Monday, June 30, 2008

Did you ever laugh at a new idea?

Did you ever laugh at a new idea? Come on…tell the truth! You laughed, thought it was crazy or stupid or whatever, and today, you wish you had thought of it yourself.

It’s human nature. We laugh to cover our ignorance; we laugh nervously at things that frighten us; and we laugh at what we perceive to be absurd.

Imagine this scenario:  two guys come into a room of investors.  There is a sense of money mania – everyone is looking for the next Internet biggie – so these two young men begin to pitch. “Give us a few million dollars. We will come back to you in a year with the most important innovation of this age—something that will change the way people think, act, interact, learn, transact – we will invade just about every aspect of our users lives.”.

The investors were intrigued. This was the kind of talk that drove major funding – the excitement was palpable…you could feel the anticipation in the room – “So what does it look like?” They asked.

Proudly the young men held up a sheet of white paper with a blank bar in the center…

Cue the laughter.

OK, I made up the birth of Google...but you can see it – no?

This got me thinking that maybe there is a prescriptive application to the development of ideas and then I found this thought from one of the greats:

The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.
~David M. Ogilvy

I’m not really sure if David O meant it this way or not, but I will take the liberty…
When you crack yourself up with an idea – when you smile at the sheer audacity of it; or giggle at its boldness – maybe then you know you are on the right path. And if the audience grins at your telling…you maybe, just maybe have a winner.

Think funny thoughts…

Posted by David on 06/30 at 09:19 AM
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