A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.

===================

Ok. The whole concept of “original” idea seems to bring out the worst in people. And maybe because I get to teach and talk with high school kids on occasion (and, boy, do they have ideas — lots and lots and lots of ideas — all original in their minds) I get to talk about the “truth” about original ideas.

For example.

I get to say. There are no original ideas.

Okay.

That was black & white.

Let’s say they are truly truly rare.

Look. I have been lucky in the whole ‘seeing awesome ideas’ category.

I have seen some of the world’s best innovations groups.

I have seen some of the most successful entrepreneurial business people in the world present their ideas.

I have seen some of the most creative people in the world show ideas.

And?

I think I can count on one hand truly original ideas.

Okay.

Derivatives and nuances?

Sure.

Original?

One hand.

So. Let’s break original ideas down into two aspects.

1. The thought.

2. The implementation.

The thought is a “what if” or “could this be” type scenario.

Forget it.

Here is the truth.

Someone, somewhere, has had the same thought.

Some people have figured out a way to share it. And if those some people have figured out a way of articulating it well <or well enough that people understand it> they are the ‘some people’ with credit for an original idea.

By the way. All these are diminishing numbers.

Ok <and “uh oh” thought to follow>.

And then there are the ones who articulate it well enough to be understood and have an audience who (a) gives a shit and (b) wants to do something with it.

By this time you can be found somewhere dancing on the head of pin with the few others who fit there with you.

Oops.

“Wants to do something with it.”

Yup.

(b) is important because truly original ideas scare the crap out of most people.

——–

“Don’t worry about people stealing an idea. If it’s original, you will have to ram it down their throats.”

Howard Aiken

——-

Now, unfortunately, the quote above is incredibly dead on right.

Huh? Go ahead and visit most management teams and talk about scared and ‘great ideas’ and I can almost gaurantee you will get some happily delievred version of “great ideas should scare you”. Uhm. Here is where you unfortunately run into the infamous “what people say versus what people do.”

What do I mean?

People say: “show me ideas that scare me” quickly followed by “if it scares us it must be a good idea.”

And then.

People do nothing. Yeah. Nothing.

They may say: “They <note: it’s never ‘me’ it is always ‘they’> were too scared to do it. They just didn’t see the risk return on it.”

Well. I will make one point here and then move on … ORIGINAL MEANS IT HASN’T BEEN SEEN OR DONE BEFORE SO HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!!!!

i am scared because<yes. I shouted that AND used exclamation points>

Maybe because it is new <and therefore untried or unseen> people get nervous. Anyway, suffice it to say, original ideas are every rare.

Okay. Moving on to the protecting the relatively rare original ideas.

People spend gobs <lots and lots and lots … well … you get the point> of time worrying about protecting proprietary ideas and proprietary process and ‘original ideas.’

Corollary: Even if they don’t have one they invest lots of energy discussing and worrying about them.

Okay. Look.

If I am a drug company, maybe a software company or technology company with some engineering widgetology or maybe P&G which has some skin lotion formulation that some whiz bang ingredient then, yeah, you get protective. Okay. “Maybe” you get protective.

note: Just for humor at the end of this post I have included a “proposed confidentiality process” we sent to a maniacally protective prospective client <yes … we did send an actual one, but they were fun people as well as maniacally litigious and wanted to have a little laugh over their obsessive behavior with regard to confidentiality>

Anyway. Throughout my career I have encountered company owners who were obsessed with ‘protecting our original ideas.’ I kept on trying to point out to them that unless you’re a new products innovation group the odds of you truly having an original idea is lower than USA men’s team winning the World Cup.

I sometimes believe people spend so much time thinking they have an original idea and investing so much energy trying to keep it a secret they forget the energy it takes to actually get it to happen.

In fact. To be honest I believe I have been in several situations where we actually had a fairly original idea, however, in presenting the idea I probably went overboard trying to draw links to things people have done in non related industries. It’s a little crazy, but original ideas have an easier time being implemented if it feels ‘fresh’ to the industry it is going to happen in but ‘used’ by someone else first.

Note: this is actually a concept called “optimal newness”

If you are not very, very, careful, you actually end up making original ideas look ‘not so original’ so that they can be implemented.

Crazy huh?

Regardless, in the end, I would worry less about whether it is “original” or not. I would worry more about whether it was a good idea.

And idea that will work.

In fact … it is true (take this one to the bank) if you stop thinking ‘original’ and start looking for “similar to” it becomes easier to implement and easier to sell (or have someone implement).

Sound wacky? Yup.

But it’s true.

Just face it. Originality (as with many things in life) is a shade of grey.

Or maybe an aspect of something that already exists. Or maybe just worry about this:

——-

“Until you can create something that captivates people, I’d invite you to just shut up. It’s easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It’s a lot more difficult to perform one.”

Chuck Palahniuk

——–

Worry less about original.

Worry more about the idea and worry more about making it actually happen versus protecting it.

So. That said. Here are some thoughts if you want to protect your “original” ideas:

<yes … we really shared this with a client>

——–

< dear maniacal company>: Additional Confidentiality Steps

–          Cyanide pills

The pills are embedded in team member teeth caps with a tracking chip set to identify and explode upon the presence of a <competitive company> employee.

(note: this is covered in our dental plan)

–          Enigma coding machines

We have identified the two last working Enigma coding machines.  We can place one in your offices and the other will remain in <the managing director’s> office (which is better than card protected room because his executive assistant is better than a pit bull protecting that office).

–          Etch-a-Sketch communications

All communications will take place via etch-a-sketch. Twice a day all team members will shake their etch-a-sketch.

–          Invisible Ink

All written communications will be conducted in invisible ink. (but still under lock and key guidelines).

–          Fort Knox

Quick research has uncovered that the majority of the gold has been removed from Fort Knox and space is available. We may have to tweak the compensation agreement, but we would be willing to consider setting up a field office in the Fort Knox vault to service your business.

–          Cosa Nostra

Through some relationships <our managing director> has, we may be able to make some arrangements to completely eliminate the <competitive company’s> conflict once and for all (if you know what we mean). Once again, we may have to tweak the compensation arrangement to accommodate this service.

These are just some initial ideas which we would be willing to discuss in the interest of collaboration.

======

Originally posted August 2010


 

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Written by Bruce