The Story Arc of Ideas
Depending on who you ask, ideas tend to range in value of being worth zilch to being worth billions. Some would say Slack is a billion dollar idea, while Bic Underwear not so much.
Ideas are like seeds. A seed’s value is in proportion to what it can produce. In the same way, an idea’s value is based on what it can produce in the world. Therefore work on idea creation everyday, knowing some are going to produce nothing, others a little and a few will produce a lot.
The hardest question to answer is which ideas are the good ones that deserve your time and energy?
I’ve found that ideas worth pursuing follow a three act story arc. Ideas you’re not meant to act upon will fizzle out along the way.
Act One: Wish
A wish is the tease of a fantasy that will never come true.
Any new idea that comes to me and sticks, starts out as a wish. Wishes are easy to spot because we love to talk about them but don’t follow-up with action. This is because they’re fed by feelings. Which means, if you don’t feel like working to make the idea a reality, it won’t happen.
Act Two: Want
A want is hope that starts to take the shape of a dream.
Some ideas take root and grow. Fewer make it out of the fantasy land of wishes and become actual wants. You’ll know this has happened because signs of discipline begin to form. I once heard discipline described as “remembering what you want most, versus what you want now.”
During the want stage is when you build momentum and overcome inertia. The consistent and persistent effort moves your idea forward and you’re on your way.
Act Three: Need
A need is the desire that makes a dream come alive.
The desire for an idea to manifest at the need level is like a drowning person’s need for oxygen. In fact, it’s essential to your well-being, and the well-being of the idea, that it ships.
At this stage the idea is nothing short of an obsession. You’ll start making sacrifices and delay reward to see it through to completion. This is a good place to be for launching your idea into the world. Only then can your dream become a reality.
Epilogue: Shipping is the start
Having launched is better than launching.
As is the case for any product, launching is just the beginning. Once the idea lives, you have to stretch it to realize its potential. It may end up being worth more than you ever dreamed. Then again, it may not be worth anything.
You’ll never know until it’s launched. Launch is the beginning.
If you liked what you read, you’d like my bi-weekly email newsletter: notes from the field.
David is a writer, product manager, info architect and strategist at Honestly& LOFT. He’s also the co-founder of the web optimization service, LetsRework and Ketch Stats, software that cleans referral spam from Google Analytics .
