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Mark McGuinness

How Do You Know If Your Idea Is Futile?

Image from Wikimedia Commons

When Nathaniel Lee, the 17th century English dramatist, was confined to Bedlam – the original mental asylum, in London – he is reported to have uttered these words:

They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me.

I think a lot of creative people can relate to this, even if we haven’t been sectioned in a mental asylum.

By definition, creative ideas are new, they haven’t been tried and tested before – and we have a natural fear of being ridiculed or ‘outvoted’ by people who don’t share our conviction that this is a Truly Brilliant Idea. So it often takes persistence and a thick skin to succeed.

I was quite good at [long distance running], not because I was physically good, but because I had more determination. I learned determination from it.

Those are the words of inventor James Dyson, whose innovative bagless vacuum cleaner was rejected by all the major manufacturers and distributors. But he was too determined to give up, and launched his own factory to built the Dyson cleaner – which went on to become a huge success.

Examiner.com’s list of 30 famous authors whose works were (repeatedly and rudely) rejected includes Vladimire Nabokov, John Grisham, Sylvia Plath, Rudyard Kipling, Jack Kerouac, Ursula Le Guin, William Faulkner, George Orwell, Stephen King, Marcel Proust and D.H. Lawrence. Imagine how much poorer the literary world would have been if they hadn’t persisted.

Leonardo’s notebooks are full of weird and wonderful creations, including several flying machines that would never have got off the ground. But according to a Channel 4 documentary, not all of the designs were flawed.

And we can all be grateful that the proponents of ‘talkies’ persisted in spite of this withering put-down from H.M. Warner – one of the legendary Warner Brothers:

Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?

In my own career, I took a leap of faith when I added a blog to my website five years ago, and started giving away my ideas and advice for free, ignoring my concerned friends and colleagues who told me I “should be charging for that stuff”.

It took another leap of faith to start delivering coaching via the internet and invest time in creating e-learning programs as well as live workshops. Plenty of people told me it was practically impossible to make a living on the web because “people expect everything to be free online”. But it’s working out very nicely now.

Of course, it’s easy to say ‘I told you so’ with the benefit of hindsight. But it’s also true that plenty of doubters are proved right – as many ‘brilliant’ ideas turn out to be futile.

So how can you decide whether your idea is worth pursuing, in the face of your own doubts and others’ scepticism?

Sadly, there’s no way to be sure, but here are a couple of questions I ask myself when weighing up a new idea:

  • Have I seen something like it in work in another context? Extrapolation is more reliable than creating something out of thin air. E.g. Dyson got the idea for using cyclones instead of a bag in his vacuum cleaner when he saw a sawmill using cyclones to expel waste.
  • What’s my gut feeling? Sometimes I just know it’s going to work – even if it takes a lot of adjustment and determination along the way.

Another really important thing I do is hang around with people who ‘get it’. When I saw some of my ‘offline’ friends were sceptical about the potential of blogging and online entrepreneurship, I stopped talking about it to them. Instead, I made friends with other bloggers, coaches and entrepreneurs who were on a similar journey, and we provide each other with encouragement and support along the way.

How about You?

Do you ever worry that your latest great idea may in fact be futile?

How do you decide whether to persist with an idea or give up on it?

Have you had an experience of persisting in spite of the doubts – and doubters – and being proved right?

About the Author: Mark McGuinness is a Coach for Artists, Creatives and Entrepreneurs. For a free 25-week guide to success as a creative professional, sign up for Mark’s course The Creative Pathfinder.

Categories: The Lateral Action Blog Uncategorized
Mark McGuinness: <em><strong>Mark McGuinness</strong> is a an award-winning <a href="http://www.markmcguinness.com">poet</a>, a <a href="https://lateralaction.com/coaching">coach for creatives</a>, and the host of <a href="https://lateralaction.com/21stcenturycreative">The 21st Century Creative Podcast</a>.</em>

View Comments (33)

  • I have been writing the same novel over and over again for several years, trying to get it right and finished. I have been trying to build a coaching business for too many years, to still be sitting in the same place.

    I talk to online people about these things. My friends are people who just don't get it so, I don't tell them. It makes it harder for me. I find that if I can talk things out with someone I can get a better clearer idea of what it is I want to do.

    I haven't quit yet. I'll keep at it until it works or my gut stops telling me it will work.

    • Sounds like you and I both have a case of what Yeats called 'The fascination of what's difficult'. :-)

      The most worthwhile challenges are never the easiest ones. I also find flexibility is a great complement to determination: on the writing side, I've (so far) found the internet more rewarding than traditional publishing; and experimenting with new business models has made a big difference on the business side.

