How important is an idea?
Often, to fill our spare times, we hold a chatter or discussion with our friend or peer: in office, market, college, even social media (for me, mostly via messaging app). Its contents are various, could be about football, politics, work-related, family, relationship, technology, daily issues, or sometimes about society problems. During this discussion and chatter, especially regarding social/tech issues or problem, sometimes each of us would like to try to figure out the solutions for the issue, or just try to find something new. Sometimes we came up with an idea which is deemed ‘quite good’, ‘beneficial’, and also ‘profitable’, and sometimes we just end up with nothing at all.
I’ve once heard that there is a phrase “A good idea is only as good as its execution.” Which means a single idea–only an idea–without any plans or means to follow up, will only end up as an idea–or just what my friends like to say: wacana. Therefore every good idea, requires an equally good follow-up, or even better one, for it to be worthwhile (or to be realized as a business: startup company or such)
More than once, during discussion with my friends, we realized that some of our idea (which many still exist only on idea-phase) might become something both beneficial and profitable if it could be neatly executed, and some ideas are very tempting to be pursued. But then I’ve stumbled upon this question: What if the idea that we came up with is something which is far outside our expertise? Shall we continue to pursue it?
There is one famous quote from Dhirubhai Ambani in regards to pursuit of ambition and dreams: “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them to build theirs.”
In the rise of creative industry, alongside with people ever-increase appreciation of creative process and idea making, numerous startup business, which many were originated from simple idea, has been developed (and the numbers still growing) and each of them trying to provide their own unique product/solution (many are focusing in IT-related or advanced tech field), and some had already taste the fruition of their longtime effort (achieving either success or recognition) thus further encouraging many other to also pursue and incorporate their idea into startup company or such.
However, developing a business/company based on our idea isn’t an easy feat, the idea development for startup itself is already a challenge (harsh competition between our solution and others, market struggles and public acceptance), the business making process is though (finding team member, co-founder, venture, and potential market), and the psychological burden due the risk it carries is overwhelming. It requires both determination/persistence and good observation to know when to give up.
For the young and rash one, creating startup business could be a single leap into live-or-die moment. And the question is, does it really worth it? For some, it does.
For me, there is one very interesting quotes from Harry Truman which I liked:
“It is amazing what you can accomplish, if you do not care who gets the credit.”
I believe that we ought to put accomplishment or achievement before success. The pursuit of accomplishment must be based on the benefit it could bring to the human race, but it mustn’t bound to the success of an individual. This pursuit shall grow from just a mere ambition toward success, into a mission to improving the quality of human life. For me, this is the value of creativity which worth striving for.
Recently, Tesla Motors, one of major electric vehicles company founded by Elon Musk also decides to make their patent ‘public’, in accordance with the very same value: to become a part in a mission for bettering human life (in their case, by accelerating the advent of sustainable transport)
That’s why I prefer to share and discuss my ideas (some, I think, are quite good with decent planning–and some are just plain absurd), with anyone who is willing and might be able to make it, for my wish is that the idea comes into fruition and could be beneficial for many people, even if it success will belong to somebody else. Hence, here comes new category in my blog: Idea for Share