What's the Big Idea?

Ever get an idea that was so powerful it felt like literally getting hit in the head when it occurred to you?  It’s one of the best feelings in the world, isn't it?

True, 99% of these ideas are unworkable as originally imagined, and maybe a third are workable in a refined form.  Regardless, some of my best work comes from these “lightning bolt” moments - the times when I become struck with a truly Big Idea.

So, after the initial shock of it wears off, what happens next, typically?

I've noticed that it’s very common for us to dismiss Big Ideas offhand.  We let the Big Idea just die. We do this for a lot of reasons:

Probably both?

We decide we don’t have (and can never get) the resources necessary to execute this Big Idea.

We decide we can’t get buy-in from needed partners or leaders.

We decide that the idea is so fanciful it’s completely unrealistic to spend any time developing it.

We decide that the idea must have too many fatal flaws - if it is such a great idea, why isn't somebody else doing it?

Or, most tragically, we decide that the idea is just too good or too big for somebody like us.

Much of the time, this decision is made before doing any research, any discussion, or any planning. It’s automatically rejected out of hand before any development happens.

Every great idea was at one time just somebody’s “aha” moment - nothing more than a Big Idea.

Take Jeff Bezos and Amazon.  Do you think when he first considered selling things on the internet, that he had the huge logistical problem completely worked out before he started writing his business plan?  Do you think, at that stage, he had any idea what Amazon would become?

Nope – he wanted in on the ground floor of the coming eCommerce revolution, and he saw books as his way to do it - so he wrote a plan, got the partners he needed, they solved the problems that arose, and changed shopping on the internet as we knew it. 

Learn more about how Amazon came to be here: Freshdesk: Amazon's Road to Customer Happiness

The point is, if Bezos had listened to conventional wisdom about profitability, and logistics, and a host of other things, Amazon would not exist.  Now, you can argue somebody else would have done something similar, and maybe that's true - but it was Bezos who created Amazon and changed our world.

There is no reason in this world you can't do it, too. Imagine how amazing the world would be if we all developed those Big Ideas into reality!

Do me – and the world – a favor.  Write down your next great “aha” moment and let that big idea breathe.  Don't let it die before you give it a chance.

Who knows?  The next Big Idea that changes the world could be yours!