Ideas are not diamonds
And don't expect anyone to get excited about your lump of coal
Everyone knows a idea guy. He’s always suggesting what the organization, the government, or the world should do. He’s full of ways he could make things better, if only people listened.
Invariably, at times, he notices the fruit of implementers. He sees something similar to an idea he had come into being.
Then he assumes credit.
- “I thought of that.”
- “I said 5 years ago that’s what we should be doing.”
Here’s the thing.
There’s nothing special about having ideas. Everyone has them. But whether they’re great hinges far more on the work, on the excellence in the executing, than it does on the thought itself.
It takes incredible amount of pressure and work for a lump of coal to become a diamond. Your idea may have the potential, but it’s not going to get there on its own.
That’s where implementers come in.
They’re ready to work, to make one small step, and then another, and another. Through a great deal of work the lump gets transformed. Given the time, energy and resources this actually takes, it’s a miracle anything good gets made at all.
You see. No one cares about your great idea. No one is better off because of your 1% inspiration.
You didn’t give them a diamond.
You gave them a lump of coal—which is the same as asking them to apply the transformative work and pressure, having done none yourself. The 99% perspiration. You’d more aptly call that a problem, than a gift.
If you want to put a bow on it, make a pitch, you’ve got to be willing to develop it.
“What did you do with your idea?”
“Well, I had it.”
“Umm, okay.”
No one has time for that.
Bare minimum: ask if they’re interested in your developing it. Your willingness to do the work shows commitment—and that’s something. Then jumpstart the process and get back with them once you’ve taken things to the next stage. If you’ll own and drive the iteration, what was once a simple lump may begin to glimmer. When that happens, they’ll shift to the front of their seats.
That’s when you know you have something. And that’s primarily a matter of execution, which is—if it wasn’t made obvious by now—the point.
“We need more idea guys.” — what no team said, ever.