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You said three times that they are "smart", but that doesn't really say much about what they are capable of doing. They may be great managers, writers, economis

You said three times that they are "smart", but that doesn't really say much about what they are capable of doing. They may be great managers, writers, economists, musicians, chefs, or whatever, but if I suggested that they should build a nuclear reactor or an atmospheric carbon capture device, those skills wouldn't really help much would they? It would help if you could give a bit more background on the range of roles and expertise in the company (presumably you're not able to just name the company). In the absence of that, I'll mention a quote attributed to Steve Jobs: "It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do." So if you really have smart people, maybe you should let them decide what to do. Start by setting up an internal "idea market" where people can post ideas, comment on them, and self-organize into teams based on their interests and skills. Then watch as the ideas that are the most engaging rise to the top, and put the company's resources behind those.

zw123456 7y ago
I perhaps should have elaborated further. No programming or engineering skills, but almost all have degrees but in business, marketing etc. I like the internal idea market idea, I am in a position where I do a lot of "ride alongs" so I have seen a lot of these folks in action and was impressed at their cleverness in how they approach mostly sales and marketing. Your idea is interesting, put them to work figuring out what they can do. These are motivated people who don't like sitting this out.
- jdale27 7y ago
  Thanks for the additional info. Since most of the talent is around sales and marketing, maybe one area of opportunity would be to develop some creative ideas for how to get businesses that are currently shut down back in action. For example (just speculating here), there could be quite a few small businesses that don't have much of an online presence but could adapt with help from even modestly tech-savvy folks who can find appropriate channels for them. In any case, good luck and I look forward to hearing what comes out of this!

zw123456 7y ago

I perhaps should have elaborated further. No programming or engineering skills, but almost all have degrees but in business, marketing etc. I like the internal idea market idea, I am in a position where I do a lot of "ride alongs" so I have seen a lot of these folks in action and was impressed at their cleverness in how they approach mostly sales and marketing. Your idea is interesting, put them to work figuring out what they can do. These are motivated people who don't like sitting this out.

jdale27 7y ago
Thanks for the additional info. Since most of the talent is around sales and marketing, maybe one area of opportunity would be to develop some creative ideas for how to get businesses that are currently shut down back in action. For example (just speculating here), there could be quite a few small businesses that don't have much of an online presence but could adapt with help from even modestly tech-savvy folks who can find appropriate channels for them. In any case, good luck and I look forward to hearing what comes out of this!