The document discusses how to think big by taking ideas from conception to revolution in small, achievable steps. It advocates breaking big ideas down into gradual, simplistic processes and many small blocks instead of focusing on unrealistic end results. True big thinking creates everyday revolutions through profound practicality, reaching people with impactful solutions to needs they don't yet realize. Delivering ideas in a way that excites people long-term and establishes you as a game-changer is key to succeeding with big thinking.

1. THINKING BIG
TAKING AN IDEA FROM THOUGHT TO REVOLUTION
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2. EVERY CEO, CMO, writer, or anyone who’s simply spearheaded a
project has either pictured their pensive face on a greyscale book
cover à la Steve Jobs or hearing their names discussed around
dinner tables, their visions sparking ferocious debates and
grabbing headlines.
When people idealize these Big Thinkers, there’s two very
common but equally detrimental outcomes. One is that people try
too hard to think “big” all the time and then produce a bunch of
ideas that go nowhere because they are unable to put these big
ideas in motion. The other is that people never even bother trying,
because they think big ideas are so rare and special that only
those possessing a certain je-ne-sais-quoi are able to pull off.
To those who suffer from the latter: big thinking is totally
achievable. It’s not really that complicated. And it’s necessary to
learn to think big if you ever want to be anything other than a blip
on the map.
THE FIRST WORD
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To the former: big thinking needs to be
thought of as a gradual and simplistic
process. Stop focusing on the end result.
Big thinking is made up of many small
blocks; that’s why it’s so complex in the
end.
To both: when you break big thinking
down, it’s practically foolproof. Instead of
just shooting for the moon like so many
motivational posters told you to, learn to
build your rocket and plan your trajectory
first.
The perfect example of an up-and-
coming Big Thinker who didn’t just
blindly shoot for the moon is Ryan
Grayston. Grayston is not a household
name. Rylan Grayston enjoyed some
press, but mostly remained a small star
only in more exclusive tech communities.
He’s is a 28-year-old inventor from
Saskatchewan who created the Peachy
Printer — a $100 3D Printer which can fit
in the palm of your hand. Grayston did
not create such a cheap piece of
equipment through simply sourcing
cheaper parts, but through creating an
entirely new process for a 3D Printer to
follow. It’s the same kind of model that
made IKEA ubiquitous with affordable
and accessible furniture. And it’s big
thinking.
That’s because true big thinking — what
creates real, everyday revolutions — is
really just profound practicality. It might
not get published in magazines, but it
makes an impact. It reaches people.

3. Whether you’ve tried and failed to think big, you dream of
being the next big thing or you want to push yourself outside
of your comfort zone, learning these five steps is crucial.
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How to start
THINKING BIG
in small steps
1. HOW CAN I DO MEANINGFUL WORK ON A LARGE SCALE?
2. WHO IS WORTH TARGETING?
3. WHAT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE NEED BUT DON’T REALIZE YET?
4. HOW CAN I TURN A NEED INTO A WANT?
5. HOW CAN I DELIVER IN A WAY THAT MAKES MY INTENTIONS CLEAR?

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HOW CAN I DO MEANINGFUL
WORK ON A LARGE SCALE?
THIS is an obvious one. The core reason people go
into idea-driven work is to create something in order to
make life easier for someone. The key is pulling
yourself down to Earth and focusing on both the
intricate and the achievable.
First, manage your expectations with regards to how
much you can change a life. Few inventions or creative
works literally change lives. No one upgrades their
iPod and suddenly feels an urge to call their parents
more often, and no one attends a TED talk and
subsequently never feels sad for a day in their lives. But
the right event will trigger a small change, one that will
see an action go more smoothly or become more
enjoyable.
Second, become hyper-aware of everything you do in
your day. Keep a log (in your brain or on paper) of what
was easy and what was hard. When you go over the list,
track how many of those things you or your company
can fix.
Maybe your work is with an automotive part
manufacturer, and maybe you spilled a substantial
amount of your coffee because you couldn’t take a turn
smoothly enough. You can’t possibly be the first person
that’s happened to — but maybe you could be the last
(dramatic? Yes. But come on, you have to get excited).
Once you’ve found something that you want to make
you have to unstick yourself from your own little world
and ask how many people out there in the “real world”
it will help.
Here’s some pre-emptive advice: keep it simple.
//
Unstick yourself from your
own little world and ask how
many people it will help.
“Often, our really bad
decisions can be traced back
to moving away from our
core task. Sticking to values
will help you survive.”
— Seth Goldman, Founder & CEO, Honest Tea
“

