Don't worry that it's already been done.  It has, and it hasn't.  It doesn't really matter.  Make your art.



## The Prize and Illusion of Invention

Doesn't invention feel like such a prize?  It's so good to feel like you've contributed something truly original to the universe.  That happens, but not often.  How often have you had a good idea -- for years even -- that seems so original and different.  It is nigh impossible that anyone could have had this same thought!  And then you actually meet someone on this Earth of more than 7 billion people that describes the exact same thing.  It's uncanny.  Why is this always surprising? 

We feel like our ideas will truly be worth production if and only if they're a original thoughts and we are the inventor.  I love when this happens, or seems to happen, but I think most of the time it's an illusion.  We are influenced by so many things around us.  Our brains are great at noticing and processing massive amounts of information that our subconscious, at some future point, will produce for us at an opportune moment.  It'll seem original, but it'll really be a derivative of all those moments of impression leading up to that instant.

## There Can Be More Than One

Part of the reason we want our ideas to be original is that we don't want to just remix what someone else has already done.  That's boring, right, and what value are we adding there?  That's natural, though many creatives have posited that *everything* is a awesome -- I mean, a remix.

If there is one of something in the world, that prototype is not also going to be the very last version of that something.  There will be iterations by the original creator and others.  There will be other variants produced.  Do we all drive the same car?  Do we all live within the same architecture?  No. There are many things shared: a combustion engine or an asphalt shingle.  But even these have variants.

## No One Has Experienced Your Art

No one has experienced your art yet.  You haven't produced it yet.  The act of creation expresses the unique combination of the subject to be created and the creator.  If you don't make it, the world will never experience it in quite the way that you will offer.

Not everyone on the Internet has heard of everything you've heard of on the Internet.  You might reach new people.  You might create in such a way that touches a whole new class of people. 

The art will stand on its own.  It could live as a peer next to many similar works, and that's ok.  It will have been created.  You will have done it.  The experience, the moment in time, the change within you, and the impression upon others are all things that will make creating your art worth it.

So don't worry that it's already been done.  It has, and it hasn't.  It doesn't really matter.  Make your art.

Don't worry that it's already been done.  It has, and it hasn't.  It doesn't really matter.  Make your art.

It's Already Been Done

Over time we can get very comfortable in our ways.  We do things as they've always been done.  In this state, sometimes we can find ourselves constraining new ideas or stifling new possibilities as they come to us.



## Why Not Go For the Banana

Once there was a study done on monkeys where a group of the primates were gathered together and one of the monkeys was let loose to go fetch a banana.  If the monkey touched the banana, the monkey who touched it plus all the monkeys in the group were sprayed with cold water.  In repeat experiments, when the monkey was let loose to fetch the banana, the other monkeys in the group began to hold the monkey back so he couldn't go.  Soon the monkey stopped going for the banana entirely.

Then a new monkey was rotated in for the loose monkey.  The rest of the group had experienced the cold spray, but this new monkey had not.  The group held him back consistently, and soon the new monkey, surely confused at the resistance of the group to a nice banana, stopped going for the banana entirely.

Rotations continued one by one until eventually the whole group had been swapped out.  They continued to hold each other back.  No monkey went for the banana, yet not a single monkey in the group had ever received a spray of cold water.

I read of this study in a book recently.  The author wrote that he went to find the original study for more learning and found that the story of the study wasn't even real.  People were repeating it when it had apparently never happened.  Ironic?  And yet there is something striking about this story that does bear repeating.

## Why We Constrain Ideas

So why do we constrain ideas?  As illustrated, this desire for the status quo can come quite naturally and even illogically.  Things have always been done that way, we say, and things have turned out all right for us.

Perhaps we don't understand this new thing.  Who knows what the unintended consequences are?  Perhaps we'll fail at it.  Perhaps it'll be worse than what we have.

Perhaps we or someone else already tried something like that before.  Perhaps it didn't work out well for those involved in the place that it was attempted.

Perhaps we feel like we're betraying old ideas and customs.  Perhaps we feel like we're admitting we are wrong or were misguided in the past.  

We might just like our current ideas.  We were in the group that thought them.  We've built great things with them.  We feel ownership of these ideas and the results.

If something new begins to take over, perhaps we'll lose relevancy.  We may feel threatened.

