When do ideas happen? Ask Darth Vader
There’s plenty of debate around ideas, their merit, and how to generate them. Most of them miss the truth.
We hear phrases like, “Ideas are cheap. Execution is everything.” We laud those who seem to come up with the best, most clever, most ingenious new concepts during meetings. We lionize people who supposedly experienced the Muse striking them, as if Newton getting bopped on the head by a falling apple was both true and how every idea happens.
Regardless of what we hear or think about “ideas,” the popular conception implies that the idea comes first in the process.
"Ideas are cheap" because you then have to make them happen, and that’s where the value lies. Here, the idea comes first.
The meetings we call are usually preceded by saying things like, “Let’s jump in a room to brainstorm,” or, “Call an all-hands,” or, “Come prepared to discuss.” We gather together to generate ideas, which we then apply to the work. The ideas come first.
Stories of heroes and historical figures like Newton (and millions more) inevitably reveal the same arc: they were toiling away at a problem until, suddenly, the idea hit them (literally, for Newton). Then, their work changed the world. The idea came first before the good work began.
This is simply untrue.
Ideas don't happen first. They happen throughout.
I’d point to those Newton-esque stories as an example. We rush past the part where a legendary thinker is toiling away. We latch onto the singular moment when the idea just struck them. But here’s the thing: There was no singular moment. It was all a gradation, a sliding scale of successive thoughts and projects that all great creators constantly push and poke and pull forward. The “toiling away” before the idea is exactly what led to the idea itself. But make no mistake: The work had already begun.
Consider Darth Vader. Yes, the Star Wars character. He’s among the pantheon of legendary fictional characters, and part of what makes him so iconic and so widely known is his physical appearance: dressed all in black, with a sleek, black helmet, and a breathing apparatus. Of course, it’s that last little detail which vaulted the character into fame. I mean, how many characters can be imitated so easily, yet so uniquely? And who doesn’t instantly know the character you’re impersonating when all you do is cup one hand over your mouth … and breathe slowly, deeply, in and out?
(CUHHHHHH… COOOHHHH… CUHHHHHH… COOOHHHH…)
That iconic feature? Yeah. It was added mid-process. The work was well underway.
George Lucas knew he wanted a “dark guy in a black cape with a big helmet” look to the villain of Star Wars. Illustrator Ralph McQuarrie suggested to Lucas that Vader should be in a space suit since he had to survive in a vacuum. Lucas said, “Okay, give him some sort of breathing apparatus.” McQuarrie then put a mask on Vader.
This reveals the power of drafting and reflecting, drafting and reflecting — which is the creative process in a nutshell. It’s not about generating a great idea first, then executing. It’s about taking a stab (an initial idea) then shaping a draft (which yields ongoing ideas).
When we believe the idea comes first, we cripple ourselves. We either discredit our ideas as not good enough to act or we disassociate ourselves from work we admire. How could we come up with such an idea? The thing is, they didn’t either.
Ideas aren’t cheap because they’re inextricably linked to the process of executing, and they arrive all the time once we act. The more we act, the easier ideas happen—for that project and beyond.
Draft, then reflect. Draft more, then reflect more. You’ll be amazed at how the ideas flow.
Ideas don’t happen first. They happen throughout.
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