Friday, October 30, 2015

Brilliance and Scrutiny



A friend called to get my opinion about an idea. It could be brilliant if the stars are properly aligned, 

I don't say that sarcastically. The idea has a lot going for it but the potential flaws need to be considered along with its promise. Having had a few brilliant ideas of my own, I'm aware that they often look different in the daylight.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea but the "ifs" have to be explored. A problem with brilliant ideas is that their aura can prevent consideration of the obvious.

I suggested running it by some smart people over the next week, listen carefully to their reactions, and then see if it's still brilliant.

It may look even better or it may not but the "look" itself will be worthwhile.

2 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

I am constantly struck by how hard it is to put brilliant ideas into action. Thinking that having an idea is all you need so succeed is like thinking about a story idea means you don't have to actually write the story.



I have friends in the drug development industry, and you may have a drug which does wonderful and useful things, but you still have to go through thousands of variations, trials, reformulations, and retrials before you get it to live up to its promise.

Michael Wade said...

Daniel,

Excellent point.

If only those brilliant ideas came with magic dust that took care of the hard work needed to transform them into reality!

Michael