The End of the Idea: Long Live the the Thought!
I didn’t know I was an idea person until other people told me I was. And it stuck.
Now I think I really am an idea person. I even sometimes try to explain to myself, and to others, why I’m that way. You see, it has to do with how my brain got wired when I was 7 years old, and so on, that’s what I say. But really I have no clue.
The question really is, do I know how to write? Do I know how to write in this era where everyone’s attention is on other things? Do I know how to write in a way that brings you into my world, so you can see things in another way? I used to think I knew how to write, but I am not so sure by today’s standards (I mean what’s different here, compared to what your neighbor with the Yorkie is writing?).
So when I survey the posts on Facebook, and notice that way less than 1% of them are ideas, it makes me think. And write about it. What does this mean? I thought we all were going to exchange these great world-changing ideas?
Instead we have all become very good critics, commentators, evaluators, presenters, and analyzers. That’s what happens 99% of the time on Facebook, and generally on the web. Although this is a valuable skill, and a contribution to society, its easy. It doesn’t take much really to see what someone else has created, and write what you think about it.
Its like eating a meal, and commenting on it. Yummy. And damn that Like button.
You don’t have to agree with me, but can you see where my head is at?
I actually thought the Internet was going to be about personal expression and individuality, instead I see sameness. Instead of diversity I see clubbiness. Instead of self confidence and risk taking, I see self-branding and safe. But the point of this is not to rain on your parade. The point is to get you to think.
Yes, yes, I know, these great ideas are happening in places. But I am not convinced its happening any faster or with any more substance than it was before the Internet. Take a look at the world around you, and see if we are on the path to solving these great problems by coming up with even greater ideas.
Take a look at the big picture, the BIG picture. If you are going to make a judgement, judge it that way.
We have traded thougtfulness for speed. Things are happening faster, undoubtedly, but concepts of curation and deep thought are not enhanced by speed. On the contrary, once I “discovered” I was an idea person, I have more often pursued a strategy of seclusion and isolation to come up with my big idea. That way I won’t be comparing what I think to what you think, or to what the guy with the Yorkie thinks.
In other words, I come up with the best ideas by myself. There, I said it.
I know there are many theories of groupthink, who hasn’t said “two heads are better than one?” These two concepts, ideas in seclusion and ideas as a group, are not mutually exclusive. I love to have a group analyze and dissect what I am doing, but the idea originated somewhere deep inside me, it lives within me, and once I give that intensity over to a group, I lose its essence.
Ideas are not easy. Sure, thinking something up is easy. But making it something original, novel, and useful, and figuring out how to communicate this idea and build it, that’s not easy. But its worth it. It’s worth every second of doubt and confusion, to come up with an idea.
An Idea Freak is someone who can work in just about any situation, from originating their own ideas, to helping to move another person’s ideas forward.
If the Internet isn’t going to solve everything, and Facebook is high school all over again, I guess its up to us to save the world! One idea at a time, one Idea Freak at a time.
Discover the Idea Freak in you.
How to tell an Idea Freak from an Idea Fake
The Idea Freak will look you in the eye when he is talking to you
The Idea Fake will look away
The Idea Freak will look away from you when he is trying to figure something out
The Idea Fake will not even try to figure something out, he thinks he knows the answers
The Idea Freak’s brain is always on
The Idea Fake’s mouth is always on
The Idea Freak knows his idea is always evolving
The Idea Fake thinks he has all the answers
The Idea Freak is hooked on ideas
The Idea Fake is hooked on himself
And that is all I have to say!
Idea Freak visits the produce section
I was at the grocery store this morning when I
suddenly heard, “Sir! Sir!” A man with a green apron
was running towards me, yelling, waving something
threatening in his hand.
“Sir, you can’t do that. You have to stop now! Or I’m
going to have to ask you to leave,” he said. “You
should know you can’t do that!”
I could see what was in his raised hand. It was a
banana. The stem end pointing toward me. I
imagined what a dry brown banana stem could do to me.
“Drop them NOW!” he said. And I did. I heard them
drop, one after the other. Thump, then thud.
“Sir, I saw what you were doing, and that is not
allowed.”
“What?” I said.
“You were comparing Apples and Oranges, you know you
can’t do that. I am the Produce Manager, and it is my
job to make sure you don’t compare Apples and Oranges.
You know that is not possible.”
I looked on the ground, and saw the apple and the
orange I had been holding, one in each hand.
“But why not?” I asked, “I mean just look at them, one
is round like many things and the other is a unique
distinctive shape.”
