g’day
my new vid just dropped. if you can, please chuck me a comment on youtube, it seems to help the algorithm greatly.
it’s easy to know when you’re a good idea.
it’s like 10CCs of adrenaline straight to the neck.
you open a fresh doc, maybe buy a domain. start texting friends.
it’s all you can think about for 48 hours.
i’ve been there many times. too many. looking back, there were plenty that were false positives, some ideas that were actually good. some worth millions.
but this is what’s crazy:
that “aha” moment almost always started years ago.
it’s a conversation you had.
a product you loved at primary school. a movie you saw.
a half-baked observation that quietly took root.
so if you worry that you don’t have good ideas - that you’re not an ‘idea person’ - don’t worry:
great ideas don’t arrive. they emerge.
ok, so define ‘a good idea’?
people generally think a good idea needs to be new. or flashy. or borderline gimmicky.
not true.
a good idea is something:
> you want to execute
> has some evidence it’ll work (has legs)
> makes you feel slightly nervous until you do it
it’s worth remembering some of the best ideas in the world are boring:
> a 10x better version of a service people already need
> an industry that takes the piss and has fat margins
> an old product positioned for a new audience
> a small or drab niche where no one’s taken it global
i.e. starting a fencing company may not sound sexy.
but it could be a great idea.
if it’s undeniably yours - and you want to run at it - it’s good enough.
so how do you have these ideas?
good ideas ‘emerge’, but sometimes you want to induce them. use these techniques.
1. read, and do bugger all
(stolen from an old advertising book called a technique for producing ideas)
the method is simple:
immerse yourself in relevant material. read around the problem space.
then… go play golf. forget about it. take it off your plate.
your brain will cross-pollinate the inputs and the idea will emerge later.
i do this constantly.
i’ll be in the shower or running and bang, it arrives (a lot of the time).
2. brute force method
when you need an idea now - not later - this is the play:
sit down with a marker and a4 paper. write one idea per page, and try to get to 50.
you will write 48 bad ones.
but the other 2 might change your life.
this works because you’re giving your subconscious a reason to move.
i do this when video concepting, naming, planning new businesses. when you need to connect two disparate insights to be create.
it only takes 30 minutes. sometimes everyday for 3 days straight.
but it works.
the golden rule
don’t forget, great execution is more important than a good idea.
and a good idea is more important than a perfect one.
so to have more good ideas, coax them into hatching.
then execute with aplomb. and you’ll change your life.
charlie
