Most of us do come across the statement that ideas are dime a dozen and all it takes is the execution of the idea . A good/bad idea can be turned in to a good outcome, if the execution is taken care of. Yes I do buy the argument considering that a lot of people talk more, act less. However, I also feel that ideas as touted by the media are not all that pervasive amongst folks. Most of the people talk about additional functions and features that can be provided for various customers, VERY FEW people think of disruptive ideas. These are typically the ideas which are just about to cross the chasm / ideas which have terrific design, usability and value to the customer.

Do you have 10 ideas right now , for which you think there is a good business sense in putting time and money ? If you don’t , then you need to look at the concept of IDEA itself. Its usually said that one enters the education system/school with a lot of questions but leaves the school with a period. Now one can go on figer pointing to the education system as such. But at a fundamental level, the ecosystem of a learner, which includes friends, parents, school environment , faculty , job market play a vital role in the learning process of a person. Having Ideas is the primary trait of a curious and courageous individuals. Ofcourse , execution needless to say is key for the success/failure of the idea.

Coming back to the Question of 10 ideas, why should one not have an inventory of ideas in his head? Dont we know that its usually a combination of a bad tried ,failed idea AND a new idea that generally gives rise to a successful one ? Then what stops us from having these in our mind at all times ? Here is what I could think of :

1. Afraid: Everybody is afraid. Result of testing an idea always involves the anxiety of a failure. Just to curb those feelings, should we stop having ideas , even if they a bunch of crap things ?
2.Bad idea syndrome : What if I have a bad idea and I am trying to slog it out ..Shouldnt i wait for the best idea to hit me..(God knows when will that happen, for we know that people who wait for something to happen usually end up as spectators rather than players)
3.Oh no, I have already tested the best idea I had in my mind, and it failed. I dont think I will be able to come up with any better.
4. Too many ideas in my head , implies people think I am only words, no action. So let me have one idea and focus all my efforts
5. Last, the most obvious one…people dont want to be uncomfortable, as is the case with having any idea different from the status quo

If one looks closely, all of the above , most of them deal with the mindset of a person. If one tries to consciously pen down atleast one idea per day/week/fortnight in a book, review them frequently, I am sure lot of good things will come out the exercise. If not for anything , it will give you more confidence to try out new stuff.The first aspect one can try out is by seeing, not looking. There is whale of difference between 2 things..Lot of people look, they look at news items, look at environment, markets, companies, people etc……VERY FEW PEOPLE SEE..Seeing is the act of a person who has a particular idea, need , goal in mind and tries sifting the vast event /info/firm pool that he is exposed to…It is similar to a person who wants to buy a car and suddenly starts SEEING a lot of cars on his way to office. Unless one has a few ideas in mind, wants to satisfy customers problems, create value to the a specific set of customers, everything we are exposed to, we merely look and not SEE.

Here’s a nice hack to get this SEE thing going:
Everyday one should write something which he has never seen before..Even though it sounds difficult/impractical, very soon one realizes that there are just too many things we have not seen in the past.

Here’s a cool quote to close this post, which looks at statistics in a different
**“It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics " Fletcher Knebel
**