“If I’m the smartest person on my team… my team’s in trouble!” – Robert Kiyosaki.
Is this quote relevant to inventors? Absolutely!
Please let me share with you how this played out in my life. I was an inventor starting my inventing journey, and, as many new inventors start their journey… not very successfully! But I was determined to become a successful inventor. I loved inventing, so I kept going.
I was in my late 20s and still a struggling inventor, when I asked myself this question. “What do I need to change about myself to become a successful inventor?”
When I had finished my list of changes, which was as long as my arm, there was one thing that I found really hard to admit to myself. It really challenged my ego. I thought I was always smarter than everyone else. I thought I was the smartest person in my team.
How could I build a successful team with this attitude? The answer was, “I couldn’t,” so I started my quest to change.
I had many adventures on this journey of becoming a successful inventor. Successes I could never have imagined… and failures I could have never imagined… the learning experiences!
One of my successes was my BetterBlocks invention. Curious what BetterBlocks looked like in action? Watch this commercial. We sold 6 billion blocks on a global scale. Notice I said “WE.”
These sales came about, not because I was that smart, but because I had people who were way smarter than me on my team. Marketing people, sales people, manufacturers who all excelled at what they did. I felt privileged to have these people involved in my project, and they were the ones who made BetterBlocks successful.
Having people who are more skilled than you, who have actually walked the path you want to walk, is where organizations like inventRight excel. The coaches, people you meet, the community, all become part of your team. They all have experiences and wisdom to contribute to your journey of becoming a successful inventor that you don’t have… yet, and this is priceless.
Remember, your team always starts with one… you, and you build it from there. Regardless of how you intend to commercialize your invention, whether it be venturing it yourself or licensing it to another, you’re still building a team.
How do you build a team, attract the people with the skills you need, then lead that team to success? That’s a whole different article for another day.
With Gratitude,
Warren
