Gestation

We normally think of gestation as related to pregnancy; the period of development in the uterus from conception until birth. One interesting aspect of this process is that the period of gestation seems to be directly related to the size of the species, with smaller animals having a shorter gestation period than larger ones. A mouse, for instance, takes only about 21 days from conception to birth, whereas an elephant takes 645 days.

Gestation, however, can also relate to the conception and development of an idea or a plan. How long does it take for an idea to grow and develop in the mind? Interestingly, it often seems that the size of the idea or plan also affect the gestation period here as well.

When I was in the book business, calling on retail stores and wholesalers, it could take me from a few minutes to several hours to complete a sale. If I spent an hour and came out with an order for $2,000, that was an hour well spent. A bigger order of $5,000 or $10,000 would take longer. Later, when I became a National Account manager, I would often develop a plan, present it to a buyer, develop a prototype, get it approved and then turn it over to the sales reps to execute. The gestation period of that idea might take a year from conception to completion, and another year before we knew how much business it would produce, but the value of business generated might be several million dollars. Bigger ideas just seem to take longer.

So let me ask you, had any big ideas lately?

Posted by Carman