We Are All In The Ideas Business

The origin story of Flamin' Hot Cheetos is one of the most inspiring business tales I've read in a long time. One thing that struck me is how an employee was bold enough to take Frito Lay CEO Roger Enrico's exhortation to "act like an owner" seriously. When we act like an owner, we start contributing to the body of work, rather than simply taking orders.

Something that has become increasingly clear to me through this whole daily blogging habit it is that many more people are in the “ideas business" than I ever consciously realized! If you consider the purview of my posts, I am basically trafficking in ideas, writ large. And what has been really invigorating is discovering the breadth of material I have to draw upon!

Artists, advertisers, thinkers, comedians, inventors, scientists, mathematicians, musicians, entrepreneurs, politicians, film makers, authors, etc - they’re all, in some way or another, coming up with ideas - and as such, they fittingly fall into the spectrum of inspiration when it comes to answering my underlying question of, "How does one generate fresh ideas?"

"That’s great,” you might say. “Those kinds of people are in the ideas business, so of course you can draw inspiration from their practices..." Implication being, "...but I'm not in the ideas business...."

But here’s the thing: we are all in the ideas business! Not just product designers. Not just advertisers. Not just artists, or scientists, or inventors, or musicians, or…

But administrators, school teachers, assistants, sales people, parents: how might I frame this discussion, how might I convey this information, how might I capture and retain attention, how might I express the value here, how might I help them see the mistake, etc etc - all of these questions are questions about ideas.

As much as they are problems in search of solutions, as much as they are questions in search of answers, we can also choose to see them as opportunities in need of fresh ideas.

And when you define the underlying challenge in each of these contexts as essentially, the challenge of coming up with ideas, it’s amazing the range of material you have to draw upon!

Whatever your field of application or domain of expertise -- be It administration, parenting, sales, or more obvious things like product development -- you're in the ideas business. We all are.

Click here to subscribe to Paint & Pipette, the weekly digest of these daily posts.