This is the second TED Talk by Rory Sutherland I have seen. One of the key points is that those who are focused on the “strategy” (ie, the large, expensive stuff) tend to forget the details – partly because it is beneath them to work on the details. The result then is (often) that grand solutions are created that do not work. I particularly like his simple graphic that places “Stuff that costs a lot of money” vs “Stuff that has a big effect.” His main point is that not enough attention is given to the quadrant that is high on “Stuff that has a big effect” and low on “Stuff that costs a lot of money”, and that this poses a lost opportunity. In general (and what is signified by the quadrant large in both these aspects), large organizations look for large projects that depend on large projects – but they don’t bother with the details ending up with wasted effort. Then there are the large budget things with little impact – consultancy. He argues that we need to dedicate more energy to low cost-big effect quadrant.
Just how does this mesh with the YCISL? Actually, low cost-big effect is the perfect focal point for youth [How many youth have large budgets?] Not having had a big budget project previously is an advantage that youth have large claim to, and youth in general have not yet learned to spend on a big budget. If we focus youth creativity, we can increase the chances of reaching a big effect without the big budget.
This video: http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_sweat_the_small_stuff.html
Previous video: http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html