I never really got over the disappointment I expressed regarding the Behance post which suggested ideas were "an engaging, brain-spinning indulgence," and their founder who was quoted as having said "if anything, we have a surplus of ideas. Excess ideas are our greatest cost. What we need is fewer ideas."

What I should have mentioned in my earlier post is that ideas, the ability to filter the good from the bad, and then execute on them, is the fuel that drives the businesses of an advanced, capitalist nation forward. We have long since moved from the industrial age into the information age and without good ideas there would be no intellectual property (IP), perhaps the most valuable of all assets a company can now possess. Technological advances allow companies to adapt so quickly to changes that the only edge a company often has is their ability to exploit, protect and establish new ideas to gain a competitive edge.

A wise business owner will recognize that good ideas can flow from all of your employees, friends, associates, etc... and they can open revenue streams, expand on existing ones or give rise to more efficient ways of doing business. Idea people are immensely valuable to your success, but in order to be an effective manager you must know how to channel that energy. Failing to do so, or to simply shut down employees with ideas is proof of a failure of that manager, not proof that the ideas themselves are an unncessary distraction.

Labels: ideas