  • Great Post. I am a filmmaker/photographer and inventor. I have heard a million times "that will never work' or "that is a dumb idea". Ignore them, if you feel strongly enough. Even if it fails you have gone farther down the road they most people ever do.

    Here are my keys:
    1. Have a small group of objective mentors
    2. Find the revenue model answer/question.
    3. Build a prototype as quick as possible ( I now set my self a maximum 3 months)
    4. Find the best way to take it to market.
    5. Rinse, Repeat.

    Tim Ferris in his book TFHWW, has some good ideas for test marketing your product for viability.
    Steve Blank has some great info online as does Eric Reiss.

    Realize that you will fail, and that like Edison you just keep going, and keep moving forward.

      • nice taylor!

        i think the dilemna that needs to be added to this approach is: testing a half-assed version of your idea doesn't always give you the best market research. that's the problem with public prototyping.

        however, it's certainly the most efficient means. Cooper and Vlaskovits did a great job working off Steve Blank's methods
        http://www.custdev.com/

        here's one post i wrote about implementing tests into your websites: http://auditory.ca/blog/20/how-to-test-ideas

  • Try this on physical product design too. It's tough when you're about to "ship" and you're wondering if what you're creating will even have a market.

    But one of my indicators is working within my passionate convictions. Does the piece clearly represent my true intentions of what the customer experience should be with my work?

    Also, being in touch with your audience is key. Creating things you know resonate with their core values is a must. So as you're creating, as yourself, "Is this in line with what my audience believes as well as me?"

    • I guess it's a bit harder to alter a wooden table than an info product on the fly! ;-)

      Nice description of getting the right balance between your own convictions and your audience's taste. If you find your right audience, there doesn't have to be a conflict.

  • 'You have no qualification, no training, no experience, no social connections, can't even type, can't speak the language, can't do the maths!'

    'There's absolutely ZERO chance of you getting any job in the City of London,' I was told by many people.

    I was about 20 years old. I agreed with them. I studied and loved literature, but I couldn't see myself making a living out of literature either. I lacked skills but moreover, confidence and vision.

    Sheepishly, I washed dishes at a hospital, piles after piles of cups and plates, day after day. I was often completely exhasuted, very poor and unhappy.

    Then suddenly I realised that the only person who could rescue me from the misery trap, was myself.

    'I leave here to make some money!'

    But other dishwashers said, 'are you crazy?'

    So I went to night school (LSE), took various professional exams and cut the long story short, fast-forward 10 years, I eventually became a government bond dealer and later a bond strategist in a large international investment bank.

    Despite the outward success, I was still unhappy. At the investment bank, I often felt like being an 'undercover' journalist, because, I suppose, I didn't really belong there.

    Now people tell me, 'Why on earth did you quit the lucrative job in the City?' Going back to a uni? at your age? To write? ZERO chance! You can't even speak properly.'

    Yes, I know. They said that before.

    But I feel I've finally found my 'home' after years of wandering.

    It may be FUTILE. Yes. But EVEN THEN, I feel I've got to do this.

    It's being really true to oneself, I think. Futile or not, I feel it's my last chance to be true.

    ... and that's why I'm learning from you guys at this great forum!

    • Wow great story! Impressed that you (a) succeeded at something when you set your mind to it, and (b) walked away from it when you realised it wasn't really you.

    • What you share with us here takes me back to my initial conclusion about establishing the High Pointing Group. The way saw it was Life is a game on which I bet nothing less than my Life; so it's best I play it that way. Creating a consulting firm was for me a game so worth while it was worth losing. I had no way of knowing that I would succeed. I only knew it was worth spending the rest of my Life finding out.
      I'm pleased to say that a functioning business model is in place and my practice as a consultant is established; so my goal of establishing a consulting group that uses the philosophy and systems I have created looks much more feasible from here. However, it is still only when I remember that it’s a game worth losing that I have the dedication to keep working at it.

      • 'Life is a game on which I bet nothing less than my Life.'

        Yes, I'm betting absolutely everything I've got on my single quest.

        But I'm not scared.

        I'm happy that I've finally found the game worth betting my whole life, for the rest of my life.

        Thank you!
        and really,
        THANK YOU!!

  • I've been lucky enough to meet and work with some great people who have been able to offer a lot of advice, but after my freelance career began, I sent a while working at my kitchen table and launching the occasional personal project without much feedback aside from my own.

    So after a couple of weeks, I suggested that anyone involved in digital in any way should come to the pub, and now we're having our third 'Digital People in Peterborough' meetup on Thursday. So far about 15 people have come along to each of the first two, and more are expected at this one, plus we're slowly signing up people to our website at MyDPiP.com, and I suddenly have a group of friendly and extremely helpful designers, developers and business owners all around to give advice, feedback and encouragement...

    The other thing that helps is that I've seen the problem with projects everyone recognises as a 'great idea' - it normally turns out to be something that lots of other people have discovered. Whereas as soon as an idea isn't 100% certain to work, you also find less competitors, so if you have the chance to try things that are a little riskier, you have a bit of breathing space to find out for yourself whether you were right, before someone else tries to jump on it. Just look at what's happened in social networks, location services, social gaming etc...

    • the problem with projects everyone recognises as a ‘great idea’ – it normally turns out to be something that lots of other people have discovered. Whereas as soon as an idea isn’t 100% certain to work, you also find less competitors

      Excellent point. Seth Godin said a while back that creative opportunities happen at the edges - not completely out in leftfield, nor right in the middle of what everyone else is doing, but just a little bit further off the beaten track than others are venturing...

  • Great article again Mark! It's very timely as I'm taking a tremendous leap of faith in the coming months. I'm optimistic and scared. Sounds similar to what you went through and are discussing. Thanks for the advice....

  • Mark:
    You've hit on a topic that holds back so many of us: I've got a good idea, but what if it flops?

    I love chieko's story above.

    Over a dozen years ago, I had a cushy job as a Department Chair at a high-profile academy and as a university adjunct professor. I was frustrated with how confined I felt in the institutions (after sticking it out for over a decade) and felt utterly stifled as a writer. And meanwhile, this thing called yoga crept back into my life. I won't detail the tale here, but suffice it to say I resigned from both positions (after 12 years of a full-time job) with little idea of what I would do next except it would have something to do with yoga & creativity. Back then, hardly anyone could see what I was intuitively exploring. My academic friends thought I was daft. My writer friends thought I had gone New Age nuts. For the next year, I stuck it out with freelance work while I explored my own links b/t yoga & creativity. I started teaching some informal workshops, which took off like crazy. Writers came out of the yoga closet. Soon, I developed Yoga As Muse programs. I left my home state for Woodstock, NY. Penguin bought my book on the subject. I now train other people from the U.S. and Canada to do what I do. And my consulting and coaching business is full (I'm at my max now of 12 clients a week and am figuring out how to expand). In the past eight years, many people have extrapolated from the Yoga As Muse model.

    My latest venture as of a few years ago is Tracking Wonder. My father-in-law scratched his head at first. "Only you could make a living tracking wonder." I had no business model. Only intuition and intuitive leaps and a whole lotta action. I consult with individuals and am making the transition back to education as a consultant and am transitioning to business consulting.

    I resonate with your advice about "gut feelings." I'm afraid, though, I've been more of the "thin air" mindset than the extrapolation one. I think I could learn how to be more systematic and marketing-oriented (like Adam above).

  • For me,

    Firstly, I would say is the extent of the impact the project or idea on its target market that keeps me going no matter what others may think or say.

    Secondly, I think seeing the idea also at work in the lives of others is another great endorsement of the idea. If it worked for someone else before, then it certainly will work for me once I can learn, master and implement the same strategies or actions they took to get what they got.

    Thirdly, I do a purpose-alignment test. Does this idea, project or initiative contribute to my central purpose in life? If it does fit, then it means I was born to make it happen and that means no matter what, I must see it through because no one else except me has been given the mandate for its execution.

  • Mark, I just found your website which was referred to me from a colleague and have spent the last half hour or so exploring and scratching the surface of all the info you have posted.

    I also like what chieko posted on your site. Great story. People that make those judgments of you don't want you to succeed. They want you to be like them. It validates who "they" are. They realize that if you succeed you have refuted their way of thinking/living.

    One of the adages that stuck with me over the years is" if you want to see where you're at in life, look around at the people that you spend most of your time with". So if you look around and you don't like what you see, then that's a reflection on where you're currently at in your life. That's why your comment about associating with forward thinking and creative entrepreneurs, can help you move forward in your own direction.

    I too have just undergone a voluntary separation from a comfortable lifestyle. And wow, do people think you are crazy. Even though it was comfortable, it was also predictable, routine, boring, and physically and mentally stagnating. I looked around, and saw I was mostly unhappy.

    Another comment you made that makes a lot of sense to me, was when people told you that you should charge for this information. But I have found that one of life's truths is that if you are giving away and trying to help as many people as possible, your own success is proportional to the number you help. Or a least that is the philosophy I have come to live by.

    By operating so, you create an attraction that people will be willing to seek more personal and individualized contact. An income stream can come from the marketing of that personalized and individualized contact.

    I have just downloaded "Marla's Guide to Creative Marketing" and "Freedom, Money, Time", and look forward to reading them. Thanks for the great information, your website looks fantastic, and I look forward to exploring the rest of your website and continued communication.

    Thanks Drew

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