What are "Great Ideas" over "Good Ideas"?

"I have a good idea, I think this will make a good business. Hear me out."

People often come to me with ideas. Everyone gets good ideas. They often think they can create good businesses out of them. If it were before I started my own company, I might have joined these conversations over beer and enjoyed them. But after trying to start up many businesses with my good ideas and failing many times, I think my way of thinking now would be somewhat different.

I can hear my inner voice saying, "'Good Idea' is just/only a fraction of the business as a whole. 'Good Idea' does not guarantee the success of the business." The voice continues, "Timely ideas generated while struggling with the business are what count, and they are called 'Great Ideas'."

After facing the moment of "That's a Good Idea!", in order to actualize it, it is required to balance things out precisely as if threading a needle; we have to balance revenues and costs. We have to balance the finance to justify spending for new developments. We have to balance the costs of the working environment to attract desirable staff members. We have to balance the possibilities and the limited resources. Actualizing the "Good Idea" into a real business requires a long and winding road of balancing.

Not only balancing, but also timing is critical. Good Ideas should not be delivered to the market too early nor too late. We often say, "Oh, I had the same idea!" and feel we are still competing. To actually deliver a product/service at the right timing, and to just communicate the idea, are like comparing "the moon and a turtle," a Japanese expression of unreachable difference.

The initial "Good Idea" will not automatically turn into a good business. "Great Ideas" generated and poured through during the business creation would turn the business into one in which people would say, "Oh, the business is a very good idea!" On the other hand, the business might start from not being "that" Good of an Idea at the beginning, but if we can keep on generating and pouring the Great Ideas into the process, people would finally admit it to be "a business based on a very good idea."

How can you keep generating "Great Ideas"? Diversity, fairness, and abandoning NIM are the keys. To be continued>> How can we keep generating "Great Ideas"?