendary artist was taking a walk, enjoying the day, when he
noticed an abandoned old rusty bicycle leaning against a fence. Studying the
bicycle, Picasso observed how the handlebars resembled the horns of a bull.
Taking the bike back to his studio, he removed the handlebars, and using them
as a model, proceeded to form the sculpture of a charging bull.
What is this gift that enables a person to take two seemingly unrelated ideas
and produce a priceless work of art? The answer is creativity.
Creativity is defined as the expanding on one theme to create another. It
is the making of the new or the rearranging of the old in a new way. No matter
how you define it, creativity is the starting point in your development of
new and exciting ideas to enhance business models, product development and
marketing methods. It is the propellant powering the early stages of a company’s
launch. It’s the infusion that brings fading companies back to life.
Even if your present business formula is experiencing great success, you need
to know that most marketing methods, compensation plan strategies and product
concepts have a life cycle. Some cycles last a long time. For example, in
the product arena, Shaklee’s Vitalee™ multi-vitamin and Amway's
SA 8™ laundry soap have been around for years. Because of their quality
and perfect positioning, these products have earned brand name loyalty from
distributors and customers alike. Other product durations are fairly short.
That’s why on-going research, innovation and development should be integral
and on-going aspects of your business.
And like the products they sell, the individual business model of every Multi-Level
corporation has a life cycle. Although Amways and Shaklees have endured the
tests of time, both business models are in transition. For example, Amway
has shifted its positioning focus to its Internet based Quixtar business and
is undergoing a complete image uplift in the U.S. and world marketplace. Because
of the ease of consumer knowledge using technology, to be competitive in product
offerings as well as their business opportunity, MLM and direct selling companies
must reinvent themselves every few years. Because of the inclination to hold
on too long to outdated ideas, most companies aren’t so fortunate. The
fields of free enterprise are scattered with the remains of many MLM ventures
that boomed — and bombed. This need not happen to your dream.
Your product and organization can enjoy a long, healthy, happy life. But to
achieve this success, your products and the perception of your company portrayed
by your overall business approach must remain fresh. Now, don’t get
me wrong. I’m not suggesting for a minute that you should ever eliminate
a product that’s working just because it isn’t brand new. It is
just that powerhouse companies have learned that the enterprise will live
or die by its ability to develop or procure products that are new, unique
and non-duplicatable, and enhance their business opportunity to compete with
the changing marketplace. Omit this element and your undertaking may meet
the undertaker.
Here are the cold, hard facts on failure in direct sales or Multi-Level Marketing.
If an entrepreneurial company flops, it will be for one or more of the following
reasons:
- Inexperienced management;
- Insufficient capital;
- Ineffective distributor team;
- Inability to recruit distributors;
- Incommensurate compensation plan;
- Ineffective or outdated products;
- Lack of venture uniqueness.
Now, it’s true that any one of these things can bring a company down,
and it’s also true that when a company fails, it is generally a result
of more than one of these factors. But to me, the saddest circumstance which
is also the most preventable, is when companies with great management teams,
good capitalization, and competent “can do” distributors fail
because they are strapped with uncompetitive compensation plans, marketing
systems and outdated “me too” products. Regrettably, I have seen
this happen all too often in the 30-plus years I’ve been in this business.
With respect to the market, these companies learned too late that they were
the MLM equivalents of Where’s Waldo. Lost against a backdrop of a lot
of other “me too” financial promises and merchandise, they couldn’t
establish unique differentials and secure a robust corporate and brand position.
In other words, Multi-Level and Direct Selling organizations also peak and
pass away for a lack of outstanding, “Hey world – look at us!”
ideas.
On the other hand, there are numerous examples of companies with unsophisticated
management, insufficient capital, inexperienced distributors, an average to
poor compensation plan and marketing system that have emerged as MLM giants
because they had the right product at the right time.
Perfect products can compensate for an imperfect company. Quality products,
fairly priced, and delivered as promised can cover a lot of flaws in an organization.
The customer can forgive inexperienced management, unsophisticated distributors,
and less than snazzy packaging if they really love what’s inside. That’s
why product research and development must be an integral and on-going aspect
of your business.
