Ideas don't exist, so stop trying to control them

Ideas can come from anywhere, and anyone. Real talent is knowing what to do with them when they come, and where to find them when they don’t. That's where the magic happens.

But here’s a thought: ideas don’t exist.

The space in between

I like to think of the intangibility of ideas. It's what makes them equally elusive and powerful. In meditation you learn to note “thoughts” and “feelings” as each one arises. An idea for me is the space in between, where thought meets feeling.

We all try to pin ideas down in different ways: as words, pictures, interpretive dance. We will ideas into the world. We try to explain them to others. Even words have their limit. Language is the best method most of us have to relate our experience, but it’s not without limits.

In other people ideas find a home. As we share our ideas and give them our own interpretation and meaning, we reveal better understandings of their truth.

Just as memories take on a life of their own in your head, so do ideas. They’re not photographs. They are dreams; feelings. They evolve and change. This is how the best ideas travel. As they allow you to take them on, make them your own and stay with you.

Ideas are strange and beautiful, and the basis for all great work – but they're not the work itself. Understanding this context, we need to rethink ideas as the fuel for great work. Here's how we can harness that power.

Ideas are just the starting line

It's vital to appreciate the role we all play in shaping great creative – not just the creative department. The skills that set creatives apart are the ability to objectify our own ideas, share them, change them, and ultimately kill our darlings.

We are gardeners of ideas. Many people can plant a seed. You might gift me a bag of magic beans, but it takes practice and craft to grow a beanstalk sturdy enough to reach the clouds.

If you want to share ideas with creatives, you have to let go. Letting go of a single perspective of an idea and letting it be shaped is the work. An idea is not the end of the job. It sparks what we make, which in turn creates understanding of the concept itself.

Big ideas exist in the space between us

Ideas are about connection. They're interdependent; human truths that recognize themselves in others. The tighter you hold on to an idea, the more you restrict its full potential.

We write ideas and work as we understand them, but the most exciting feeling is when they take flight. Truly great ideas resonate. From person to person, these are the ideas that elicit the most emotion.

I've seen campaigns we put into the world be re-imagined in other continents. While they may change in how they are executed, the idea remains pure. They are not objects but concepts that evolve as they're passed from mind to mind. They are infections of inspiration.

Work that doesn’t have this pure conceptual driving force at its heart can only be short-lived. It can’t take off, impact culture or make change.

The idea is not just to have an idea, but to share it effectively

When you understand the nuances between explaining ideas and evoking them viscerally, better, more emotive work will follow. It’s not our job to explain ideas but to inspire them. The best work comes from living with the idea, giving it time to grow, letting others feel and shape it, and letting it be your guiding light as you craft.

We’ve all had the experience of being in flow and the work coming naturally. We’ve all also stared maddeningly at a blank page. It’s not about pinning jelly to the wall, but putting a harness on it, becoming it and riding it where it wants to go. The work is not the idea. The work plants the idea in the world and lets people make it their own. That’s the difference of evocation.

This is not philosophical musing, but a path to better understanding emboldened work and more fulfilling collaboration in the process of creation in the industry.

After all, ideas are a dynamic interplay between minds and a shared experience. And they work best for us when we let them be just that.

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