Why ideas aren’t worthless
Popular wisdom says that ideas are nothing and “execution is everything”. There are so many ideas out there that the only ones which actually make a difference are the ones that get executed on. Makes sense, right?
But, then you realize there are a lot of things that get executed on every day that really aren’t that useful. How many products exist that don’t fulfill a real need? And you also realize that there are a lot of good ideas that either don’t get built or get built poorly…they are executed on but not in the right way. So execution isn’t everything…I would say it’s necessary but not sufficient.
That’s why I like Derek Siver’s model where ideas are just a multiplier of execution. Take your idea, almost worthless by itself and then multiply it with execution to get its value.
