The Anatomy of a Good Idea0

There is nothing like the rush of a good idea. When you hold this nugget of inspiration in your hand, so full of potential and life, it’s as if you’re holding a winning lottery ticket.

Those who live in the realm of ideas know how beautiful and rare this is.  Mostly because we’ve had so many ideas fall flat. And when a good one comes along, we great take pains to nurture it to life.

So how do you know you have a good idea?

While there’s no formula, I do believe all ideas contain these five basic elements in its anatomy:

Irony - This may seem odd, but every good idea should be ironic when contrasted with the current state of things.  It should have a sense of turning something on it’s head in an unexpected way. It’s what snags the attention of others and hooks their interest. Locally, there’s a car dealership that wants to sell cars. Not unusual.  But their promotion is to plant a tree every time they do sell a car, which is unexpected because vehicles are known more for what they do to the environment than what they do for it. That’s a bit of irony. (I love this piece on irony from The Oatmeal)

Simple - You must be able to explain it clearly and succinctly. If not, it’s too complicated and can’t travel into the imaginations of others.  As Einsten is quoted as saying, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”

The Click -  This is the, “A-ha!” moment when the gist of your idea connects with someone other than yourself. Many of my ideas were amazing until I tried to communicate them to someone else. Then I realized how off they really were. But the ideas that required minimal convincing before another person could picture it, were the ones that have blossomed most.

Solves a Problem -  Every single idea must solve a problem, or else why bother? There’s a need out there somewhere and your idea is the solution.

Pushback – If your idea goes in a different direction than conventional wisdom, it means it’s going to change something. When you change things, some people won’t like it. Even more, some will push back. I would add that if you don’t have any pushback after making your idea public, you likely don’t have a very strong idea.

Where do good ideas come from?

When I try to manufacture ideas, such as standing a whiteboard, looking at a piece of paper, or staring at a computer screen, the ideas I have are, well, ordinary at best. Yet, there’s still a purpose for doing these activities because it’s where the work begins.

However, it seems the best ideas I’ve ever conceived, or heard of, have come from one of two places. This is where the magic happens:

1) Out of the sky – It never fails. When I do normal things like taking a shower, playing catch, driving my car, getting a manicure (oh, wait), these are the times when an idea strikes me like a lightening bolt.  This is why I always keep something on me to record it.  Pen or paper, phone, iPad, laptop. If you want to catch lightening in a bottle, you’ve got to have a bottle nearby.

2) Piggybacking - The best reason I can think of to share your idea with someone else is because of what it could lead to.  You and a friend are discussing some idea when BAM!, you are inspired by a fresh idea.  You realize the original idea was just the foundation for this new and better idea.  This could be the wall you needed to breakthrough, or it perhaps an entirely different idea, or the merging of several ideas. Regardless, you needed to flesh it out before you could find it out.

Think back to your best ideas. When have they struck you? Do they contain these basic elements? I hope these tips help you in generating your ideas.

God knows the world needs them.

No related posts.