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There will always be a large group of
people who will not care either way.
contradictory to one another — proving you’re great to someone who
doesn’t even think you’re relevant can make you come off as
desperate, which is off-putting.
Which is why you have to be able to convey both the quality and the
need for it. You need to give people an immediate idea of what you
can do in real time. You need to be straightforward about your
strengths and forego subtlety. And you need to make one thing
obvious: they need you.
WHO IS WORTH
TARGETING?//
SOMETIMES, we have a tendency to think of
our own tastes as ubiquitous. When we’re
particularly close to the product or service
we want to change up, we get so immersed
in that world that we may appreciate little
changes a little more than your average Joe.
The more people you can reach, the better.
But let go of the “everyone” goal. Not
everything has to affect everyone in the
world. “Everyone” should now mean
“potential consumers” in your book, and not
everyone in the world is a potential
consumer.
There will always be a large group of people
who will not care either way and are not
regarded as potential clients — it’s not a
matter of not caring, it’s a matter of simply
not being affected. On the other side of the
spectrum, there are those who are affected
and do care.
These are easy sells — you simply have to
convince them that you can serve them
better than someone an someone else. But
then there’s the large group of people who
could be affected, but do not care, or do not
realize that they care. Big thinking aims to
take those people and make them care. It’s
not easy.
It’s rare that you can serve both groups
through the same mission. In fact, the ways
which you go to attract them might be
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WHAT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE NEED
BUT DON’T YET REALIZE?
THE most effective way to create buzz with your idea is
to come up with something that people never realized
they needed before. People want to suddenly feel
woken up, like they never even realized how bad
something was before you came along and pointed it
out. It should feel like you’re breathing new life into a
scene.
Here’s the thing: it’s not enough for that “new life” to be
“what the other guy is already doing but better.”
Here’s an example of that: In the Summer of 2011 when
Google unveiled their plans for Google+, they made the
crucial error of not appealing to things that people
were secretly craving. Before it launched officially,
Google+ was billed as a unique new social network that
was special for its “circles” and “hangout” features.
Unfortunately something about Google+ failed tom
d……..
//
resonate with most social networkers when the time
came to actually roll it out. Part of the problem was that
the features that should have been its biggest selling
points — the hangouts — weren’t played up enough or
correctly. Google+ ended up coming off as an
alternative to Facebook with a few tiny differences.
Even though they never said the word “Facebook” in
their marketing, the comparisons were
inevitable.
The layouts were similar, the uses were similar
— even if it was better, people couldn’t be
motivated to care. And yet, the hangout
features are incredibly useful communication
tools for those who have given them a chance.
But how many people are willing to do that?
Google+ should have played up those hangouts from
the beginning. Without the emphasis on the hangouts,
Google+ just came off as another Facebook clone and
wasn’t something people needed — even if the
hangouts were cool. They didn’t push them enough.
When you find that need that people don’t realize they
need, you need to sell it. Don’t apologize for it and don’t
try to disguise it or hide it because it seems too
different.
People want to feel
suddenly woken up.
“

