How many times have we heard someone tell us this. It’s followed by “we should…….” or “they should………..” in conversation.
When I was younger I thought it WAS the idea that created something great. It was never about thinking better. It simply was coming up with THE idea.
How wrong I was.
I have found that ideas aren’t great when you first think about them. They are so incomplete. They are so fragile. Ideas when first heard may not even survive their first week or their first test.
Ideas, to be great, have to be born out of constraints, obstacles, seemingly irreconcilable differences and discipline. Ideas that are unfocused, scattered, and eager to please many turn out to be average, dull, and not very impactful.
The more difficulties you face in trying to formalize and execute on an idea, the better chance you have of it being impactful, effective, and possibly great.
I am not talking about difficulties that arise out of politics and self-interests. Difficulties, that I am referring to, are based on lack of resources that are mixed in a cauldron with competing differences in deciding what aspect of a goal (and ultimately the way the idea is executed) that defines what success will look like when you reach it.
Most importantly, the words “I have a great idea” are just a small starting point on a journey that will be a lot longer than you think, and harder than you ever imagined to see through to becoming a reality.
The joy comes in finishing the hard work turning an idea into reality. Never does it come as easily as saying the simple words “I have a great idea”. Never can we judge an idea as being great until after we see the results of our hard work.
Better to say “I have an idea and let’s explore it” rather than promising it will be great without ever first seeing it.