“Good ideas bring attention, well executed ones bring people”
It is my view that all ideas worth their salt must be led from conception to fruition. I must say though that I have also considered the opposite, that all good ideas should lead their conceiver (my English is failing me here, but you know what I mean). I am cautious of allowing all our ideas to lead us unrestrained to infinity and perhaps, insanity would come first. I think humans reserve the right to lead whatever is conceived out of them, be it tangible, biological or abstract. The latter being the subject of my discussion.
Ideation is worth learning about in this regard, defined as the ‘creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can either be visual, concrete, or abstract’[1]. I understand leading, first and foremost, as a process of nurturing the idea that has been intellectually conceived through all its evolutions into whatever that it has been imagined becoming in the natural or physical world. Leadership can be induced by an inspiration but its results must be eventually seen or experienced by real human and living beings.
In the biological realm, conceptions are usually followed by incubation periods where replication and proliferation occur in favorable conditions for growth. It is therefore important to seek out these permissive conditions for this kind of an embryonic idea that you have generated or concieved. This might lead you to move out of the very environment where the conception took place into an environment where incubation and nurture can occur in order to give the ‘embryo’ a chance to life, otherwise, fatality is imminent. Often, a carrier of an idea must pull themselves away from their daily programming into one that is conducive to growth.
One of the most important factors in this stage is TIME. One must understand time not as the common linear progression that we have come to know. We should understand time as cyclical and seasonal. Only then do can we fully appreciate the process. And we must understand time and seasons not as standard for everybody. It could be summer in South Africa buy winter in America. Sometimes we might need to even relocate in order to afford the idea more time in its favourable climate to give it life. One might even, without relocation, start acquinting themselves with other ideas or people from other parts of the world. Anything required to sustain the life of what you are working on.
The next phase involves the provision of nutrition to this embryonic form of the idea. What I have learnt about nutrition is that, it is not always about how delicious or tasty the meal is, but about the end health goals. The more reading and preparation you do, the healthier the idea becomes. I find relevance in Louis Pasteur’s utterances over a century and a half ago that, ‘In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind’. An idea becomes great not on its own, but by the cultivation and nurturing that it has been afforded. Otherwise, all our dreams would be fulfilled as and when we dream them up.
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc, believes that one cannot connect the dots looking forward, they connect backward. What you do today might not make all the sense but when you look back in ten years-time or more, there is normally a clearer sequence of kneattable threads that leads to a success. Even if some ideas fail, there is usually enough lessons that one can take to the next task. The advantage would be that you become more confident than others because they did not fail where you had failed before.
Confidence comes from knowing a bit more than others or, at the very least, not being afraid of failure. As such, there are people who believe that success comes to those who are not scared to collect failures in life. I think ideas stand a better chance when they are executed by someone who has more faith in them than fear. Fear binds us to a state of paralysis. As the Biblical Proverbs would rightly warn us, “The lazy person claims, ‘There's a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed![2]’”. Therefore, we also need to question the source of the caution not to try out our ideas. Is it fear, is it prudence, is it age or are we plain out lazy. Each have their own demon to address.
When the well-executed idea grows, it attracts admirers, and this is important. One can be tempted to pull out history that others did not give support when the going was tough and that they now want a gravy train. This is where a heart and mind of a leader is important. Good ideas bring attention, well executed ones bring people. This is an ordinary response to a job well done. It is important to now create systems and roles for such attention so that all of it goes to edifying and increasing the momentum of the idea – Not the person. This is where most of us fall into a trap of public speaking and pseudo-celebrity life that we can’t yet afford. Eyes must be on the ball always. At this stage, proper branding and the identity of the idea must be in place. The leader must be able to replicate herself so that more hands can be on deck to increase productivity. Activity does not always mean productivity or financial rewards. Most start-ups need a lot of unseen labor to go in them before any sight of income is in view.
This is part of the investment that is needed for an idea to grow and only initiators know the cost. The cost can be sweat and tears, loss of peace at home, down-scaling your standard of living costs, missing important family moments to missed opportunities, losing your social standing and image all because you no longer care about the on-lookers but the possibility that this idea might just rescue your entire life.
Working on a dream needs one to be convinced about where they want to go otherwise the slightest wind will be an unsurmountable task that changes your whole course of life. Pursuing an idea is the same as starting a new relationship, you must consent to the journey – kufuneka uvume ukubakulento. It is also like a calling, you must accept it at some stage. And of course, you can also opt out and live with the consequence of not knowing where the journey would have taken you. But most unfortunately, you live with and through the life you gave into. Ideas might be free, but they are not cheap. It costs something to deliver them – execute them well.
*Taken from Writing the Way: Lessons and Conversations I wish to have with you.
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