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HOW CAN I TURN A
NEED INTO A WANT?
“NEED” is a fact. “Want” is an emotion. And it’s emotion
that drives people to get off their couch and spend
money.
Once someone recognizes that they need you, that
doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers won’t still
feel apathetic. It’s hard to motivate people to make a
change, whether it’s a change in their outlook,
switching Internet service providers or buying a new
car. Believe it or not, people can perfectly realize that
they need something, but they just can’t be bothered to
do something about it.
Big thinking is all about creating and presenting an
alternative to the status quo — but you have to be
careful in the way you present that. You have to show
that your way is better without alienating people, and
that means not making people feel stupid for having
done it a certain way before. When Samsung chose to
//
take that route in 2012 mocking
the die-hard fans of Apple’s
iPhones, it reinforced their current
consumer base, but alienated
potential converts — no one likes
to be called a sheep.
Apple themselves took a far more
subtle route years before with
t h e i r f a m o u s “ I ’ m a M a c ”
campaign starring Justin Long.
While it had fun lampooning PCs
and their alleged ineptitude, not
once did the commercials ever
chastise the fans of PCs for
choosing such a product.
To echo some advice your mother probably gave you
at some point, it is possible to build yourself up without
putting others down. In this case, however, “others” is
not your competition, it is those enamoured with your
competition. Instead of calling them sheep, insulting
their intelligence or implying willful blindness, a better
option is to let them know that they’ve been hard done
by, they’ve been doing things the hard way for way too
long, and there is a better option out there. When you
offer up what you have as hope for the future, that
takes you from something that people should use to
something that people are happy to use.
So now look at yourself: you have your big idea. You
know who will give a damn. You know it can make a
difference. You know people will want it. Now you just
have to deliver.

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HOW CAN I DELIVER IN A WAY THAT
MAKES MY INTENTIONS CLEAR?
SOME politicians are the best person for the job, but
due to a subpar campaign they never make it into the
desired office. It’s a lesson for anyone pushing a
product, an idea, a service, a new way of life: you are
only as good as the campaign.
You know that you have to excite
people — but are you exciting
them in a way that will keep them
energized and riled up in the
long-term? Will people look at
yo u a n d s ay , “ Wo a h ” b u t
eventually talk themselves out of
putting their money where their
mouth is? Or will the idea grow
with them the longer they sit with
it and convince them, “Yes, I need
this, this wasn’t just a flash in the
pan.”
You know that you have to show people that your idea
is smart and practical — but are you sure that you’re
ahead enough of the pack? Could someone else be
nipping at your heels? You have to be certain before
you push your idea out that it’s not merely a different
version of or an update to another Big Idea. People get
tired to the point of becoming cynical of new ideas
being so temporary and disposable, so you have to
make it clear that you are a game-changer.
Big ideas are something you need to always be on-
message about. When you’re presenting something
that’s supposed to shake up the status quo, you don’t
…..
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!
People get tired to the point of
becoming cynical… so you have
to make it clear that you are a
game-changer.
want to take any chance in someone thinking you’re
just another copycat. Make your campaigns product-
focused, straightforward and direct. This is where you
really can be “big.”
Though in this case, don’t mistake “big” for high-
concept or overly complex. “Big” should be thought of
as celebratory and proud with a hint of defiance. After
all — you’re here to shake things up.
It’s all about rolling things out with confidence, self-
assuredness, style and leaving absolutely no stone
unturned when it comes to showing that you’re great
and showing why you’re great.

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THE FINAL WORD
WHY YOU CAN’T BE
AFRAID OF BIG THINKING
ANY LONGER
SOME Big Thinkers will go down in history for their
innovations and their ability to shake up a brand
landscape. Steve Jobs will forever be immortalized by
the images of him in his signature turtleneck making
grandiose announcements on a large stage as hungry
Apple fans await his newest idea.
But not all Big Thinkers are destined for the history
books. And that’s something that you need to accept.
Big thinking is, in the end, not about the celebrity or the
pressures that come with it. Big thinking is about the
product, about its effect, about its impact.
You cease to be a mere dreamer and become a Big
Thinker when you calm down and focus on the small
steps, the deliberate and intricate details of what
makes an idea truly useful.
A shift in mindset from one big idea to multiple little
facets of an idea will not only help you get single ideas
off the ground, it will help you manage expectations
and go back to the drawing board with more efficiency
and ease. It will help you figure out where you’ve gone
wrong and make effective changes.
For some, this shift to thinking in small bits of one big
idea means humbling yourself. For others, it means
empowering yourself. But either way, it means
preparing yourself for competition, for performance,
and for extraordinary achievements. //
Bree Rody-Mantha is the
Digital Content Producer
at Phanta Media

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