Thoughts and Conflicts on Stealing Ideas

Recently I have been involved in many discussions on intellectual property as well as owning, stealing and/or recycling ideas. This begs the question, “Do you every really own your ideas?”

Creative industry experts will tell you there is no such thing as an original idea. Faris Yakob goes further to suggest that when it comes to ideation, talent imitates and genius steals.

In my opinion, you are not entitled to your ideas, especially if there are no original ideas, therefore you are not impervious to imitation or theft. To put it bluntly, in the creative industry, you don’t own shit. So you better hope your idea makes it to market first or is executed better than your opponent’s.

This is the wild west. Advertising, for example, is one of the least restricted industries. Furthermore, the restrictions that are in place are designed to protect consumers, not creatives.

At least in the wild west you had a gun to protect what was yours. Not the case for creatives today. Maybe it has never been the case.
“Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb, he improved upon the ideas of 22 other men who pioneered the light bulb before him. Edison simply figured out how to sell the light bulb.”

Steve Jobs did not invent the tablet. The first tablet was made in 1987 and improved upon several times by Microsoft, Apple, and others over the years. Jobs just found the best way to sell them. And he found it before anyone else did. The point is this is a part of the game we are playing.

It seems unfair, but if it’s unfair for everyone playing, then technically it’s still a fair game.

This is why, when you enter the creative process, bring your ideas and not your ego. If you are in a group, submit ownership of ideas to the group. It’s a small sacrifice for the greater good. Most of the time, if it’s a really good idea, it will evolve to be something even bigger and/or better than it’s original conception.

We are doers, makers and creators. We are trained to be agile and adjust. Besides ideas aren’t worth anything until they are made or communicated into something real and tangible.

The process didn’t start, nor does it end with your idea. Be collaborative. Be open and allow ideas to live and evolve as they should. Don’t get hung up on if it is truly original. Instead, concentrate on developing that idea until it is the absolute best idea on the market.