Ideas, Ideas, Ideas, we all have them. Some of them are brilliant. Some are horrible. Some are simple. Some are complex. Some are life changing. Some serve no purpose. We’re entrepreneurs, so constantly coming up with ideas and implementing them is just what we do — it’s our life.
Ok, so what? So we are capable of producing brilliant ideas but without — for lack of a better word — an onslaught or attack on our ideas, they’ll never get stronger and they’ll never improve.
Really? Yes, you need to surround yourself with groups of people who will give you genuine critical feedback of your idea. People who will tell you — straight up — that your idea is weak and how to make it stronger. People who won’t be afraid to completely bash your idea and then work with you to make it brilliant. People who will help you tweak, modify, and alter your idea into a masterpiece even if it’s already a great idea.
You absolutely need people like this in your corner as an entrepreneur. You need their support. You need their critical point of view. This is crucial to your success.
I know.. I know… many of us walk around with these super egos and think to ourselves “my idea is brilliant! Period! I don’t need to improve it and I don’t need anyone to help me make it even stronger” Think like that and you’ll only be able to go so far with your idea.
It’s a cliché but it’s so true: “two minds are better than one.” If your idea is truly disruptive, truly innovative, and truly unique, then you better hope and pray that not everyone thinks that it’s a “good” idea. Ideas that are accepted by everyone are “weak” ideas.
The ideas that really change the world are the ideas that have been challenged over and over again. If your idea isn’t challenging anyone, then you better get back to the table and start thinking.
You see, the only way for you to test your idea and to see how it affects the minds of others, you need to share it with your mastermind group. Napoleon Hill coined the term Mastermind in his book Think and Grow Rich.
The concept of a mastermind group is simple: a group of people who all focus their minds on one goal. A group of people who will be critical, fill in the blanks, and rip your idea asunder in order to rebuild it. Every great entrepreneur had a mastermind group. You need one as well.
And be careful of who you let in your mastermind group — it can’t be just anyone. Everyone in your group should have a unique insight and really be a forward-thinker in some respect. Quite frankly, everyone in your group should be brilliant in your mind. If you let a negative thinker or someone who just doesn’t “have it” in your mastermind group, it’ll get poisoned. Don’t do it. Keep it quality.
Think of you idea as a root. When a root rips it’ll grow back even stronger and thicker. Your idea “needs” to be ripped — it needs to be torn at. In doing so, it’ll grow stronger.
I’ll end with this quote:
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.“
– Einstein
Read some related articles:
- Every Entrepreneur Needs Advisors. Period. The power of one mind can bring about amazing and brilliant ideas. The power of two or more minds can bring about something one mind...
- Warning: Idea Thieves Come from the Best Places!! I often openly share my ideas with friends, associates and anyone who will listen. Mostly because I enjoy getting feedback. I also act quickly on...
- Sometimes You’ll Need To Sell Out Entrepreneurs have ideas galore! For many of us, we’ll use our ideas to build ventures in an effort to grow those ventures into something big,...
- Your startup needs CREATIVE minds AND… BUSINESS minds Some people are just so damn creative. They can come up with brilliant concepts, figure out such elegant and simple solutions to the weirdest problems,...
“If you let a negative thinker or someone who just doesn
I got to say that I think ideas aren’t really important. Ideas are nothing – they are a dime a dozen. There aren’t any good ideas or bad ideas. The only thing that matters – that’s important – is execution.
It took me a long time to realize this and I was really upset the day I decided that my ideas are not what makes me special, are not what makes me an entrepreneur, are not what makes me brilliant. My ideas are meaningless. What is meaningful is my ability to execute ideas – it doesn’t matter which one – good or bad – what makes me, well, me, is that I can take an idea and materialize it clearly – “An honest expression,” as Bruce Lee would say. A beautiful execution of a bad idea will succeed in the same way that a terrible execution of a great idea will fail. Feel special about the things that are hard – ideas are easy.
I’ve been working on a website that will let people do just this: rip someone’s idea apart by giving feedback to user posted startup/business ideas.
It’s called Idealarm(.com). Development has been going good, but I need some ideas for people more familiar with this matter for better execution.
If you’re interested in helping (just chit-chatting about some useful features), please let me know.
Great post
Great post, I agree with much of it.
I do also agree that ideas are a dime a dozen and it is all in the execution. Especially for end consumers it is all in the experience and how the idea/concept executes itself.
We specifically designed our project with this key thing in mind and it has set us far apart from everyone else we’ve seen.
Keep the quality articles coming!
i agree with both rohail and avi
for think tank to be successful, you need people of all angles. there is no question.
avi, yes indeed…i hate people who call themselves entrepreneurs, or business people – or whatever…when they haven’t truly built anything yet – or atleast anything successful, that is.
to truly call yourself an entrepreneur – one must really earn his/her stripes – with a successful idea.
