Ideas can be tricky. Some of them burn out quickly whilst others will develop beyond imagination. Where do they come from? How do you know when you’ve happened upon an idea that will not only sustain excitement in its creator, but inspire others to be part of it and provide the world with something magical? Not necessarily something entirely new, but something so essential or so captivating that we won’t know how we did without it.
In a discussion about innovation, Becky, Karen and I rested upon the topic of ideas. Trying to get to the bottom of them, we talked about ‘light-bulb’ moments, about the need for focus. As we sat in a classroom in Hardwick, quietly waiting for an idea about ideas (no pressure), the image of an exploring child, sifting pebbles and earth came to us and we moved toward the metaphor of panning for gold.
We are subject to a constant flow of thoughts, dreams, information and moments of inspiration – our own and other people’s. We obsess about some of it and ignore other, less attractive details, but it’s not ‘til we go through the silt and the gravel of these that we get the precious, genuinely sparkling idea we’re after.
From time to time we might get lucky, but gold panning is a craft that might reveal the idea we’ve been waiting for.
