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A comment my mentor Venkatesh Rao muses in his book Breaking Smart: "Hoarding ideas or code tends to be counterproductive due to the likelihood that another contestant will stumble on the same idea, improve upon it in unexpected ways, or detect a flaw that allows it to fail fast.” - moves me.

 

Here are a few ideas about the uncanni-ness of what he warns against, idea hoarding:

 

1. Ideas dont come out of thin air. Learn to synthesize the past to impact upon the present, for the future is already here.

 

2. If your new ideas aren't impressing the old folks, share some of your old ideas with the new folks. I learnt this from Thoughts from a Grumpy Innovator.

 

3. First is the thought, then the idea (imagery), then magnetization and manifestation of the idea in the physical plane. I learnt this from Reflections in the Light.

 

4. Amateurs go with the first idea that comes into their head. Professionals realize the first idea is rarely the best idea. I learnt this from Shane Parrish.

 

5. Tradition is what you make it. That is, most traditions were once someone’s bright idea which was successful enough to persist long enough for people to forget that it was once someone’s bright idea. I learnt this from Stewart Brand.

 

6. Specialized jargon is really about the idea, not the audience. Therefore, respect the jargon. I learnt this from my mentor Venkatesh Rao.

 

7. Innovation success factors are things such as total dedication, long hours, your last money – they'll guarantee it wasn't lack of effort that thwarted your Big Idea. Ideagnosia is the inability to recognise a good idea right in front of you. Again learnt this from Thoughts from a Grumpy Innovator.

 

8. If you find yourself needing the word "because" more than once when introducing a new idea to an audience, either the idea or the audience need sharpening. The good thing that success and failure have in common is that they both break the status quo. Again learnt this from Thoughts from a Grumpy Innovator.

 

9. Big ideas have only small audiences, initially. Again learnt this from Thoughts from a Grumpy Innovator.

 

10. Don’t disparage or ignore an idea just because you don’t like who or where it came from. I learnt this from Thinking in Bets.

 

To avoid the pitfalls of other articles that contain one good idea buried in tens of pages of excessive & repetitive examples, this article has been kept short, and will therefore end here.