Ideas - a Business Owner's Narcotic?

I was starting to write an article on the sources of stress in business, when I got to "unfiltered ideas", and my mind started racing. I kept thinking of all the stressed out people I know. Some of them have a new great idea every day and feel compelled to do something so they don't lose it. They rush around every day, yet don't feel like they are making any progress. Then there are the key staff members of visionary leaders - the ones with too many visions and no willingness to prioritize. They work really hard trying to make things happen by an unrealistic deadline, and when they return with the results they are dumbfounded to find that Mr. Boss is off in a completely new direction and has simply forgotten to mention it.

Then we have what I call the "prestigious consultants". These are the advice-givers who pad their own ego by sharing their great ideas for fixing the world and everyone in it. Of course the implementation part of it is not their concern - it should be easy!

And the over-achievers who torture themselves by counting all the ideas they failed to bring an idea to life and minimizing the ones they have.

As I wrote my new article "Can great ideas be bad for business?" I began to worry that it might be a little controversial. I mean, how can you knock ideas? They are the very foundation of innovation, and what is America about if not the freedom to make your ideas come to life!

But still - ideas do have an uncanny resemblence to drugs. Ideas FEEL SO GOOD. Brainstorming sessions are some of the most intoxicating conversations in business. And when you over-indulge, all sorts of bad things happen. Mainly - people get stressed out because they can't make them all happen and still have a life.

I think the biggest problem is thinking that ideas are too valuable to let go of. Like if we allow ourselves to forget about them they are gone forever. Sometimes the whole purpose of an idea is to spawn other ideas. Or to help us get clear about what we don't want. I don't believe ideas are ever completely gone anyway. If they are good, they find ways to regenerate themselves.

In this case the idea (or fear) that my article might be controversial spawned the decision to finally start my own blog. And this makes it possible to start more conversations and generate more ideas... ok - so maybe they are more like candy than drugs....