“Ideas” are almost worthless.
July 10, 2010 —
Many jobseekers write to us, noting with great enthusiasm that they are uniquely employable because they have “ideas.” Lots of them. We are seldom (okay, never) moved to action by this claim, partially because so many people claim it. One becomes skeptical.
Which brings us to Brainstorming, that good ol’ reliable exercise adored by many, misused by more. We are not going to claim that this engaging diversion is totally worthless, because a few good ideas have been known to emerge from this ideation process.
But Brainstorming is a clear demonstration of the tiny value of an “idea.” Gather in one room a team of eager people (often one from Sales, one from Operations, one from anything-but-Legal, a few from the highways and byways) and equip a moderator with plenty of markers, easel pages and wall space to hang them on. You know the drill.
In a few short hours, an energetic group can throw up (ahem) 200 or more scribbles, be glad they avoided writing TPS reports for a whole afternoon, and be ready for pizza.
So what’s valuable here? The ideas? Nah. Gather another group, repeat the exercise, and you’ll get 200 more scribbles. Two or three a minute, with many many repeaters. Dross. Dreck. Rubbish.
What’s genuinely valuable here, pure gold, is the rare, skilled, strategic editor with the vision to flush 199 “ideas” down the toilet, and find the one worth pursuing.
A person with the talent to recognize, select, shape, nurture and implement a concept is worth ten thousand “hey-what-if” brain farts. As we often say, we don’t kill ideas – we execute them.
How true!! It’s not about one person’s creative mind, but the ability to adapt and collaborate. Rare is the person that can set aside pride!! (forgive me, I just finished the Count of Monte Cristo and my brain is stuck on old english)
Posted by nolancollaborative on Jul 12, 2010 at 11:51 am
Haha. Though I agree with your ‘Count of Monte Cristo’-ism, I think you missed the boat on this one. To summarize the post, it is not about being able to create ideas; it is about finding that nugget hidden amongst the crap. Collaboration and adaptation do not enter the process until after this glimmering hope of an idea has been discovered. But you are right, it takes more than just a creative mind; it takes creative strategy. It is about gathering some valuable insight and presenting the seemingly obvious in a completely new and exciting way.
Posted by Natalie on Aug 3, 2010 at 10:08 am