If you don’t have one idea that’s good enough, chances are you don’t have a 100 ideas that are bad enough

Wednesday September 05, 2012 , 3 min Read

As a young Entrepreneur, forever being thrilled by the power of ideas comes pretty easily to me. Almost everything I lay my eyes on, I want to somehow fix or tweak to its best possible outcome- I see design flaws in traffic signals that inevitably hold me captive in my car, I notice the counterintuitive way that food’s been arranged on my dinner plate, the fact that car manufacturers still don’t provide cell phone holders and wonder why call center employees endlessly put you on hold instead of *them* just calling you back.

As I go through my everyday, just about everything presents itself as a possible idea just waiting to be explored.

One would be inclined to think that it might be pretty frustrating to look at things and constantly find that they are broken. But imagining the alternate reality that we could live, all the time saved, the efficacy of the wheels in motion; it makes the world a more intelligent place live in. Noticing that things are broken, creates possibility, the thought that perhaps you could fix it, is exciting in itself. Broken simply isn't good enough anymore. The world is open to suggestions, but few are making the attempt.

The world needs fixers.

It needs people who look at things and constantly dream of how to make them better; more beautiful, more intuitive, more beneficial, more customer-friendly, cheaper and more abundant. It goes above the Indian jugaad and extends to fixing our everyday. Our everyday is endless. There’s an opportunity to fix something every time you turn around.

I meet many people who tell me that they can’t wait to take the entrepreneurial plunge but that they’re still looking for that 'idea'. They procrastinate, because the attempt in fixing things is so challenging.The world conspires against you, at first, to not let you fix things. To not let you change things. But if you continue probing in the right ways, a small crack in the door opens up for you. Things start falling into place. The world starts conspiring for you.

If you are still waiting for that idea, it probably means that you are not looking at the everyday close enough. It means that you are not thinking of 20 ideas/a day.

That’s 600 ideas a month.

7200 ideas a year.

It means you are looking away while broken things present themselves to you- things just waiting to be fixed.

‘Idea’ is the possibility, the hunch, the sentence you want to complete. Take the plunge and hope to stick with it long enough. Believe in it. And yourself. And then the door opens up.

About the author: