The other night, my wife made dinner: homemade bread, pasta with homemade tomato sauce, homemade butternut squash soup.
It was delicious.
Yes, I am very appreciative.
And that’s the point.
There was a moment right after dinner when she wondered aloud how best to store the bread. I suggested a cake plate, and she liked the idea.
Suddenly, it hit me that in the business world, all those homemade goodies of hers are unappreciated. They are considered lowly commodities. Meanwhile, my “insight” would command boku bucks and be held in the highest regard. Does this seem backward? It did to me.
After all, you can’t eat an idea.
There are some who believe that ideas should command a premium over honest-to-goodness results.
They—Tom Peters, I’m looking in your direction—elevate the idea above execution.
To which I say:
BULL. SHIT.
Dress up an idea all you want, it’s still just an idea… and still without value. Value comes from implementation—the very thing that our consultant-based knowledge economy doesn’t want to do.
Some may take issue with my idea here on the grounds that the value of ideas is determined by the market, or on the premise that ideas are necessary because they lead to action.
As for the market-value of ideas, I bet you can guess what I have to say. Just because you can find a sucker to pay you for your ideas does not give those ideas value. It merely suggests you have a skill for transferring other people’s money into your own pockets.
Three card monte dealers have that same skill; would you say that makes their way of life “valuable”?
And as for the argument that without ideas, there can be no action, I agree… with one major caveat: ideas that result in action are infused with focused and sustained creative energy. People in business with that energy are not called consultants, they are called entrepreneurs. And the value they command is because of their ideas, but because of their abilities to turn those ideas into reality. Ask a VC, and he’ll tell you: good ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the team that matters most.
Does that 23 year old being billed out at $450/hr to come up with great strategic ideas have the same skill set as the entrepreneur? Maybe. But she’s likely not infusing her ideas with creative energy on behalf of her client. She’s researching, analyzing, synthesizing… and opining. She may be thinking important thoughts, but she’s not making anything. Her focus is on pulling a string of plum assignments so she can make partner and retire before 40.
The other night at dinner? Maybe my cake plate idea extends the life of our bread by a day. Great. Even greater is how my wife took food and turned it into a meal we could eat.
It’s time to remember what “value” really means.
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I'm Jason. I make people shine. My mission is to help 1 million people tell their stories better. 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Ideas do have value. Some ideas seem to be good, gets lots of money, get implemented flawlessly by top notch teams, and fail spectacularly. Some ideas genuinely yield something of value down the road that validates that the idea was worthwhile.
As an entrepreneur, I cherish the ability to make something real and to build and idea into a business. The idea behind all of the action though needs to be solid, and some of that requires some upfront researching, analyzing and sythesizing to validate the idea. Both the idea and the end result are all part of what generates value.
I do understand your point though and agree that there is too much energy expended by the consulting industry on the analysis side. We have more than our fair share of knowledge. If this nation is to maintain its competitive advantage, we need turn more ideas into reality and develop a culture of innovation and building stuff. As it stands, the existing setup does not support this culture very well.
Therefore, maybe instead of calling it the “Knowledge Economy”, we need to move towards the “Execution Economy”. We need to be a nation that focuses on building things well.
@Mark—the “execution economy” has a nice ring to it.
btw, I do acknowledge entrepreneurial ideas—those infused with focused and sustained creative energy—as THE exception to the rule!
“We don’t actually do what we propose. We just propose it.”
I believe this supports your totally valid position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7M7A34b6Rw
Great post, Jason. You will (I think) love this quote from my favorite philosopher of science, Michael Ponalyi “We only truly know a thing when we can apply it to get results.”
@Ed & Wally–You two are consistently among my best critics. I know I’ve hit on something important when I hear from you–and I know I got it right when you agree. Thank you for the quote and commercial–two of my favorites.