Three questions before I give a new idea my time

I get excited about new things very easily. Ask anyone who has sat next to me when a new AI tool launches.

That excitement is useful, but it gets expensive if you let it make decisions. So I run every new idea, tool or project through three questions before it gets real time or money.

1. Does the evidence hold up?

My first years were in healthcare technology. In that world, nobody cares how exciting something sounds. They care whether it’s proven.

I still think that way. If a tool claims to save hours, I want to see it do that on one real task of mine, not in a demo built to impress.

2. Will customers actually buy it?

Today I spend most of my time on the commercial side at Ivory Group. That changes the question. A clever idea that customers won’t pay for, or that a sales team can’t explain in one sentence, is a hobby.

Before I push anything internally, I try explaining it to someone outside the project. If I lose them in the first minute, I’m not ready.

3. Do the numbers work?

This is the boring one. It’s also the one I skipped most when I was younger. What does it cost, how long until it pays back, and who looks after it once the launch excitement is gone?

My MBA taught me to ask this properly. Spreadsheets aren’t glamorous, but they have saved me from a few very glamorous mistakes.

What happens to the rest

Most ideas don’t pass all three, and that’s fine. Some go into a notes file and come back a year later when the timing is better. Some quietly disappear.

The ones that make it through get my full attention. That’s usually when sprint mode kicks in, which is its own note.