The ‘Good Idea’ Illusion
A good idea is worthless.
A lot of people think a good idea is all it takes. This is far from the truth. Succesful companies are seldom build on just a good idea. In reality it takes a great team, great excecution and implementation and the right timing.
Take a good look at this image. Two seemingly different areas are represented by ‘A’ and ‘B’. They represent one idea in two different situations and circumstances. But it is only the circumstances that make them seem different. If you take a good look at the image you will see that the background of A and B are the same shade of grey.
Really!
(Read more about this image at the Checkershadow Illusion page)
The same is true for ideas. If you and I come up with a great idea for a new car the chances that we will actually build it are slim. It takes more than an idea to build something succesful.
The iPod is not just a good idea. It is a nice product with perfect timing and implementation and circumstances.
Alexander Graham Bell had a great idea too. He invented and built the telephone in 1875. But the telephone wasn’t just a good idea! Several people had the same idea at the same time in different places all over the world. A working electrical voice-transmission system was first demonstrated by Johann Philipp Reis in 1863. What Bell had was a great sense of timing and the connections to get his ‘Good Idea’ implemented on a large scale.
A good idea is worthless. It takes Steve Jobs, Alexander Bell and You to turn it into a great company or product.
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February 12, 2007 @ 3:30 pm (15:30)
That’s what they call innovation: bringing a good idea to life!
erwin blom said,
February 12, 2007 @ 7:07 pm (19:07)
O.K. if a lot of people have the same idea at the same time, is it good timing or a big part of luck when what becomes succesful. Steve Jobs proved a couple of times that he can be succesful, but how often is that the case? Most people are succesful once. Very often they are good, but have a lot of luck as well.