You’re
More Creative Than You Think
By the time you’ve finished this article, I hope you’ll share
my belief that there’s nothing worse than an idea — when it’s
the only one you have! But, by then, I hope you’ll also share my conviction
that generating creative ideas is a challenge you can meet and master.
Remember Picasso’s bicycle and bull? You may not be a world famous artist.
But trust me when I tell you that you have within you the same elements of
genius when it comes to creating new ideas for your business. I know this
because I know the way the mind of an entrepreneur works. My purpose here
is to stimulate your imagination and encourage you to release the God-given
genius within you to generate powerful and profitable ideas, and conversion
of those ideas into sustainable business models.
More than Facts
We’ve all heard it said that knowledge is power. Well … that’s
not quite true. All great minds agree that knowledge is basic to creative
thinking, but that it’s not enough. For knowledge to produce power,
it must be taken in, broken down and absorbed. Finally, that knowledge must
be brought back rightly applied and activated in the form of fresh new combinations
and relationships. In other words, “Applied knowledge is powe.r”
Albert Einstein referred to the recognition of new combinations and relationships
as second sight. It’s what folks like you and me call creative imagination.
He considered second sight the only path to discovery. Despite his venerable
status as one of the world’s truly great intellects, Einstein went so
far as to say, “imagination is greater than knowledge.”
It’s true. Our world is experiencing a knowledge explosion. But is it
because people are suddenly so much smarter? No, this eruption of knowledge
is the result of thousands of years of accumulated understanding. Eons of
ever-increasing enlightenment has converged; causing what could be called
“creative critical mass.”
Knowledge begets knowledge. Creativity begets greater creativity. Technologies
are generating information faster than the average person can keep up.
That’s why it’s absolutely essential to recognize and adapt our
business and personal lives to these changes. To remain viable you must continually
generate new ideas. In order to gain or sustain a competitive edge today,
company executives and entrepreneurs must enter the state of perpetual innovation,
the ongoing creative process that results in new product developments and
advanced delivery forms that can outdo your competition.
Creative
Imagination
Everything from the washboard to the World Wide Web was at first and for a
time an idea, a fleeting mental picture, and a flash of inspiration. It may
sound a bit corny, but an idea is the spiritual parent of the product.
Many similar products are introduced to the marketplace every year but only
a few come to life and succeed. There are many inventors and product developers
that have created untold numbers of formulations or designs craving entrepreneurial
marketing and distribution attention. By having a contract manufacturer follow
the development steps of a technical formula, producing a new potion is about
as easy as baking a cake. But, it is our essence and our energy that bring
that formula to life. It is an act of creation.
Creation means to bring order out of chaos by bringing seemingly different
parts into a greater homogenous whole.
Creation is a process. It begins with an attitude. A mindset. Creativity is
not something you do. It is who you are. You don’t turn creativity on
and off like a water tap. You live as a creative person. You are interested
in everything. You are curious about your world. You see possibilities everywhere.
Example: two people can look at a large, misshapen chunk of granite. One person
sees nothing but a big rock. The creative person sees the statue of a majestic
lion waiting to be freed by the sculptor’s chisel.
Speculator or Stockholder?
I suppose there are some people more genetically inclined toward creativity.
In his book, Mind and Society, the 18th Century sociologist, Vilfredo Pereto
suggested that with respect to creativity, there are two types of people:
the speculator and the rentier.
The speculator is, as the word implies, a speculative person. According to
Pareto, the speculator is “constantly pre-occupied with the possiblities
of new combinations.” It’s the kind of person who just can’t
leave well enough alone. They are the “tinkerers,” always fooling
around with some newfangled potion, lotion or notion. They can’t look
at a building or a bridge or a skin cream without speculating on how they
can change it and make it better.
When translated into modern English, the word rentier means stockholder. The
emphasis here is on hold. They hold the line. They hold to the status quo.
And sometimes they just end up holding the bag.
These folks are steady, structured types. There is nothing wrong with that.
Every organization needs even-tempered people to keep the business running
smoothly. Employees like this are worth their weight in gold to a busy speculator.
But with all due respect to the “steady-as-she-goes” folks, this
article is written to the speculator, the dreamer, the enlightened entrepreneur
— that bold breed of man or woman who can see — and free —
the lion in the stone.
