What’s a Good Idea?

I call bullshit on good ideas.

There, I said it. Something I’ve learned over the years in creative professions (Graphic Design, Photography, and Studio Management for me) is that a surplus of ideas is as dangerous as a drought.

Notice how they are called ideas? No adjective. Not good, great, revolutionary, magical, terrible, awful. Why?

At conferences, on calls, over Twitter, we’re all guilty of saying, “I’ve got this great idea…” I bring it up all too often. An idea for a blog, a company, a book, a workshop.

People aren’t willing to support you when all you are doing is talking about your idea. But people will fight to make a mediocre product great if you give them the chance. Throw yourself into action, figure out your plan as you go. Even if your idea ends up being a terrible action, at least you’ll know.

Problem is, you can never tell how good or bad an idea is until you DO IT. Once you put something into action, you can tell if the blog will take off or drown in the internet’s white noise. You’ll see what you need to change, cut or curate. You can’t pass intelligent judgement on an idea until it’s become more than that.

So, do it. If an idea is created, but never applied as a solution to a problem, it’s worthless. Even a bad idea applied has more worth than an idea hiding in your Moleskin, unused.

What ideas are you going to apply today?