Do ideas matter?

According to Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance:

“It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen.”

Hof Fleishman agrees with Belsky. He believes ideas don't matter. Fleishman sees starting with well-defined problems as exponentially more important than any specific idea.

I agree with both Fleishman and Belsky. Let go of your idea. Latch on to the problem you are solving. Then, execute effectively.

Focus on the problem you are solving.

As Harvard professor, Theodore Levitt, said "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill bit. They want a quarter-inch hole." Seth Godin doesn't think this analogy goes far enough. He says people don't want a quarter-inch hole, they want the shelf that will go on the wall once the hole is drilled. In fact, they want the feeling they will get once they've put stuff on that shelf and their house is clutter-free.

If you're not clear what frustration or issue your user needs solving, find ways to understand the problem area deeper. My user research workshop might help.

Further reading

Ideas Don’t Matter. What I Understand After 20 Years Of Innovation by Hof Fleishman