“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.” ~Western Union internal memo, 1876.

“The concept is interesting… but to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.” ~Yale professor on conceptual paper that became FedEx.

How crazy these early assumptions were! At the time though, most people having read or heard these quotes direct from the horses mouth probably would have legitimized them through popular consent. Starting with 14 planes in 1973, Fred Smith took his “not feasible” concept and created an airfreight shipping platform based around localized hubs – an idea that was new to the industry. Many people, his business professor included, thought Mr. Smith was making a costly mistake. Two years later he was turning an impressive profit, and FedEx hasn’t looked back since.

In business I’ve come across many skeptics – most of whom I come across actually – who immediately dismiss my ideas on mobile marketing as being ‘pie in the sky’ and not feasible. However, when I show them how well mobile marketing has done in Europe and East Asia and how quickly it is taking off here in the United States they change their tune.

Several brainstorming sessions at the Projective Marketing firm have turned to near brawls as decision makers make assumptions about what will and will not work. This is not all bad, by any means. A little conflict and critique is good in any business. A lot of the criticisms pan out and end up saving the company money. If such criticism had existed in the Projective Marketing structure since the beginning, however, the business would have never left the drawing board.

Unvalidated assumptions are bad. I call them unvalidated because they are assumptions based upon what ’seems’ will happen and not upon what has been experienced through vigorous validation testing. Good businessmen/women don’t so much as take risks, they manage risks. Part of managing risks is discussing with others an idea, measuring the risks and returns involved and then making a decision whether or not to manage that risk further and act on it. This process is validation. Sometimes validation won’t make it past the first few steps and thats okay, but it always needs to make it past the discussion stage.

How can we avoid making unvalidated assumptions?

Be creative! A lot of people say that they aren’t creative and there is nothing they can do about it. That simply isn’t true. Read blogs, books and the news. Garnish an opinion on what you read. How can you share that opinion? There, you were creative! This is how creative business works. Sometimes it is idea stealing. That’s okay. You don’t have to be the first person to come up with an idea for you to write about it or build upon it. This blog entry, for example, was inspired by an excellent article, “What’s the Ultimate Creativity Killer”, over at the copyblogger website.

Use the 5 Minute Rule. If someone pitches you a new idea, if you are in a brainstorming session or if you are trying to decide between white or wheat bread you can use the 5 Minute Rule to make a validated assumption. The rule goes like this: when a new idea is pitched only focus on the good qualities and possibilites surrounding that idea for 5 minutes. After that, feel free to bust in the idea with a stick. This greatly decreases the chance that you will make a decision you will regret in the future.

Create a Culture of Creativity. Most people have heard about the Google 20% time where employees are given 20% of their work day to innovate and be creative on individual projects. Scott Berkun does a great job of explaining that it is not the actual Google rule behind this idea that has created the Google empire, but instead the Google Culture of Creativity that has built the empire. In short, businesses can create a Culture of Creativity by:

• utilizing a horizontal hierarchy. Allow your employees to vote, peer review or debate upon which ideas and directions are best for the company. As smart as you think you might be (being the BOSS and all) you really could learn a lot from your employees who work directly with the consumer.
• giving a little leeway and expecting a whole lot more. Treat your employees like you would a very responsible child. Realize that people need leeway so they don’t feel repressed. Realize that good employees are willing to work hard and want to work hard but sometimes need a little more leeway so they can. Extend your employees leeway and expect their work to improve. If it doesn’t improve or if they take advantage of the leeway then FIRE em! There are better employees out there.
• empowering employee collaboration. Make sure you are giving employees credit for hard work they do but also make sure they are collaborating with others and mixing the ideas around. There are no super stars on the most successful teams. Provide them with tools to share and build on each others ideas, like the Google Aps online word/data processing suite (FREE).

Validations in a nutshell:

If you are avoiding rash assumptions and creating validations instead then you are sure to succeed in life. This doesn’t guarantee your business success, but it does guarantee that you will be able to make the right decision about when to drop your business and walk the other way.

While I’m not an expert, this advice isn’t all mine either. The advice is time tested and proven by the pros. It is what has differentiated Google and helped them create their empire.

A final word on creativity:

Being creative requires that the environment in which you work allows you to be creative. Google environment allows for creativity = Google comes out with new innovations every day. Microsoft environment does not allow for creativity = Microsoft borrows a lot of Googles and Yahoos and Twitters and…you get the point… innovations every day. The end result? Different profits.