“Sir, Leave Now! You can’t compare Apples and Oranges.
Everyone knows that.”
I asked him to please drop his banana, which he did,
right in-between the apple and the orange.
“But why?” I asked. “I mean, one is crunchy and the
other juicy, one is in sections and the other is in
one piec…”, he stopped me, held his hand up as though
he was trying to stop a locomotive.
“What goes up, must come down,” he said, taking a
penny out of his pocket and continued talking, “And
you can’t compare Apples and Oranges.”
He threw the penny up into the air to demonstrate. It landed on one
of the flourscent lights above the grapefruits. And it stayed there.
With one hand gloved, and the other bare, he pushed me
hard, and I was stumbling.
“You see” he yelled “You’ve ruined EVERYTHING!”
I stumbled onto the banana, and it opened and the
banana shot out like a missile, lodging itself in the
Produce Manager’s underarm. I slipped on the banana skin
and flew into the air, was headed head-first towards
the ground, when I saw that if I put my hands out, one
would land on the red apple, one on the orange orange.
By this time, the Store Manager had come over, and was
yelling at the Produce Manager. “I told you to keep a
banana in your FRONT pocket if you want to do that
joke, you idiot!”
The Store Manager stopped himself, as though he was
thinking about what he just said. Then he put his arm
around the Produce Manager, and they whispered.
“You’ve ruined EVERYTHING”, they said in unison.
I landed gently, one hand firmly in the grasp of the
stable apple, and the other hand balancing on the
rolling orange. I quickly did a half-flip, landed on
my feet, took a look at my right hand and had a nice
big bite of the apple, then took a look at my left
hand, and said:
“Wait a minute, you have to peel an orange, but not an
apple.”
Idea Freak: Innovative Thinking
There are some things in life that require great
strength and character. Other things need deep
intellectual thought. And sometimes, patience is all
that is needed, slow, persistent patience.
But the things in life that require Innovative
Thinking, those are by far the best. Why?
Because they require that you challenge yourself. You
challenge your strength, your character, your
intellectual depth, and your patience. Innovative
thinking requires that you question yourself, and it
requires that you have no box, no box at all.
This blog is going to be about Innovitive Thinking.
Innovative thinking with me, Innovative Thinking by
yourself. And possibly Innovative Thinking with other
ASW members, but really, that is too easy, and by my
definition, is not actually Innovative Thinking.
Unless you approach it in a certain way, that I will
discuss – but later on.
There is ONE RULE to this blog, and I ask that you
follow it. If you cannot follow it, I will understand,
because this rule requires Innovative Thinking.
Remember, strength, and all that. And not everyone
wants to reach for Innovative Thinking. But I hope on
the honor system that you follow this rule:
THE ONE RULE IN MY BLOG IS THAT YOU HAVE TO POST YOUR
COMMENTS OR IDEAS BEFORE YOU READ ANYONE ELSE’S
RESPONSES COMMENTS OR IDEAS.
The key word is “Before.”
And please post your ideas of thoughts only once.
After doing that, you can read other peoples thoughts
and ideas. And just soak it in. Say to yourself as you
look at your post – “Hey I did that all myself.”
And look at someone else’s post and say whatever you
like. To yourself.
So each day I will challenge you. I will also
challenge myself, and that is the only reason I am
doing this blog.
Because you see, I don’t like blogs. I don’t like
blogs because they make people write things when they
have nothing to say. I would rather read one fine
sentence a day, than read a bunch of stuff. Stuff.
Myself included, I am not sure I will have something
to say each day. And if I don’t, you won’t hear from
me.
But I do have something to say today. Its about blogs.
I don’t like them because they made the process of
writing more important than the content. They allowed
anyone to say anything without jumping through any
hoops, and they put the burden on the reader to siphon
the quality from the quantity.
I think blogs will go away soon, within a couple
years, and be replaced by something that merges the
idea of the blog, with the idea of publishing, which
follows a process to make sure the reader gets the
best of…the writer. Yes, publishing does work, the
“old school” brought us a lot of amazing writing,
don’t you think? Books, Plays, Operas, Movies, Songs,
and…maybe it will bring us good blogs too.
What do you think? Idea Freak?
Is it about the money?
Its a well-known fact that well over 90% of businesses
fail within the first couple years, most people who
want to make a living in the arts – can’t, so-called
corporate strategic partnerships mostly fail miserably
for the so-called partners, and over 97% of patents
never generate a dime for the inventor. What gives?
Its about the money. Or is it, for an Idea Freak?
