WHO CENSORS YOU?

"The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen."

Tommy Smothers, American comedian/musician.

Often the result of a free, open, and honest exchange of ideas are better ideas than would happen were those individual ideas censored.

Not always but more than enough to make make widespread censorship a bad idea.

Take this blog as example.

I have the right to post my ideas while you have the right to decide whether or not you will read them.

Win/win and that's a pretty good idea!

MORE THAN THE IDEA

"All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come."

Victor Hugo, 19th century French poet

True, but an idea's "time" doesn't just "come".

The success of an idea is much more the result of effort and hard work than it is the idea itself.

Don't wait for "it", make "it"!

NOT NECESSARILY

"The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next."

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American politician

Not unless the root of the philosophy actually is common sense.

And it's the same with your ideas.

Just because you have them doesn't mean everyone will immediately or ultimately think they're good.

They actually have to be good.

LESSON ONE: LEARN ALL THE OTHER LESSONS

"Genius without education is like silver in the mine."

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman/scientist/philosopher

To all those with great ideas now contemplating leaving school to pursue them, without an education, succeed or fail, you fail.

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME

"The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot."

Salvador Dalí

20th century Spanish surrealist painter

Which is to suggest, you don't need to share every thought you have no matter how interesting, or poetic, it may seem to you.

Less is often more.

MUCH MORE THAN SIMPLY DREAMING IT

"Human life is driven forward by its dim apprehension of notions too general for its existing language."

Alfred North Whitehead

Late 19th/early 20th century English mathematician

Business too.

Every idea now recognized as successful began life as just a notion in someone's mind.

But you have to do something with it to create value.

The Power Of Need Over Want

"Nothing has more strength than dire necessity."

Euripides

4th century BC Greek poet

Keep this in mind when considering the validity of your "can't miss" business idea.

Most of what we come up with will fail this test.

The more people need rather than want the better.

From Small Minds, No Big Ideas Will Come

"Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness."

Francois de la Rochefoucauld

17th century French writer

And who among us has not done this at one time or another?

However we can and should learn from these lapses in judgement, becoming the better person for having done so.

What do you think?

Coyote Insight, LLC

The Eye Of The Beholder

"Nothing is beautiful from every point of view."

Horace

1st century BC Latin poet

Think about this the next time you have an idea you are certain all your co-workers will just love.

Dreams Grounded In Reality

"The true ideal is not opposed to the real but lies within it; and blessed are the eyes that find it."

James Russell Lowell

19th century American poet

Mr. Lowell tells us that there must be a link between our ideas and reality; that one without the other is the same as if neither existed.

Dream, but at some point live in reality as well.

Art Is Where You Find It

"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind."

Eugene Ionesco

20th century Romanian born French playwright

Since all great ideas begin in the mind, doesn't this definition also apply to business?

And if it does, does that not also mean that great business ideas are also art?

What did Guy Kawasaki call his book?  "The Art of the Start"

What More Than How Many

"A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, anymore than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers."

Nicolas Chamfort

18th century French writer

When a quote expressing a thought many of us have likely never had before, is as obviously true as this is, nothing more need be said.

Change and the Value of New Ideas

"Nothing is so amusing as a total change of ideas."

Laurence Sterne
18th century British writer

Nor as effective for improving productivity.

There simply is no way to overstate the importance of encouraging the process of change in business.

What You Have To Say As Much As How You Say It

"Good sense is both the first principal and the parent source of good writing."

Horace
1st century poet

In business, having the sense to know what is and is not worth writing about is critical.

This blog is example of that.

Sometimes I do while other times I don't, and in some cases, what is not said is more important than what is.

Ideas: Think of Something, Do Something!

"Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them."

Alfred North Whitehead
Early 20 century English Mathematician/Philosopher

Ideas are about the future and without them, you don't have much of one.

But without action, ideas are worth nothing.

How is your company when it comes to coming up with new ideas and of greater importance, acting on them?

Great Ideas! Everyone Has Them

"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that only exists as an idea."

Buddha

I generally like to hold back my thoughts hoping to hear yours but in this case . . .

There are no perfect ideas, plans, etc. Even what in retrospect appears to have been great, most likely started off as something else and evolved to its current state.

Have an idea, develop it to a point but then take action.

Everything Starts With An Idea

"Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes."

Napoleon Hill
Author "Think and Grow Rich"

Actually, the beginning point for everything.

How are you and your organization at generating new ideas?

Ideas: Do They Pass The Stress Test?

"There is nothing investors like more than a start up that seems like it is going to succeed even without them."

Paul Graham
Venture Capitalist

No great revelation that; but it does suggest a test you can apply to whatever great business idea you are thinking about doing, or to the new product/service your company is about to launch.

How many besides you think it's a good idea?

Getting the Best From Employees: Being Wrong is OK

"I have learned the novice can often see things that the expert overlooks. All that is necessary is not to be afraid of making mistakes, or of appearing naive."

Abraham Harold Maslow, Psychologist and Writer

Not sure who Maslow had in mind when he spoke of the "novice" but to me applied to business it is those with limited experience who are intelligent who may or may not be managers. Individuals whose fresh view made lead to things that more senior people would never see. The trick is to create an environment that encourages their input; one that will process rather than just listen to what they have to say and does not penalize them for being wrong.

Unfortunately I haven't seen a lot of companies who do that well.