Rohail, great point. There is a fine line between absolutely negative thinkers and people who are critical thinkers. Critical thinkers can rip apart you idea just as well — if not more — than negative thinkers. But the fundamental difference is about “how” they go about do it. Someone who is purely negative will do it just because that’s who they are — a negative person (and they won’t care about seeing you succeed). On the other hand you can have a critical person who will rip your idea apart and then sit down with you and help put it back together.
Avi, wow that’s a great response to the article. You have enlightened me — thank you.
Dimitry, let’s talk further. That’s a great idea and can be very useful.
Marston, yup I agree with you and Avi — Ideas really aren’t “all that.” It’s all about “pushing forward” with those ideas and making them a reality, in this material world.
Lawrence, I partially agree with you. But remember, success is in the eyes of the beholder. It’s a subjective matter. We can each obtain success in out own rights. Success is not to be determined by the amount of people who support your idea or how many lives your idea has affected. Success comes in many forms and is completely irrespective of whether one is an entrepreneur or not.
Thanks for the comments — let’s keep this discussion rolling!
I’ve always believed in the power of criticism. Constructive criticism, that is. My husband actually gets pretty offended when others critique my work. But, as a writer, I thrive on the comments. While, I don’t believe in trying toplease evryone,criticism opens my eyes to a side of my work that I may not have known. Editors who have ripped apart my work have taught me the most.
I also agree that success is in the eyes of the beholder. You need to believe you are an entrepreneur and that you will succeed from the beginning. Call yourself whatever makes you happy as long as you strive to be the best at it.
I want to say this article was really right on… well written and inspiring. But I feel I should say it sucks, just so you can learn more from it
I wanted to add: Voicing our opinions is not equivelent to constructive criticism. Sometimes we feel compelled to speak our minds, particularly in situations where we completely disagree with someone, just to prove a point or show off. But, a good critic has the intention to help improve an idea and offers valuable advice on how to do so. A good critic will usually point out what parts of your idea do work — because they know this will point you in the right direction. Good critics are hard to find.
Show-offs and bad critics should be taken with a grain of salt– but still conside.red. You can still improve, even if they don’t want you to
It takes a truly confident and strong individual to transform a bashed idea into gold.
lol – what is this that success is in the eye of the beholder bullcrap?
this isn’t art, or beauty we’re discussing here – it’s entrepreneurship/business.
if you can operate out of the red, and into the black – and your cow is milking itself…then that’s success, period. there is really no gray area in this discussion to debate
Well said, Gina! In Buddhism one is taught to not always say what’s on your mind if it will bring about division and negativity. Sometimes expressing your true feelings towards something (re: an idea) isn’t always the right thing to do if your truth is going to bring unnecessary pain unto someone. Yeah, there are always going to be show-offs; in fact, some entrepreneurs are in a constant war with the world, trying to prove everyone else wrong with their intellect.
Lawrence… that’s where you are wrong. Entrepreneurship is an art. But for you, maybe it’s just a business.
David. learning to keep quiet and re think my words has been an awesome lesson for me. It has helped in all aspects of my life/business.
Lawrence,
why is success in the eyes of the beholder? Because we all set the standards for what we wish to achieve. Of course, money comes into play when we talk about supporting ourselves completely with our business. But, for me, being an entrepreneur is actually a lifestyle. It’s a passion that leaks into every aspect in my life. And get ready for this: money is NOT one of my top priorities. I am a success because I am happy with my work. I am achieving what I set out to achieve and I am becoming stronger and smarter each day as a business woman.
There are as many different types of entrepreneurs out there as there are doctors, chefs, teachers — and all of us have something worthwhile to share. You and I will probably do completely different things with our millions when we get them. And that is our right.
I hope that you achieve what you set out to do so that you can feel successful. And, I’m glad that you don’t seem ultra willing to just jump on anyone’s bandwagon. However, I think you need to look closer at what people are saying. Everything on this site is subjective, and if you are creative enough you can probably turn it into some useful advice for your own business. Or your life.
I agree that constructive criticism is very valuable for people who want to improve their ideas, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to give people license to rip an idea apart! Why? Because too many people think that gives them permission to be cruel and condescending. I’ve seen way too many people be slammed down because the value of their idea isn’t immediately apparent, and I’ve seen some very harmful comments.
Yes, entrepreneurs need to be able to accept criticism and get advise on how to make their idea better (or when an idea should just be dropped), but that doesn’t mean they need to be able to handle abuse. I think there’s a very fine line in asking for advise, and asking people to rip an idea apart.
Constructive criticism is a very valuable tool as long as it’s done respectfully and with a goal of helping. I recommend that people just make sure their critics know it’s not open season!