Ideas sounds so fluffy.
"Everyone has good ideas, but what's worth something is executing them."
I agree to some extent on this statement.
But I do not accept it fully.
Clearly those who believe this fully has not had break-through ideas.
But great ideas are not some shower-thought.
They are rough hunches, which are refined and expanded upon over time.
The smartphone idea came from wanting to create truly portable pocket-sized computers.
Thus, the idea originated from computers and was refined along the way.
So don't push yourself to think an idea need to be perfect instantly, it never is.
But realise you need to make time to push yourself to come up with new and better ideas.
A good mental model to use when coming up with better ideas is asking yourself;
"If I had to make this 10 times more effective, what would I need to do?"
Ten. Times. More. Effective.
If you seek to only marginally improve your solutions, your initial thoughts may be; "Well, I just need to do more of it."
Think of it this way; If you sought to make your horse marginally faster what would the solutions be?
Well, maybe better nutrition for the horse, better rest, better training, etc.
These are not break-through ideas.
They're average ideas.
Everyone has them.
What if you asked yourself; "How can I make my horse 10 times faster?"
Instantly you would think; "Impossible. That would defy physics."
But then you start thinking deeply about it.
You might think; "What problem am I trying to solve?"...
And arrive at; To get to my destination faster and save time.
And then, you could explore alternative and crazier ideas.
This could lead to inventions such as the car.
Now, let's talk about coal.
Coal without ideas is not worth much.
If I wanted to sell someone coal in the middle ages they would probably think I was a lunatic.
But today it is a highly valuable resource as it produces energy.
And the reason it produces energy is because someone took it and transformed it from being a material into a source of energy.
That was a pretty great idea.
Imagine how many more materials that is out there just waiting for someone to have a great ideas, and the world gets even more energy because of it.
We don't need to do more of the same and push ourselves to work harder.
We need better ideas.
Ideas are what makes you rich.
See you in the next one.
/ Mads