As I work on the Capture Mozilla project, I personally deal with and try to coach others through making ideas happen. (Dia Bondi has been a coach for me in this area.) It is a fascinating subject that I pay attention to any time I work on a project. Influenced from many differently people, here are 4 lessons I’ve learned about making ideas happen.

1. Ideas are cheap – Most people generate several new ideas a day. (If you are me, make that twenty.) What matters is the idea you choose to pursue and how you choose to pursue it. It’s important to realize that generating new ideas is not bad, the issue is not knowing when to set the ideas on the back burner.
2. Narrow your sights - This is something so obvious is it worth talking about. You cannot give an idea the time it needs to be successful if you are constantly jumping on to something else. Pick one thing and do that well… because the alternative is many things poorly.
3. One bite at a time – How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Break the big idea down into smaller parts that you can work on and build upon. This creates steady progress. If the idea cannot succeed as a minimum viable product, it is not a viable idea.
4. Learn as you iterate – Learning theory dictates that mistakes are good. They are! What makes them good is to have focused learning around what happened. Be sure to reflect upon lessons learned as you move forward. This helps you feel accomplished when progress is hard to gauge and ensures that no valuable learning is overlooked.

Depending on your place, this may all seem like a no-brainer. But it never hurts to have a refresher as you move from one project to the next. These 4 ideas help me focus on and feel good about making ideas happen.

I first learned about the Capture Mozilla project around this time in February. I was excited to take part because this was an opportunity to learn about how the Mozilla community does what it does. Two months in, here are 5 things I’ve learned about video knowledge sharing:

1. We are all camera shy in some way – You know what I mean here. Think of the last picture someone took of you that you made them retake… or rather wished you had them retake. It is a normal feeling. The reality is that you actually look good on camera, you simply aren’t used to seeing yourself the way others do. That is exactly why you should be on camera: so everyone in the Mozilla community can see you like those around you see you.
2. Constructing your story can be hard – When the Capture Mozilla team sat down to look at barriers to making video, we noticed people often had trouble converting their video idea into video reality. Using story craft ideas from Dia Bondi and the mental model of a story board, I put together a “Construct Your Story” document to help people both visually plan their video and their story. This is one way the team helped provide a framework without hindering personality.
3. There are many ways to make a video – Picture your video in your head. Chances are it has you, in front of a camera, talking. Let’s take a step back. Think of all the different types of movies there are in the world. Think of all the different types of commercials you’ve seen. Think of all the different types of YouTube videos you’ve seen. There are countless ways to make a video. Your video can be any way you want to visually tell your story. With the help of the team, I put together a “Capture Method Ideas” document to help spark creativity around what a video can be.
4. Not everyone has to be on camera – Just because you don’t want to share your beautiful face with the world doesn’t mean Capture Mozilla is not for you. There are many roles that can be filled when making a video. You could help with the story board, set design, filming, editing and really anything you can think of. Sometimes just your presence can help those on screen have more fun. Don’t feel like your only option is to be in front of the camera. There are plenty of ways to help out. Plus, you can see your name in the credits!
5. You probably already have some video laying around – Don’t do more work than you need to do. Utilize resources you already have. If you need some help piecing your video together, try the “Construct Your Story” document. Use your webcam to record short video to fill in any gaps. Spark your creativity with the ”Capture Method Ideas” document. The point is to make this easy on yourself and to have fun.

Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who has been a part of the project so far. Feel free to email us at captureit[at]mozilla[dot]com.

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