99% is a 100% Relevant and Needed Rx for Entrepreneurs!

Last night I went to a really cool workshop offered by Behance’s 99% initiative.

Behance, whose mission it is to organize the creative world, has developed tons of tools to help creatives get organized and get things done. One of their more recent initiatives is 99%, which is based on the premise that ideas are only 1% of the equation and that the real work is the other 99%. (adapted from Thomas Edison's famous expression that genius is 1% inpiration and 99% perspiration)

Currently 99% lives in the form of a website and a conference and the principles will also be echoed in a forthcoming book.

As an entrepreneur, I am a BIG FAN of the 99% insight and an admirer of the work that Scott Belsky and Jocelyn Glei have done to gather and organize some of the best practices related to, as they call it, Making Ideas Happen.

While they already enjoy quite a following in the creative and design world, the message and content is 100% relevant to entrepreneurs.

Which makes a lot of sense, right? There is so much overlap between the creative & entrepreneurial worlds.

* Our process is often similar –formulating, translating, executing, and evolving ideas

* Our mission is often common – make change in the minds of consumers, create a new experience, solve an existing problem, fundamentally alter the marketplace

* So naturally, many of our idols and icons are the same: Steve Jobs, the folks at Threadless, Chris Anderson of Wired, Google, & Behance, of course!

In addition to enlisting other smart people and writers to comment on the 99% principle, Scott and Jocelyn have interviewed tons of these smart and successful creative minds about how they consistently Make Ideas Happen and have synthesized their findings into some universal ‘getting stuff done’ best practices.

Two things I really love are best practices (admitted junkie) and learning about REAL suggestions/experiences from GREAT examples. So, naturally, I lapped it right up.

But I also was intrigued and encouraged by how much the content and takeaways hit on the two of the primary pain points that we often talk about at IGC and with IGC members, which are needing help with *sifting* and bolding.

*sifting* is about better filtering all the incoming information and stimuli you are subject to in order to connect with what is relevant and informative. Otherwise it is so easy to get overwhelmed.

bolding is about highlighting the 3 critical areas of focus out of all the priorities and projects you have so you can actually make progress. Otherwise it is often hard to know ‘where to start’ or ‘what is most important’ or perhaps more essentially ‘what matters most’.

Anyway, I am very excited about 99% as a valuable ‘venture-saving’ resource for In Good Company Members and entrepreneurs everywhere.

Thanks, Jocelyn & Scott!

(ps, photo above features Behance's idea paint which transforms an entire wall into a white board - we are totally getting this at IGC!)