LIFT FLIGHT PLAN
What it takes to get good ideas off the ground.
Turning ideas into action is exciting. Building new businesses, launching new products, creating new services.
Some ideas take off. Most don't. Why do they fail?
Sometimes it's things beyond our control—luck and timing play a big part. But more often it's the overlooked fundamentals or ignored signals that are the difference between getting good ideas off the ground or bouncing along the runway.
LIFT is a way to test the viability of an idea before committing significant time, money and energy to it. Think of it as a pre-flight check—identifying what could cause an idea to fail, and what needs to be in place before take-off. LIFT is:
Legitimacy A problem worth solving, or opportunity worth pursuing
Investment Commitment of time, money and belief
Force The ability to make it real
Trajectory Direction and control over the journey
LIFT doesn't guarantee success, but it does help you understand where the risks are, so you can back the strongest ideas properly and give them the best chance to take flight.
Legitimacy
A problem worth solving.
Ideas are exciting. They’re fun to think up. They’re fun to build.
But it’s easy to fall in love with a clever solution to a problem nobody really has. Or to confuse “we can build this” with “someone wants this.”
Legitimacy is the first test. Is this actually a problem worth solving, or an opportunity worth pursuing? And when we say “worth”, we mean: does it create real value? For someone specific. In a way that matters.
If the answer is yes—and there is evidence to support it—then the idea has a reason to exist. When legitimacy is strong, things start to fall into place.
If not, there’s a decision to make:
- Push forward anyway, accepting the risk.
- Redirect energy toward something stronger.
The latter can feel like stopping. But it’s often what clears the runway for more robust ideas that might actually fly.
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Preflight check:
- What specific problem are we solving, and for who?
- Why would someone choose this over existing alternatives?
- What evidence do we have that this opportunity
is real?
Investment
Commitment of time, money, belief
An idea can be completely legitimate—real problem, real opportunity—and still fail to get off the ground without proper investment.
And investment isn’t just money. It’s a combination of conviction, resources and courage.
- Conviction: this idea matters, and it’s worth backing.
- Resources: time, money, people and energy to
make it real. - Courage: the willingness to commit in the face
of uncertainty.
When all three are present, decisions get clearer and momentum builds—the idea has weight behind it. Without them, ideas tend to fall short—progress starts, but doesn’t carry through.
Ideas are inherently uncertain. They’re a bet on the future. What is certain is that half-hearted investment produces half-finished outcomes.
When investment is right, the opposite happens—the work is sustained, not just started.
—
Preflight check:
- How much time and money can we commit to make this happen?
- Who is accountable for making this succeed, even when it gets tough?
- What are the signs that there is return on investment along the way?
Force
The ability to make it real
You can have a legitimate idea, backed with investment, and still go nowhere without sufficient Force.
Force is the combination of the right people, with the right skills in the right roles to actually build the idea.
When Force is strong and focussed things move. Decisions turn into output. Output turns into progress.
When there are gaps or weaknesses, progress slows and eventually stalls. There’s activity—meetings, updates, movement—but very little momentum. Time passes. Energy drains.
—
Preflight check:
- Do we have the right people in the right seats?
- What critical skills or capabilities are missing right now?
- Who is actually driving this day-to-day?
Trajectory
Direction and control over the journey
Even strong ideas can drift off course.
They start with energy and intent, but lose direction along the way.
When Trajectory is clear, it creates alignment. People know what they’re working toward, and how to tell if it’s working.
But sometimes there’s no clear destination to begin with. The “let’s figure it out as we go” approach. Other times, there is a plan but it gets lost in the day-to-day of the work. Decisions, changes, competing priorities.
In both cases, the outcome is the same: no one really knows if the idea is working, because no one knows where it’s supposed to land.
Trajectory is about setting a direction and maintaining control over the journey. It means:
- Agreeing on what success looks like
- Defining the path to get there
- Recognising forces that may push you off course
- Checking progress and adjusting when needed
Critically, Trajectory must align with Investment and Force. Ambition without the means to deliver it will always come up short.
—
Preflight check:
- What does success look like—both big and small—
in 3, 6, 12 months? - What milestones show we’re on track, and how and when will we review progress and adjust?
- What risks could push us off course?
Taking flight
Ideas are a bet on the future. There are no guarantees.
LIFT doesn’t remove uncertainty, but it does give you clarity.
Clarity about what needs to be in place for this to work, and where the risks or gaps are.
Clarity that gives you the courage to make the next decision:
- Go. You've tested the fundamentals. The idea is strong enough. Build it properly.
- Wait. Something's missing, but it's fixable. Shore up the gap before you commit.
- Redirect. This idea isn't ready, or it's not the right one. Save your energy for something stronger.
All three are good outcomes. The only real risk is proceeding blindly and burning time, money and belief on an idea that was never set up to fly.
LIFT doesn't tell you what will happen, but it tells you what you're working with.
From there, you decide your course.
