Part I: What Makes an Idea Good?

While discussing topics for the blog recently, one of us asked the question: "What makes an idea good?". We thought we'd throw this out to a few Kindling employees and friends and see what where people take it. The responses will be posted here all week as a part of this series.

There are no good idea guarantees. Set up guidelines, encourage themed idea-drives, do whatever kind of marketing you want for good ideas. But you’ll never be 100% in the realm of goodness. (And who would want to be? Bad ideas provide the most fertile ground for better ones.)

What I want to write about here is not what makes an idea good, but what makes an idea better. Because even though you can never collect 100% good ideas, you can rely on the fact that Kindling makes 100% of ideas better.

I took a fiction writing class this summer and the teacher suggested reading our piece out loud to someone. I must have spent 12 hours in front of my computer, writing and re-writing that story. But it wasn’t until I called a friend and read it over the phone that gaping holes and awkward phrases made themselves known.

Ideas are a lot like stories; you can only get so far on your own. At a certain point, it’s the sharing and the telling of the idea that allows you a different perspective. So my first point about how to make an idea better is pretty simple:

Share it.

This is the most basic functionality of Kindling, so there’s no surprise there. By the simple action of typing out an idea, tagging it with a couple of relevant words and attaching something to demonstrate your point, the idea is already better… because it’s OUT THERE! And the mere fact that you wondered what Suzy in Accounting or John in R&D might think made your idea better because you accounted for their perspectives. Which brings me to…

Throw it to the lions.

Imagine that your idea for a new product is approved. It’s built and is soon sold in stores across the country. But when it comes out, the reviewers come out of the woodwork and rip it apart. How are you going to prepare yourself for that kind of external critique (not to mention business disaster) if you haven’t gone through a trial run first?

Soliciting criticism helps your idea grow a tougher shell. Criticism can be useful, especially if it suggests a nuance that you never thought of or a marketing strategy that you wouldn’t have produced yourself. Use this internal challenge  to chip off the rough edges and give your initial thought some polish. And though others are important to the growth of the idea, you’re not so replaceable either…

Fuel it yourself.

An idea by itself loses steam, but an idea with an advocate rolls on. Some ideas simply seem more compelling because the person behind them is a force to be reckoned with. Call it charisma, call it passion, call it what you will; enthusiasm is not an insignificant factor when it comes to good ideas.

Is it such a novel thought that you make your idea better? Everything that inspired the initial seed and the eventual public idea came from your nourishment. The tenacity with which you defend it shines through when competing against the other ideas out there.

So what makes an idea better? How about collaboration, a healthy dose of criticism and a strong advocate. You might not belong to an organization of perfect people who always produce perfect ideas, but it’s nice to know there’s a back-up plan.