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Sean Castrina

Do any of these scenarios hit home?Like 70 percent of today’s workers you just aren’t engaged at work. You feel undervalued and like no big opportunities will ever come your way.Your daughter is planning a wedding that you’ll be financing.Or finally, after decades on the nine-to-five treadmill, you’re ready to retire—but a little worried about how far your bank account will stretch.In any of these scenarios, you might find yourself thinking: “Gee, it would be nice to start that business I’ve always dreamed about. Then I’d feel like I have more control over not just my finances but my life right now!”If you’re like most people, though, that wish is followed by a “but”:  “But starting a business is really stressful.”  “But it’s too risky.” “But I don’t have enough time.”  And so on and so forth.All of these justifications for not wanting to become an entrepreneur are sound, but if you’re smart about it, there’s never a bad time to start a business. You simply need to ask yourself a few essential questions:What will be my motivation for running the business through good times and bad? You will not love your business every day. It’s important that you have something to focus on that keeps you motivated when times are tough. Post a visual reminder for yourself, such as photo of a vacation home, a college pennant of the school your child desires to attend, or something more tangible. Perseverance is the most common quality in successful people, so the more motivation you have, the better.What is the payoff? Is it additional income? You may need to pay down debt or a mortgage or start paying for a child’s college tuition. When we are unhappy, the grass will always look greener on the other side. So whatever your payoff is, it should be concrete: a long-term goal that equals a major personal success.Why do you think the business will succeed? Do your due diligence to find a need in your market for this product or service. What data supports your projections? Who will be your competition, and can you offer something unique that will give you a marketable advantage? Will your store offer a product or service that an online retailer cannot offer, like free set-up or ongoing training/support? This is information you must effortlessly communicate to potential customers and investors. It must be so attractive they choose your business over all others.Who will be on your team to help you run the business? This may include—but not be limited to—an accountant, lawyer, insurance agent, bank, etc. Who will you need to operate your business? Employees, contractors, and partners should add key skills and know-how that you lack.Most of all, your team needs to include a mentor that will guide you and advise you until you succeed.

Thinking About Starting a Business? 4 Questions to Ask Yourself

The different levels of prototypes—physical, wireframe digital, and refined digital—offer varying degrees of fidelity during your prototyping process. The physical prototype can be built using common office supplies, making it quick and easy to get feedback from your key stakeholders and even some end users. The physical prototype offers a way to try different designs without spending too much time building them. The elements can simply be removed and placed in a new location as necessary. It is a good idea during this phase to have several different iterations for review.The paper prototype will be used with stakeholders and users who are co-located with you. Since it is a physical asset, you won’t be able to deploy it to several locations. The user will interact with the design(s) and their feedback is noted to refine the prototype. Once you have narrowed the options to a few designs you can move to the wireframe prototype. The wireframe prototype offers the next level of fidelity. It is built using specialized software just for the task. The wireframe prototype has been used in the application design and web design industries for many years to gain early design feedback. The wireframe prototype uses libraries of commonly used items, such as drop down menus, text buttons, and many others, to quickly build the prototype design. Each element can be built to have interactions that show how the functionality would work to move between screens and open elements on a page. The elements can be manipulated quickly and easily to change the design as feedback is gathered from testing the design with users. The wireframe prototype allows deployment to a wider audience for feedback. Since it is a digital asset it can be delivered to the user for testing at their location allowing the testing audience to be expanded. When collecting feedback for the wireframe, it is a good idea to be present with the user as much as possible. The goal is to watch them as they use the prototype and stop them as they look confused or struggle to find something within the design. For those reviewing the design remotely, screen casting or social media software (such as Skype or Google hangouts) can be used to watch the interactions. Once the designs have been refined to a single option, the refined digital prototype comes into play. The refined prototype is a polished version of the wireframe prototype. Design elements such as color schemes, button design, and placement are used to make final design decisions. Pieces of the finalized content can be used as available for better feedback on the final product. The production functionality will also be built into the prototype so the stakeholders and users who do this final testing can give feedback as if they are using the released design.I recommend reading the October 2014 issue of TD at Work, “Using Prototyping in Instructional Design,” if you’re interested in learning more about using prototyping in instructional design. To look inside the issue, click here.