## Letting Ideas Live

What can we do to let new ideas live?  Perhaps we don't need to [strike them down quickly as "bad"](/post/hearing-bad-ideas).  We can let them linger, hear and learn more.  With a growth-oriented mindset, this can become more natural.  Things are always changing.

We can realize that perfection is rarely achieved.  That means that things could be better.  We can really live in a mode of continuous improvement instead of just giving it lip service.

We can separate ourselves from our ideas or our way of doing things.  We don't want to say or think of ourselves as "the guy that thought of that".  We can let ideas stand for themselves, using language such as "the idea of how we..." versus "the idea that Jake had was...".

We can cultivate an inclusive way of doing things.  We can invite participation from all.  We can encourage diversity of thought through listening and acceptance.  We can take ideas from wherever they come from and not be predisposed to dislike certain sources.

We can forgive ideas we didn't agree with in the past and allow people to voice new ideas of potential virtue.

We can be willing to try, really try, out the new idea, and let results speak for themselves.

Are there ways that you can identify where you have seen yourself or your organization stifle new ideas?  What could you do to help these new ideas live and potentially see value from them?  Are there new ideas that you've heard recently that you could help support and investigate?

Often we get comfortable in our ways and end up constraining new ideas and possibility.

Constraint of New Ideas

Ideas happen all the time.  Statistically, we'll hear some bad ones.  At least we think they're bad.  How can we best hear and react to these bad ideas?



## Ideas Have Value

First, a basic foundation for ideas:  Ideas come from people's thoughts.  People's ideas are the catalyst for innovation -- things to try, explore, and from which real progress can spring.  Progress is important.  People are even more important.  There is value in each.

## Hearing and Learning

Some ideas elicit a strong response from us.  Let's talk about the negative type of response.  Perhaps there's something in our background or perspective that may make us revile at just hearing certain ideas.  If we revile, the conversation will be over.  That one idea will die.  That may be what we want in the end.  But focusing on just the short term consequence of disposing of a bad idea may blind us to other side effects we may cause in immediately, strongly, or without tact opposing a bad idea.  

Let's explore some alternatives:  Listen.  Just take it in.  Keep your composure.  Don't even hint at your dislike of this idea.  Ask clarifying questions.  Ask about how this person got this idea.  Ask about how this idea and any implementations so far have helped them.  Here we're trying to get basic understanding, background information, and gathering any evidence of good that might exist.

Ask about any pitfalls they've experienced.  You don't have any specific lines of thinking at this point but are just inquiring generally.  Now ask about pitfalls that you see.  Don't state that these are fact.  Just ask if the person thinks these one or two pitfalls might apply.  Ask if there are any adjustments they'd make to the idea or implementation to account for these.  Here we're trying to expose in a non-threatening way the real drawbacks that may exist in the idea.

Now if you're feeling composed and generous enough, go a step further in your learning.  Congratulate them on the good things happening to them relative to this idea.  Then ask this person to describe how he thinks this idea might potentially be helpful to you.  Is it a generally useful idea?  Or in what contexts?  You may be surprised with some thoughts this person shares with you that you have not yet thought of.  You may be surprised at their generosity and desire to help you.

## Graceful Disagreement

Even after hearing and learning, you may be unmoved in your opinion.  Or maybe you want to give yourself time to consider what you've heard and learned.  But in the end, you don't have to accept what you think is a bad idea.  It's essential to realize that your hearing and learning do not imply your acceptance.  You are not forced to agree.  By listening you are not stating or even intimating that you agree.

You can give your own opinion or perspective on the idea.  You should be honest to the opinion you hold in your expression.  You also don't have to shove it in this person's face that you think the idea is terrible.  You may not mean to make your disagreement personal.  Do one better than that, and try not to let it be *perceived* as personal.

Remember that what you share as a counter-idea or fresh alternative is another idea in itself.  If you're down-voting an idea, it's good to have an alternative anyway.  You can state plainly that you'd rather not use this idea for you, your context, or your team.  State the specific pitfalls that you don't want to happen to you.  Remember that your relationship with people is more important than a problem to be solved or a task to be finished.  Keep the channels of collaboration and communication open.

The next time you hear an idea you think is bad: hear, learn, be graceful, be honest.

Is this hard for you sometimes?  What helps you avoid the initial bad reaction and inquire more honestly about what you're hearing?

The next time you hear an idea you think is bad: hear, learn, be graceful, be honest.