of Ideas and Accomplishments

Many people who’ve worked with me know that I often borrow Peter Drucker’s phrase, “an idea in itself is not an accomplishment.” (see The Effective Executive in my book list) Many do not agree with this assertion.

Some take offense to it.

“Tomorrow hinges on the ideas of today.” “The Power of Ideas.” “Ideas can change the world.” Phrases like these permeate our culture and foster the imagination and free-thinking that distinguishes our society and our national identity. The United States is known around the world for its creative ingenuity. It is critical that we as a society continue to encourage freedom of mind and to spread the contagion of creative expression.

Given the high value of broad-minded ideation in any progressive society, and the fact that I make a good living nurturing ideas, how dare I denigrate these precious ideas by claiming that “and idea…is not an accomplishment”? The answer is quite simple: because it isn’t. A daydream that exists in my head might be fun for me to think about, but that idea in a vacuum can do nothing. Ideas serve the world by affecting it directly or indirectly.

Direct v. Indirect

An example of an idea directly affecting the world would be the physical realization of said idea. If I say to myself “what if there were purple potato chips,” and then I go make some purple potato chips, then my idea is realized and it has affected the world, for better or worse. The product may never make it to market, but I and anyone else involved in the creation of my violet delights will have learned from the experience. If the product is a smash hit, and overtakes Coca-Cola as the world’s biggest brand, it will have changed the world in a very visible way. By nature of its size, the Purple Potato Corporation would affect the world in other ways too, like potato production and the creation of purple dies. Environmental, economic, and social changes and challenges would arise. The direct effects of ideas can be enormous.

Indirectly, ideas can be just as powerful. What if I wrote my ideas down, and five hundred years later, my notebook was discovered in an archaeological dig. If the discoverer is inspired by my ideas to create new and better kinds of potato chips by re-thinking them from the ground up, then my ideas will have indirectly affected his life by providing the inspiration for change. A bad idea can lead to a good one. Every idea has the potential to shape our thought for the future. Leonardo Da Vinci was a master at this. While a relatively small percentage of his inventions were realized during his lifetime (though quite a few were), his greatest legacy lies in the power and depth of his thoughts and ideas, and the way they’ve shaped our thinking even to this day.

Idea Vehicles

Given the monumental direct and indirect effects of ideas, one might well come to the conclusion that Mr. Drucker’s phrase is nonsense: ideas can very well lead to great accomplishment. But there is a tiny detail here that one might easily overlook. Any idea can lead to great accomplishment, but only by nature of its affect on something else. Ideas must be documented, communicated, or otherwise pursued before their value can be manifest. An idea can not affect the world directly or indirectly without a vehicle to do so.

So technically, by nature of the butterfly effect, by expressing an idea verbally to a colleague, you have fulfilled your obligation to the idea, and given it wings. From that point the idea has the opportunity to directly or indirectly change the world completely. Granted. So next time you have an idea, just write it down or share it with someone, and you will have fulfilled your creative obligation to humanity by allowing your idea the opportunity to “accomplish” something.

But what about the ideas that really do change the world? Democracy, the industrial revolution, iPods… these things were all brought to the world not by ideas, but by people willing to go beyond the bare minimum expression of ideas and carry them into fruition. Democracy as an idea is quaint, but it took real work and social revolution to bring it into reality. The industrial revolution was brought about not by ideas, but by men and women willing to take risks, and to find ways of turning ideas into realities. Many companies tried to create portable digital music players prior to the iPod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_music_player) Apple’s accomplishment was its ability to take this idea and develop it into a marketable reality, and now the idea has become a cultural phenomenon.

Ideas–directly or indirectly–can indeed lead to great accomplishments. But if we conclude that because all ideas are capable of becoming “accomplished” in society that all ideas are accomplishments, we are delusional.

Life as a Professional Idea-man

I have always been full of ideas. Now that my job requires it, I obsess over them. Most of them are so much hot air, but I value all of them equally, and work hard to document and further them to the best of my abilities. I use the resources at my disposal to make my ideas into realities, in hopes that my ideas may improve lives in some way. Many of what I considered to be my best ideas never saw the light of day, because I was unable to find a receptive audience. I’ve learned by trial and error that the skill of bringing ideas from concept to reality is every bit as important as the generation of the idea itself. I’ve learned methods and strategies that, in my experience, give ideas a larger chance of successfully influencing. To me, half the fun of having ideas is the challenge of bringing them to fruition.

I value ideas as much as anyone. I simply draw a distinction between the idea itself and its affect on the world. History forgets men who live to dream, but we remember those who brought dreams to life.