Ideas

I’m starting a new series of posts simply called Ideas. The posts will be exactly that – no more, no less.

I have ideas all the time, business ideas, political ideas, inventions, harebrained schemes, and random thoughts. Often they’re inspired by what I perceive to be a deficiency or inefficiency, and other times it’s purely entrepreneurial. The only problem is that they remain in my head or on the computer (in many respects one and the same), and rarely progress beyond (a) a rant about how the world is a mess, and I just need to… rule it, or (b) a deep despair at my own lack of resources and ability (which largely boils down to laziness).

No more.

Instead complaining how I don’t have the time, money, skills, clout, courage and commitment to nurture an idea past its point of inception, I am going to do the one thing that I can do, and do well, which is to articulate it in the form of a blog post.

Answers to a couple of inevitable questions:

Why share your ideas?
I am almost certain that any idea I post here will have been thought of at some time by another human being either past or present. I’d very much like to believe I’m original or unique, but recently figured out that it’s not about uniqueness but action: an idea not acted upon is worthless. Also, what good is an idea not shared? How does one know whether an idea has merit unless it’s held up to scrutiny by peers and experts – like in the scientific review process? This may prove to be a very humbling exercise, because my posts will be necessarily brief – as the blog format and peoples’ attention spans demand – providing opportunities for criticism. But all I stand to lose is my pride, which isn’t worth much in the grand scheme of things.

Can I use your ideas?
Yes. If by some stroke of craziness one of my posts is the spark you needed to turn dreams into reality, you may – in no uncertain terms – take it as your own to use. I humbly ask for a small token of acknowledgement, whether it’s my name in the credits or a link back to this blog, but it’s not mandatory and I waive the right to sue you if you make a motza. Realistically, the idea will be in need of development, and I’d love the opportunity to talk about it further with you over coffee or a meal.

If nothing else, it will boost my post count (or add to my horrifically large pile of draft posts). Hope you enjoy future posts in this series, or better still, they inspire you to create or progress your own ideas!