Keep things TRITE

To help my clients imagine a future dramatically different than the present, I often encourage them to play a game I call TRITE.

Take-Ridiculous-Ideas-to-Extremes

The idea is to eliminate inhibitions and "logic" while you push towards the edge of reason to explore "things that are SO crazy, we'd never do them."

The end result is often a bucket of fresh ideas that help the organization stand apart from their competition. So many companies are toeing the line of sameness, that developing an idea to its extremity is almost certain to get you noticed - and more.

Here are some superb examples of TRITE:

Scott Ginsburg has taken the whole "wear a nametag" idea to a brilliantly foolish extreme on his blog Hello, my name is BLOG.

These extremely tall bikes were featured on Church of the Consumer.

In-&-Out Burgers have taken the concept of limited selection to such extremes that they have essentially one menu item - hamburgers - prepared with cheese or without. No chicken, no salads, no fish, no corn dogs. Just a TON of customers.

At the other extreme is The Habit, a small regional hamburger chain in Santa Barbara, distinguished by going TRITE with quality ingredients and customer care. I have never been treated so professionally by a fast food restaraunt's crew.

And then there's the new Hummer Laptop, which is extreme in its virtual indestructability. As posted by Claire on l-e-mental.com.

Suggestion: Share these examples with your leadership team and challenge them to take a ridiculous idea to its extreme edge. Just promise me you won't step back from the cliff and return to your same old boring USP.