Fu*k Your Ideas
I have an idea, you have an idea, he has an idea, she has an idea…everyone have ideas. STOP! Want the truth? Ideas do not belong to us! Ideas are universal sparks of energy that drift around, available for the taking. Some ideas are highly charged and ready for realization, while others are still in the early stages of conception.
As written by Rick Rubin in his book "The Creative Art of Being":
“If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.”
It’s true. Certain creators or masters of ideas are more evolved and suited to be vessels for an idea. This maturity could be attributed to age, life experiences, or a person's level of expertise. Consider this: a seasoned, practicing physician would likely have a more informed idea for a disease cure compared to an individual with no medical background. Thus, the doctor serves as a more suitable conduit for the idea's realization.
Why am I telling you this? I want to help you in becoming a better creator. So that next time you “have a great idea," you don't impede its transformation into a successful reality. I'm well familiar with this journey, as I am a creator myself. A professional, no less. Over almost two decades, I've been crafting ideas into successful products and businesses, both for myself and others. As a creative, who attended art school and dedicated a decade to developing my engineering side, I possess a unique approach. I can envision the unimaginable and possess the patience to realize it. This skill has enabled me to flourish as a designer, agency founder, and educator. This journey has honed my ability to bring ideas to fruition and has enriched my relationship with ideas.
Now, let's delve into specific thoughts—business ideas. Those "A-ha" moments that people are eager to capitalize on. Viewing this process through the eyes of a creator, designer, coder, and agency founder reveals numerous recurring issues people face regarding their ideas.
The biggest problem is being a helicopter creator. You are so protective of your idea that you give no space nor freedom for the idea to be fully grown. It sucks, that around 90% of individuals who approach me exclaim, "I have an idea!" with ambitions to transform it into a business. However, this often leads to a tedious process of protecting it with NDAs and the like. Understandably, NDAs and patent protections have their place, but smothering an idea at its inception stages usually extinguishes it before it sees the light of day.
Keep in mind that most ideas are not unique. The plethora of similar ideas I hear from people pitching to me regularly is astonishing. When developing an idea, several factors come into play:
Ideas are not unique, its’ creators are
Same idea developed by different creators will yield different results
Ideas are not funded, people behind it are
It takes a simple tweak to bypass NDA or Patent
The moment your idea is born, duplicates will follow
Consider a scenario where you and I share similar ideas. Assuming we have diverse backgrounds and professional spheres, it's plausible that my role as a product designer would lead to a different execution than yours. My grasp of ideation, creation, prototyping, and concept testing would likely result in a more precise and calculated path to development. Similarly, if individuals like Elon Musk or Bill Gates shared an idea akin to mine, their experience and resource access would expedite the journey to a successful venture compared to my efforts.
From here, it's evident that ideas, in isolation, are as valuable as an individual brick on the street. An idea is but a single ingredient requiring substantial change or progress to materialize. Don't misunderstand; it's pivotal, acting as the catalyst. Yet, just like a match without oxygen can't spark a significant fire, an idea alone lacks the potential for substantial impact.
So what can you do when you have a dope idea? Be a good creator and provide the space to grow. Give it all the resources that you can. As the saying goes, it takes a village to grow something. You may be the originator but you likely cannot grow it by yourself. By the time your idea find a full blown success, it will likely go through numerous iterations, augmentations and pivots that it will hardly resemble the original thoughts. And that is ok. In fact it is great! The more room and space you provide to build upon an idea the greater its influence is going to be.
Just like raising a child: you commence as a parent, the true progenitor. Gradually, you share your child with family, who imparts their influence. The child then enters school, college, establishes relationships—external factors that contribute to their growth. The same holds for ideas. Grant them the opportunity to mature to a point where others are eager to contribute to their growth and triumph.
Try new things, fail, try again. Above all, continue creating without fixating on ownership.