I submit that if a person is at all attracted to Multi-Level Marketing, it
is because they are among the speculators of this world.
However, being a speculator alone is not enough. Creative idea development
requires an understanding of two things:
- Principle – Knowing what and why.
- Method – Knowing how, when, where and to what degree
The same is true in generating new strategies for your business opportunity
or new products. Earlier, I defined creativity as “the making of the
new or the rearranging of the old in a new way”. You see, like separate
musical notes, loose, floating bits of information are not really worth much.
Oh, they may make you a master at Trivial Pursuit, but that’s just about
it — trivia. It is only when they are creatively composed that they
become truly valuable. And you know what? The composition is really not that
hard.
It may interest you to know that every piece of music in the world comes from
notes: C, D, E, F, G, A and B. Separate these into eighth, quarter and half
notes, add a few flats and sharps, and you can create every conceivable kind
of song and symphony … from classic to country to Christmas carols.
It’s all in how the pieces are put together.
And when it comes down to it, there aren’t all that many basic elements
of business, either. You have a customer, who has a need or want. You have
a product that can satisfy that need or want. You have a story that illustrates
the benefits of the product. You have a package, you have a price and you
have a company responsible for getting the story, and the product, out to
the customer. Finally, you have an independent distributor, doing his or her
best to live a dream and make a buck. You see — it’s not all that
complicated. Just remember — it’s all in the way you put the pieces
together. It’s a matter of harmony, balance, and proper direction, just
like the dynamic components of making an orchestra sound great, enrich its
audiences, and fulfill its most noble objectives.
It All Begins With an Idea
Napoleon Hill observed: “Just as the oak tree develops from the germ
that lies in the acorn, and the bird develops from the germ that lies asleep
in the egg, so will your material achievements grow out of the organized plans
that you create in your imagination. First comes the thought; then the organization
of that thought into ideas; then the formation of plans, and finally the transformation
of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your
imagination.” It’s true that an idea is where success begins.
Human imagination is the starting point of all human accomplishment. The creative
thought always precedes the creative act. But I would be remiss if I didn’t
remind you of this fact: It’s one thing to have a great idea; it’s
another to bring that idea to life. This takes planning, proper procedures,
goals, guts and grace under fire.
SUMMARY
-
Creativity is the making of the new or the rearranging of the old in a new way.
-
Creativity is the starting point in your development of new and exciting product ideas.
-
The most preventable reason for corporate failure is the risk of being strapped with an outdated “me too” product due to lack of innovation and creative imagination.
In order to gain or sustain a competitive edge today, company executives and entrepreneurs must enter the state of perpetual innovation, the ongoing creative process that results in new product developments and advanced delivery forms that can outdo your competition.
-
Creation means to bring order out of chaos by bringing seemingly different parts into a greater homogenous whole. Creative imagination is a process. It begins with an attitude. A mindset. Creativity is not something you do. It’s who you are.
-
Creative imagination and new product innovation rest on principle — knowing what and why — and method — knowing how, when, where and to what degree.
-
The important thing is to train your mind to the method by which all great ideas are born and to master the principles which are at the heart of those magnificent obsessions.
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The two most important principles of product sourcing are: (1) An idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements, and (2) Creativity is the ability to see relationships.
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The creative process behind new products always begins with an idea. The creative thought always precedes the creative act. However, without congruent action, your dreams and ideas will remain without life.
Michael L. Sheffield is the CEO of Sheffield Resource Network, a full-service direct sales and multi level marketing (MLM) consulting firm. He is a Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Multi Level Marketing International Association and in 2001 he was inducted into the MLMIA Hall of Fame. As an MLM Consultant, he and the Sheffield team have assisted in hundreds of national and international MLM corporate start-ups as well as offered a full line of services for established direct sales companies. As the most noted expert on compensation plans, he has been a guest lecturer on the subject for the DSA, University of Illinois, University of Texas, Berkeley and Harvard Alumni Association. Long considered the industry's top MLM Consultant , Michael Sheffield has helped launch over 500 new companies and 200 new products marketed by direct selling companies around the globe. He can be contacted at 480-968-6199, Sheffield Resource Network, 2239 N. Hayden Road, Suite 103, Scottsdale, AZ. 85257, website address: www.sheffieldnet.com.
