Useful? Or Interesting?

I love ideas. I think it’s because an idea is always the starting point for a journey. And who doesn’t love a journey?

The ideas that draw my attention are often those that are both practical and creative. That’s not a paradox. Practical and creative are the two criteria that propel society forward. That’s a good thing.

To me, worthy ideas must be either useful or interesting.

A useful idea is one that helps me be more effective. It might make me personally more effective. Maybe it helps me be a better writer, or employee, or musician, or woodworker. Or maybe the idea helps my groups be more effective. Groups are the backbone for major changes of any type. And isn’t that why you join a group? Because you believe in what that group is doing and you want to help it accomplish its mission? So, an idea that helps one of your groups? Golden.

My personal scale for evaluating a useful idea is its ability to meet four criteria:

• Is the idea simple?
• Is the idea practical?
• Is the idea logically complete?
• Is the idea sustainable?

An interesting idea, on the other hand, is not (yet) useful. It’s new to me. It’s creative, often coming from unexpected sources. An interesting idea is one that is potentially useful. Profoundly useful? Even better. It’s the potential that makes it interesting. The more the merrier.

One more thing – and maybe this is obvious. An interesting idea needs to be incomplete. It must have gaps, either logically or procedurally. It needs me to invest some thought to fill in those gaps. Because it’s the gaps that make it interesting. That’s where the potential hides.

Once those gaps are filled in, then the idea either becomes useful, or not. But no longer interesting.

I take satisfaction from useful ideas. But I derive joy from interesting ones.