Here's a quote, "Ideas are Worth Nothing Unless Executed."
This isn't from our text but rather from a blog article I read a few months ago. Here's the link if anyone is interested: https://sivers.org/multiply
In a business sense, I can see how this is true sometimes when only considering the bottom line. But as a writer or an artist, I do not think this is true.
Being an ideas person, with lots of (I'm biased) great ideas and no big successes to show for it yet financially, this article once dragged me down for a few months. But I sat down and I asked myself the other day, "If someone offered me $1,000,000 in exchange for me forgetting all of my best ideas, would I take them up on the offer?" Now this question is extremely sci fi (like as if there is some giant memory-erasing ray gun or something), but I was just playing in the realm of imagination. I quickly came to the conclusion of, "No, I would not."
Even if I knew that the ideas themselves would never amount to anything close to $1,000,000?
Yes, absolutely.
I realized that the more ideas I had, the easier it was to come up with another good idea or at least something worth considering. It's all about the connections that David discusses in class. The more connections we make, the more imagination, the more creativity we have at our fingertips. If you get rid of all of your best ideas, you might miss out on an even greater one that is just around the corner!
So I realized something the other day. Ideas are definitely worth something. It might not be money but they are definitely worth something to someone out there.
(Sorry to bring this into the realm of video games again, but . . .) this reminds me of a video I saw about, well, game development. The authors basically said that ideas, alone, are neither good nor bad, and that they are worthless. After all the idea behind Super Mario Bros is "A Plumber on Drugs," the idea behind Gears of War was "linebackers with chainsaw guns," "let's throw birds at pigs" makes a billion dollars and, "let's put a child in a zombie apocalypse," becomes one of the most highly acclaimed games in existence. None of these ideas are good or bad, the execution behind them is what made them successes.
ReplyDeleteSo, then, where does that bring us in storytelling? I suppose no story is good or bad in its own right, but it is made so by the teller. If the teller willingly engages in the story realm, if they pull out and explore all of the questions, if they challenge their own perspective on it, and try to see it from the perspectives of others, if they tinker with it. In other words (and I'm referencing the video about games again, because I'm a nerd) if they are willing to fail faster with it, to find out what works and what doesn't, to break it down into its core elements and rebuild it and tell it and tell it and tell it and tell it and tell it, then even a terrible story idea can become a brilliant story.
ReplyDeleteAimee, your post kind of "flowed together" with some thoughts I've had recently about the worth of people. And I'd like to explain here, because I think it ultimately circles back to the worth of ideas. By the way, I'll state up front that I thoroughly disagree with Mr. Sivers' position.
ReplyDeleteI used to wonder why some people were "worth millions" while others' "net worth" could be well below zero. There's an underlying theme about the necessity to translate Worth into monetary terms that harkens back to my post a couple of days ago.
So let's begin with this: money is a hopelessly inadequate way to "keep score" when it comes to human worth.
What is the monetary value of a child whose battle with cancer inspires others to muster their courage and join the fight? Should we measure it in differential contributions to the American Cancer Society? I think not. The ACS may see a bump, but the impact of others' newfound resolve will translate into far more intangible (but nonetheless significant) results.
"Worth" must be measured in terms of the human condition. What if so many of the "worthless" - or, I think I'd prefer to say - "undervalued" peoples' main contribution is to create a society that allows someone else to stand out? What if a person whose main contribution is to stock a grocery store aisle viewed their contribution to society as being one of a large number of people who put any one (or all, perhaps) of our society's "shining stars" into a position to shine? How many of those stars would never have shined had they been forced to spend a significant portion of each day foraging for their sustenance? All of them. That's how many.
I could go on about that - and someday I might - but the purpose is to relate this to the worth of an idea. So here's the point:
How many of today's "shining star" ideas are standing on the shoulders of other ideas whose destiny was NOT to become the multi-million dollar video game, or box-office bonanza, or runaway best-seller? All of them. That's how many.
So - what's the "worth" of the 27th row of bricks up the side of the Empire State Building? Collectively, they make the whole thing stand up. Without them, there's no building (above the 26th row, anyway). What's the worth of the next-to-last idea offered in a brainstorming session - or any other collaboration, for that matter? I submit to you that it's PRICELESS, not worthless.
I want to go on record agreeing with Bill's disagreement with Mr. Sivers. Remember that the business world measures worth in $.
ReplyDeleteWere daVinci's drawings for flight machines worth nothing? Here's a link to some of them:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Leonardo+da+Vinci+inventions%22&sa=X&biw=1093&bih=498&tbm=isch&imgil=lP0z0iLxD1CLjM%253A%253BEPQTflzLq0X1BM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.leonardodavincisinventions.com%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=lP0z0iLxD1CLjM%253A%252CEPQTflzLq0X1BM%252C_&usg=__EJn5rGlbf370XyVZtizGqFs3bEE%3D#imgrc=lP0z0iLxD1CLjM%3A&usg=__EJn5rGlbf370XyVZtizGqFs3bEE%3D
Ideas are fuel for further creativity. What is the "worth" of creativity? I think we'd agree that creativity nourishes the soul and that renders it, like the next to last idea in a brainstorming session, priceless.
Ideas are the stuff of dreams. I knew shortly after I met my husband to be that he was a dreamer with genius ideas constantly forming in his head. He has talked about ideas from time to time that actually appeared on the market 5 or 10 years later. When our children were young they would be amazed, "Hey look, it's dad's idea!"
ReplyDeleteThis man can fix anything (auto, plumbing, electrical, my shoe, etc). His native intellect seems to naturally absorb knowledge on politics, nature, people and global situations. Sometimes he looks around and expresses a sense of failure because he didn't pursue a more lucrative idea. But I remind him that he helped to teach his sons and daughters how to dream and how to think for themselves. He provided a comfortable life and no one went hungry or barefoot. Now his ideas for dreaming, living and caring benefit a generation of grandchildren and will continue to be passed along. There is no monetary value that can be placed on that. ;->
We ARE our ideas and our creativity---they are what makes us unique as individuals---to give them up, is to give up who we are...
ReplyDeleteand yet...in our society----the urge to conform (to meld and give up our uniqueness) is so powerful
Joy
Some ideas, I believe, can't be executed right away (maybe not at all)---because they are meant to be links to other ideas. Sometimes ideas just need to simmer and cook---until we decide they are ready to be born.
ReplyDeleteJoy