There may be a need to challenge beliefs regarding the value of an idea; sometimes misjudged because of its origins, e.g. the one with the idea is in a junior position in the company, too young, too old, no money etc. Other factors include the opinion of friends, family or let’s say a state enterprise agency assessing the idea. The budding entrepreneur may share an idea that might sound implausible, like a web-based social network where all the members gossip, like, poke and share, or something really daft like flying cars, yes they are here. We are living at a time when vast amounts of information is freely available allowing many ideas to be thoroughly analysed before any costs are incurred, just time and effort, a currency we now have plenty of. The worrying bits can wait, no need to prematurely squash an idea. So here we go!
- "An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
An idea weighs nothing.
True, but when not handled with open minded care, an idea can suddenly gain a lot of density and weight. An idea can begin to feel heavy as the mind begins analysing and pondering questions such as; where will I get the 10k or 100k needed to materialise this idea? Where will I get help, it could be months before money comes in to pay for the staff required. Or this sounds a great idea but is too big for me. (Self perception and judgement). But alas ‘An idea weighs nothing’ and should continue so as it is investigated, analysed, poked and prodded for as long as necessary and if the idea warrants the next step then all the other considerations’ like money and making it happen may be faced with greater confidence.
- It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
The light bulb. Internal combustion engine, computers, the Internet, space travel, books songs or film can create whole cultural shifts. Ideas are powerful. ‘when received by a prepared mind’; this is the bit that grabs my attention. Ideas aren’t particularly scarce; we have amazing things in the world around us as evidence of this fact. The sustainability of any good business, the quality of any system, organisation or government is solely reliant on quality of the minds involved.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” (Albert Einstein)
Imagination is akin to having a world-class processing and management system installed. The thing is, quite a few very intelligent and highly qualified people don’t use it much, the ones that do achieve amazing things, - Steve Jobs, Bob Geldof or any of the wide array of people you are aware of that make a genuine far reaching contribution beyond their own personal lives. Developing a prepared mind is something anyone can do, you don’t need to rush out to change the world but is does make a difference to your personal world.
It can reshape that mind's view of the world. One can have lots of ideas that are nice although without any dramatically life altering consequences. But occasionally an idea can set in motion events that do impact in a big way. New challenges, meeting new people, discovering qualities and strenghts not previously aroused. An encounter with an idea could bring on an encounter with aspects of yourself and capabilities that lay undiscovered. Yes ideas have the potential to change your world view whether the ideas are yours or your life is enhaced in some way by someone else's ideas.
It can dramatically alter the behaviour of the mind's owner.This comes down to choices and paths chosen. New levels of success, wealth and achievement are very empowering. Is it used to inspire, influence the empowerment of another? It could just as easily create a competitive, dog eat dog – winner takes all world view. Aggressive competition is the hallmark of some companies. This is a winners and losers Philosophy, one we are paying for now. In a somewhat different context, ideas inform political policy and philosophy, millions around the world, recipiants of theese ideas are now questioning them, challenging them, when the collective change their minds and form new ideas of the society or world they want, change is inevitable.
It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others." We can all be very protective of an idea. The sharing of an idea has many forms and potentials. Sharing could take the form of many small enterprises that spring up as a result of some big new idea that has been realised. Computer technologies are awash with examples of successful companies being set up in response to some major new development. One such company set up to provide training to businesses regarding Cloud Computing. It doesn’t need to be about high tech stuff either; an idea shared in a collaborative manner could achieve what the originator of the idea may not manage alone. It just occurred to me as I write this that ideas are not all about enterprise. Social and cultural change, equality, fairness and the breaking down of barriers are driven by people who challenge the status quo, confront predigest and persistently share their idea. I have been following the American presidential debates, a candidate Dr. Ron Paul, a man in his mid seventies is speaking of issues and challenging the status quot in ways no Politician anywhere in recent history in their right mind (that’s a Politician’s mind) would dare attempt. And what is happening? The country is paying lots of attention to him, even if he now looses the nomination the party realise they can’t succeed without his support as Dr. Paul's supporters and the message/idea he has shared is at odds with theirs. A lot of people are serious about positive change and more alert to political rhetoric.
We may be constrained by recession but a creative mind need not accept redundancy.