Why do we all have so much trouble planning for money
first, and making sure what we do can sustain and
thrive financially – before diving in? And why do we
all have so much trouble asking for money, and instead
act as though the money will flow magically if we
\’make a good product.\” Or \”put out good vibes\” or
better yet, just \”build it\” and they will come.
Whether you are asking for a sale, for a distribution
deal, or for an investor – if you do not ask, you will
not receive.
Money is just fuel for your ideas, that\’s all it is,
and if you are unable to plan the fuel, don\’t bother
with the trip. The world is already full of too many
complainers, and we don\’t need any more. So either
plan financially, or just drop your idea, whatever it
is.
There is a third way, which is to sincerely approach
something with no regards as to whether it succeeds
financially or not, and that is just fine too. But be
clear on your expectations. And don\’t fool yourself
into being a chaser of dreams, acting as though you
are not doing it for the money, while inside of you a
storm is brewing, and its called bitterness.
The first step in money planning, whether you are new
to this or have done numerous business plans, is to
make a commitment to be accurate and honest where you
know the answer, and then be accurate and honest in
areas where you have absolutely no idea. Then at least
you can see how much you know, versus how much you
don\’t know.
And saying you don\’t know something, but having the
wherewithall to find it out, is the basis for being a
good entrepreneur, author, designer, or inventor. If
you have spent a lot of time on something, and you
still do not know the answers, is it possible that
there are no answers (high risk), or that you do not
have the skills (high risk again, now you need to
understand and depend on someone else), or there is
just no market for whatever it is you want to make or
create? Yes, creating something new, starting a
business, or launching a new product are all high risk
endeavours.
But they are worth it, so never let anything stop you
if you want to do something. But realize that the main
person stopping you will always be yourself, your
inability to plan, to communicate, to define, to ask.
So work on yourself, that should be your first
project. Simple self-honesty.
And yes, we could talk about all kinds of things like
how financial spreadsheets don\’t really tell the
story, they are just for the accountants and
investors, and so on. But why not instead just be
accountable for your dream, learn how to climb that
mountain?
I don\’t care about money, really don\’t. But I care
to have enough fuel to enjoy my journey, that I REALLY
care about.
What do you care about?
Arlo Guthrie Inspires Me
Last night I saw Arlo Guthrie perform in Berkeley.
Gordon Titcomb, who is Arlo’s sideman, invited me
to the show. The Idea Freak in me certainly came out.
I swear, Arlo must’ve stolen my blog yesterday,
because everything he said, I kept thinking – hey he
keeps talking about all these problems that require
Innovative Thinking, and then he does some Innovative
Thinking himself and then he tells other people to do
their own Innovative Thinking. Sounds like me, I said
to myself.
Of course, there is something called “Selective
Hearing”, and I am sure I was guilty of it last night,
because I mean it takes a lot of creativity on my part
to hear the words “Alice’s Restaurant” and translate
that into “Innovative Thinking.” Or “Comin’ into Los
Angelee-ees” into “Innovative Think-i-ing.”
By the way, Zellerbach Hall at Berkeley was wonderful,
no “aroma” in the air, much better audience than when
I saw Arlo in SF and Santa Cruz. They got him, not
just the stereotype of Arlo the “Hippie’s Hippie” but
Arlo the man of depth and character. And an Innovative
Thinker.
But there he was, telling several thousand people how
one person can make a difference, and giving all kinds
of examples. And, of course, his best example is how
one man can get drafted for war in the future (he was
imagining this), and that man walks into his interview
with the draft board, and how that man can start
singing Alice’s Restaurant. The song, not the
restaurant.
And then another person can do it. And another. And
another.
Mind you, this is not an anti-war blog, this is about
the power of one person.
And then another and then groups of people. And then
you know what he said. And I really couldn’t tell
whether the room erupted in laughter before or after
he said this, it all just seemed to happen at once.
He said, Arlo said that something will happen if this
one person starts doing this, and then more and more.
He said, that then we will have what we used to call a
Movement. Capital M.
What we USED TO. And then the room erupted in
laughter, a very insightful laughter. Or vice versa,
maybe the laughter was before that comment.
And thousands of people looked like they were shining,
they were beaming, they were right there with Arlo.
And I’m no Arlo, believe me. At that moment, he was
doing something more than Innovative Thinking. He was
creating magic.
But I digress. You see, I was talking to Arlo after
the show, and I told him about this blog, and I said
“You and I seem to be traveling in the same
dimension.”
