Ideas can come out from anywhere and from anyone
A lot of people have been telling me that ideas are hard to come by, especially good ideas. For me, it’s not true. Ideas can come from anywhere, from anyone and at anytime.
Whether an idea is good or bad, that’s another question altogether. One would need to do a proper research to find out. The important thing is never to close down an idea without even thinking about it. There’s no such thing as a bad idea in this world.
Rather than thinking whether it is a good or a bad idea, I prefer to think of it from another perspective – whether implementing the idea is something I want to do, or something which is in line with my company’s direction.
However, if you’re still thinking how to come out with ideas……..well, just learn to be more observant. Something as simple as a normal conversation might trigger some ideas. For example, some of my friends always like to say things like “how nice if we have a Facebook application which can slap a stranger for harassing people” or “how nice if we have an online book store which always gives good discount on books”, etc.
Believe me, ideas are abundant. In fact, anything which can help someone fix a problem can be considered as an idea.
I think the will the implement ideas is a lot harder to find than ideas themselves. The other thing that’s hard to find is the objectivity towards ideas. If you notice, many would ignore an idea not because it’s bad but because it didn’t come from the “right” person.
@ Damien
True. Many will just ignore an idea from someone like me, even though that idea is similar to the one proposed by someone like Steve Jobs.
Implementing an idea is a difficult thing but I also notice that most people are reluctant to start something by giving themselves too many reasons not to start – and one of the most popular reasons is “no good idea”.