The Mojito Method

The Mojito Method is about copying other people's good ideas and mixing them into something that is even more amazing.

Many times I have communicated, on my blog and in my book, that I don’t drink beer, wine, or other alcoholic drinks, with the exception of mojitos. I do this in the hope that, one day, I will be surprised with the spontaneous arrival of a fresh mojito in my hotel room. Regrettably, I have never been so fortunate. But I’m an optimist. I won’t give up hoping. In the meantime I am considering opening a web shop reselling second hand wines and local beers.

One thing I find fascinating about mojitos is that the taste is so amazing, while the separate ingredients are actually rather boring. And I have noticed the same can also apply to ideas. When you mix different ideas from multiple sources, a new idea can emerge that both aggregates and improves on the pre-existing ideas.

I’m calling it the mojito method.

Copying and Mixing Ideas

My friends tell me I make excellent mojitos. And I’m also quite skilled at applying the mojito method. I take ideas from other people, and then I stir them up and use them in a way that is (I think) even more useful than any of the ideas taken separately. The reason this can work was described in my own book.

Recent research has shown that the copying of ideas is the most successful of all [improvement] strategies. […] This would indicate that teams should spend most of their (learning) time copying ideas from other sources. Only a little time should be spent on inventing their own.

– Jurgen Appelo, Management 3.0

The mojito method makes sense for anyone who wants to innovate without the trouble of inventing entirely new stuff. I did it with the Happiness Door (a combination of a feedback wall and a happiness index), with Delegation Poker (a mix of servant leadership, key decision areas, and planning poker), and with Moving Motivators (adapted from 16 Basic Desires and self-determination theory). And I have also applied the mojito method to Change Management (= PDCA + ADKAR + Adoption Curve + 4 I’s).

How did you use the mojito method?

(Jurgen Appelo is author of Management 3.0, a best-selling management book for Agile developers. It has a picture of a monster in it.)

(picture by miamism)