He looked at me, as he usually does, with that sort of
look like, I don’t know whether to treat you like a
friend and someone I know and tell you to examine your
mind for defects. Or to treat you like someone I have
never seen, and tell you to examine your mind for
defects.
But it did not matter, because thousands of people
were now out of the building, and they were on their
way home, and there I was talking to Arlo Guthrie.
Think about that.
If you don’t know who Arlo Guthrie is, then I know how
old you are. Just thought I’d let ?äyou know.
So, you see, all these people were on their way home,
after being injected, inspected, detected, infected,
neglected and selected all of their lives, until
finally they arrive at this Arlo Guthrie concert and
he tells them.
You can make a difference. That’s what he tells them.
So now thousands of people think that, and one person
Arlo Guthrie did all that (with the help of Gordon’s
mandolin, banjo, guitar, and of course that sweet
pedal steel).
So now you tell me, I want you to tell me this.
What should all of those people, let’s say there were
5,000 there, what should all of those people do to
tell 5,000 other people that they can make a
difference. That would mean that 25,000,000 would know
they can make a difference. That’s 25 million.
You know what that would be?
Yep. A Movement.
I want you to do something, right now.
Design for me a system for 5,000 people to tell 5,000
other people that they can make a difference. It can
be whatever type of system you want, from high tech to
highly spiritual, just design it, and design it now,
and send it to me.
Now. Make a difference right now, with some Innovative
Thinking.
Now. While the keyboard is still warm.
Thank You Arlo.
POST-BLOG
And I want to thank Gordon. Who knows if I will ever
“know” Arlo. Arlo is a great guy, but I have met a lot
of famous musicians in my time, and both people really
need to make the effort to have a friendship with one.
I mean, a real friendship. They have plenty of
hangers-on, and if I ever hanger-onto someone, please
oh please pour some green slime on me or something to
make me nauseous, make me stop. Tell me my fly is
open, then slap me upside the face. Hard. Make a fake
farting sound, and point to me – in front of everyone.
Please.
But Gordon, he is a friend. My memories of Gordon are
clear and distinct, him playing the piano (like johny
b. goode, if johny had taken up tickling the
ivories…) in a large refurbished barn in Wilton, New
Hampshire. Just him and I. The sound filling the barn,
me wanting – oh so bad – to play an instrument. But
deciding instead to listen to him, someone who knows
how to do it. Go Gordon Go.
That was a long time ago. And to see him last night
perform one of HIS OWN songs onstage, with Arlo and
the boys backing him, a song from his new (and first
and only) solo album – what can I say? Only one thing:
Thank You Gordon.
“I Have An Idea,” he said to me.
“I have an idea” he said to me, his hands folded
firmly together. Pulling out some papers, he said, “I
need you to sign this confidentiality agreement
first.”
“Sorry I don’t do that” I said to him, “please only
tell me things which are not confidential.”
“But its all confidential.” he said.
“Well then, I guess we can’t talk. Its really your
obligation to create a version of your idea that I can
read.” I said to him. “By the way, are you filing for
any patents?”
“No” he said, “I don’t want to make any of my ideas
public and get ripped off. Anyways, patents are easy
to copy.”
“Have you ever explored the patent process, or spoken
to a patent attorney?”
“No” he said.
“Well really, its your obligation to protect your
ideas as you see fit. But I don’t think you are
approaching it in the right way. The patent process
does work, especially for small businesses, if you
educate yourself, you can file an inexpensive
provisional patent. How long is your business plan?”
“Its 74 pages long, and I have detailed financials.”
he said. “Plus, I have a 33 slide Powerpoint
presentation. I’ve modified it at least a dozen
times.”
“Have you gotten any feedback on your plan yet?” I
asked him.
“No, I don’t want anyone ripping me off. Plus only I
really understand it.”
“Have you built a prototype?”
“No, I don’t trust software engineers. They’ll just
copy it.”
“Have you priced the product?”
“Its so revolutionary, there is no way yet to price
it.”
“What else are you doing?”
“This is it, all of my spare time in the last 4 years
has been devoted to this. I know that I finally have
it right, its perfect.”
“What’s the market for your product?”
“It impacts everything, I mean it is going to change
the way we do everything.”
“Blah Blah Blah Blah?”
“Blah Blah Blah Blah.”
What’s in Idea Freak for you
1. Idea Freak helps you develop your own ideas, regardless of what state they are in. Including protecting your intellectual property.
2. Idea Freak gives you new and interesting perspectives you can’t find anywhere else, which will act as a catalyst for you, personally and professionally.
