To Those Who Think Ideas Have No Value

Whenever the conversation turns to ideas, there’s always someone who reflexively says, “Ideas have no value! It’s action that counts!”

But I think the correct view is: “The act of generating ideas has value, and the skill of being able to generate ideas is extremely valuable.”

In other words, just because people compare “ideas” with “action” directly, they shut down their thinking and conclude ideas have no value.

I get it — in an era when all costs have dropped and it’s easier than ever to bring ideas to life, the ability to take action is what makes the difference. Probably only about 10% of people who come up with ideas actually act on them, and only about 1% keep going. That’s why success is rare.

But still, isn’t everyone underestimating the value of the act of generating ideas, and the skill of being able to do so? That’s what I think.

I understand that action is what counts and that you need to develop ideas while taking action. But depending on the initial idea, the launch angle and the target you’re aiming at can change. The initial velocity changes. The destination changes.

When I see true ideators in action, I’m overwhelmed by their quality and quantity. Every single idea is eye-opening.

At Mistletoe, there were many veterans who had been trained under Masason at SoftBank, and their creativity was truly out of this world. Taizo Son’s ideation power was insane too. The quality, quantity, and density were terrifying.

This book also says that the trick to generating ideas is to repeatedly diverge and converge well, but probably because their divergence is on a different dimension, the level when they converge is also different from ordinary people.

To generate ideas, everything in this world is a mass of possibility. Soak up huge amounts of input with curiosity, and output massive amounts with quick reflexes. This kind of daily accumulation is probably what produces their level of ideation. Are you thinking until your brain is about to tear apart? That’s what it comes down to, I think.

This book “Kougu” (Tools for Thinking) is packed with techniques to improve that throughput. The skill of generating ideas can be acquired. I want to get my hands on “tools for thinking” and live each day with enthusiasm.