3 Levels of Instructional Design Prototypes

What’s stopping you from being innovative?Before you answer this question, think back to when you were in elementary school. Your teacher asks the class a question, and you THINK you know the answer. Were you the kid that raised your hand to give it a try or the kid that didn’t raise your hand for fear of being wrong? Whichever kid you were back then, chances are, you are still the same person today.If you were the kid to give it a try, you weren’t that concerned about being wrong and feeling rejected. You knew there was the chance you could be right or you could be wrong. Your desire to get it right outweighed your fear of being wrong. If you were the kid that didn’t raise your hand, your fear of being wrong discouraged you from giving it a try. Perhaps, you even thought, “Someone else will answer the question.”Now imagine you are in a meeting and your boss asks for some ideas to make your department’s services more innovative. Perhaps, your boss has even given you some time to think about it and has asked those with ideas to submit them by the end of the week. This is an optional request, but your boss is encouraging those who have ideas to share.If you have some ideas you believe to be innovative, will you share them with your boss? Will you let fear of rejection stop you from exploring ideas and seeking innovative solutions? Will you have a hard time coming up with innovative solutions?Defining “innovative”“Innovative,” can be a vague term and sometimes people misunderstand the concept. For starters, being innovative is NOT following the “status quo.” Many times in the workplace, we do things because everyone one else is doing it. We can be content with accepting the excuse: because this is the way we have always done it.For instance, have you ever been a member of a project team or committee and after meeting for several weeks, the group settled on a solution, an event, or list of ideas that wasn’t really different from what you had done on other projects?Most of the time, we like selecting those easy solutions because we focus on our own comfort zone, knowledge, and experiences, or because it is quicker to check that task off our list and move on to our next task. We fail to really embrace the opportunity to make things better and to ask the important question. Could we do something that is more efficient, more effective, or much cheaper that would give better results?Being innovative doesn’t mean creating something that is costly. Innovation is when you set a new standard. That new standard can leave others wondering, “Why didn’t I think of that?” This is because, sometimes the most innovative ideas are sitting right in our faces, but we are too busy to notice or too afraid to really push the limits or sadly cursed by linear thinking.Linear thinking versus system thinkingLinear thinking is when you follow a step-by-step approach that is based merely on your experiences and what you have learned or read. It is often from one point of view: yours. Linear thinking is thinking in a straight line and not thinking out of the box.Innovation involves system thinking; the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. For example, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, used system thinking effectively when he developed an innovative idea. He saw that the Internet was the fastest-growing industry on the planet, so he quit his job and started Amazon in 1995. He worked in a garage with only five employees. Today, his network is $28.6 billion.Bezos could have opened a book store like so many others, but his thoughts went beyond the “status quo,” and his business went global. Could he have succeeded by viewing things from only one point of view with a constant fear of being rejected? No, he had to scan the environment from many points of views and he had to be willing to take a risk.Becoming innovativeWhile some people may have reached success by luck, in most cases, success involves being motivated and innovative. Even if your boss never asks you for innovative ideas, you have the opportunity every day to explore some out-of-the-box solution.Maybe you have a hobby or a skill that isn’t used in the workplace, but you just don’t know how to take it to the next level. First, you need to have the motivation to go beyond your normal way of thinking. Then you must seek innovative ideas.Consider that there may be more efficient and effective solutions and not settle for the “status quo.”Overcome your fears.Be willing to take risks and share your ideas.Except constructive feedback when you share your ideas.Force yourself to look at all situations from various points of views.Research what is going on externally; outside of your department, in your organizational system, other businesses, the news and media and/or marketplace.Always be willing to try again when things don’t work out the first, second or third time.Further readinghttp://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224285#http://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezoshttp://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197608#http://ericbrown.com/the-problems-with-linear-thinking.htm