There are times when a good idea is not enough. The idea may truthful. It can come from an author’s intent to do what is good for everyone involved. It could easily fit the context, time, and situation. Everything maybe going for it, yet success is rarely automatic. Good ideas take people that are willing to embrace them. Without individuals becoming a community of believers, good ideas are just ideas sitting on the floor waiting for someone to pick them up.
I am in the business of crafting good ideas. For anyone interested in this space I would offer the following observations.
Just because it is good it does not follow that anyone will embrace it. Much of the time, I find that my good ideas land in an atmosphere of ambivalence. It is as if people are echoing David’s words; “Let’s see how God handles this one; since God likes him so much, let him help him!” (Psalm 22.8)
Good ideas often become great when they become bigger through the words and ideas of others. It is interesting to watch one’s ideas morph and grow as others embrace them. Life likes to remind me that the outcome is always More! More than I imagined. Greater than what I considered possible. When I let others add their brushstrokes I am richer for what comes through.
Authors have a thin line to walk – letting an idea become something greater and holding an idea to what is true. The balance that works for me is letting an idea have a twin. It is ok to hold to a core element of an idea while letting it give birth to something similar yet different.
Above all, remember that doubters are never a measure of the viability of an idea. They are many things – potential advocates, resolute resisters, or something between – but they are not the final measure of the truth, usefulness, or ability of an idea to survive.
One can do many things to an author, but one cannot kill her/his idea; only a better idea can do that.
