Competing With an Idea of an Idea
A great love of my life is to explore new stuff and innovate. I am forever trying to come up with new ways to do things mundane or interesting; techie or mechanical; arty or practical. It seems at times its part of my DNA to challenge the norm.
As part of my role at Serious Games International and my career in video games up to this point has expressed itself by coming up with new game tech or using game tech for oblique purposes.
For instance a few years ago my team and me came up with a way to rapidly create casual video games on multiple console platforms in quick sticks time using something called a virtual machine. Using it my 4 man team developed 30 odd commercial video game titles in 3 years something perceived by many as impossible. See http://bit.ly/185RRLZ
I was also instrumental in developing the world’s first video game that taught business skills. If played correctly and successfully it gave the player an accreditation in business skill from Coventry University a fore runner I suppose to the much celebrated gamification. See http://bit.ly/185Rykj
Recently with Serious Games International I applied Gamification ideas to the engine management system of a Nissan sports car. The idea here was to make the experience of gaining points and achievements made in a video game like Gran Turisimo http://bit.ly/17JQeqJ
Innovation by its very nature is disruptive and this in turn can find the innovator having to robustly justify themselves. Often one finds that an idea cultivated over sleepless nights and insane amounts of reading is dismissed by an individual that they “thinks” they have seen a better idea before. A key source of this knowledge is Kickstarter (other crowd funding sites exist but they would not have made as good a title LOL).
Competing with an idea of an idea of course is a fools game. An idea of an idea is always better than your idea. It isn’t constrained by the laws of physics, capabilities or practicalities it is merely contained by the notion of what is conveyed with a screen shot or three minute video.
So how can a would be innovator thwart by such comments?
Well in the first case you’re going to have to take it on the chin. Ultimately its not an argument but a critique. Listen to the critique and follow it up with some reading and idea of an idea may create an idea of an idea of an idea!
It may be that you are not presenting your idea in the best way. Take a leaf from the successful crowd funded ideas. Describe your idea visually rather than vocally or via text or even make a 3 minute video.
Check out the comments in the forum associated with the alternative idea’s campaign. There may be evidence to suggest where this idea is flawed and you could use this to augment your next proposal.
Use the comments dismissing your proposal and the negative ones from the counter idea as the catalyst for your own disruptive thinking. This critique could be the inspiration for you to approach the idea from a different direction therefore offering a different solution.
All this said just because one person says your idea is no good doesn’t mean you should stop developing. Not every crowd sourced idea makes it. Many fail to deliver even after thousands have invested $1000’s on it. Ultimately if you think your idea is good enough then take heart from Richard Dyson who only cracked his famous vacuum cleaner after 5127 prototypes. (See http://bit.ly/17JUkzc)
smashthinking 