3. Give you opportunities to reach outside your current professional associates.
4. Let you see into other worlds, using the eyes of people actually in those worlds.
5. Give you an opportunity to help others in their ideas. There is absolutely nothing more gratifying than helping others reach their dreams, and the saying “The More You Give, The More You Receive” is always our motto in here.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property is the largest industry in the
United States at over $1 trillion, and it is also the
largest U.S. export at over $100 Billion.
Yet “Intellectual Property” is an odd term. Because it
implies some kind of detached scientific or technical
pursuit, i.e. Intellectual. But really, Intellectual
Property is as much, if not more so, about the
emotions and creativity. For both the creator as well
as the appreciator.
Perhaps it should be called Emotional Property. But
then again, is the creation of a software program an
emotional or an intellectual pursuit? For the moment,
let’s stick with “Intellectual Property” though assume
it is not a great moniker for the diversity of what it
is supposed to describe. Neither are “products of the
mind” or “copyright-related industries”, two other
common phrases.
Intellectual Property is nothing more than a catch-all
phrase for everything from books and music, to patents
and inventions, to brands and trademarks, to software
and design, to movies and photos, to magazines and
newspapers.
And, by the way, as a whole it has grown twice as fast
every year over the last 20 years, as compared to the
overall US economy.
Though as different as all the types of intellectual
property seem to be, really the pursuit of any
businesses that involves Intellectual Property are
remarkably similar – regardless of what the actual
Intellectual Property is.
First you have to CREATE something. That can mean,
that you can just conceive of the idea and write about
it on a piece of paper, or you can create the whole
thing. Or, as most people do, its somewhere
in-between. Partially created, but needing more – more
of your time and often other resources.
And by the way, there is no such thing as Intellectual
Property that is only in your mind. It does not become
Intellectual Property until you do something with it
that is outside your mind, such as writing about it or
sketching it. You may disagree, but really while
something is still in your mind, its sort of like
keeping it in an incubator, a comfortable and cozy
environment where you are the master. Once it leaves
your mind, that is when you have given birth to it,
and you will see if it survives.
After creating it, then you need to figure out how to
MAKE it. This is different than creating it, because
you can create something in a paper document or
sketch, it might just describe HOW to make it, or
summarize WHAT it is, but you still have not made it.
Many people think that they are done once they have
created something. Nope.
Before and while making it, you need to plan for
RESOURCES. That might involve planning for your own
time, or needing other people’s time, or needing
supplies, or money, or needing training for yourself.
Or, for some artistic types, planning for resources
involves making sure to have enough water and granola
bars handy for the next week, as you do not plan to
leave your room. This is about creating an environment
for your creation to thrive.
And then, the fun part but sometimes the not-fun part
for creative types, is you need to PUBLISH your
creation. Not all Intellectual Property businesses
involve publishing, but a vast majority of them do.
The definition of publishing is primarly to make
something public. This might involve using a printer
to duplicate and distribute your idea, or signing a
publishing contract, or putting something up on the
Internet.
Now, these are not hard and fast rules, especially the
order of things. The process is much more iterative.
And if you are not familiar with the term iterative,
you need to know it, because it is the basis for
creating Intellectual Property.
It means: characterized by or involving repetition,
recurrence, reiteration, or repetitiousness.
Another important rule of Intellectual Property
businesses is that anywhere (ANYWHERE) along the path,
from Creation to Publishing, you can sell your
Intellectual Property, find investors for it. Too few
people take advantage of this. They think they need
something to be finished, when in fact the art of
truthfully describing something (regardless of the
state it is in) is the basis often for moving the
Intellectual Property along a healthy path of growth.
Your role may not be to actually Make and Publish
something, it might just be to create it.
Remember, it does not exist as long as it is still
only in your mind.
You will not find what I wrote here in any textbook or
speech, because I just made it up. I CREATED IT, then
MADE IT, then planned for MY RESOURCES, then PUBLISHED
IT.
Yes, I pulled it out of thin air, which is where all
Intellectual Property lives. It is in the air, waiting
for you to grab ahold of it. Reach your hand up there,
grab something.
But it seems to work, this little ditty I wrote, and
it is a true attempt to describe something that is
dynamic.
Though, really this blog, it has no use to me now.
Because for me the value was in the process, which I
enjoyed, the challenge of grabbing at thin air and
getting something out of my mind.
So its main purpose now, this blog of mine, is to
inspire you to do something.
What do YOU want to do?
Because I’m outta here, my job is done.
Reach High.
