When you design and build RESTful web applications (REST is a software architectural style), you focus on nouns – what are the things of your application? Customers, stocks, bonds, books, authors, etc. In a RESTful system, those nouns are the currency, the things that are exposed through the interface to be traded and acted upon. I’ve been working with technology, and building software systems for well over a decade now. As such, I’ve worked on many systems, each containing a new set of things. Deals, employees, sales, gift cards, students, notes, insurance policies, investors, to name a few. For the last few years, I’ve been working on Kindling, our idea management and collaboration tool. Kindling has the most interesting thing of them all: ideas.
It’s interesting to design and build software to help organizations manage their ideas. Ideas never get boring. They’re limitless in potential. They can, quite literally, change the world. The other cool thing about working on a system of ideas are the stories we hear from our clients: the new employee that turns out to be an idea machine, new products and services that came directly out of their usage of Kindling, ideas big and small that help shape a organization.
Recently we were talking about ideas, and had the – well, idea – for a blog series answering the question, “What makes an idea good?”. The responses to this open-ended question were as compelling as we could have expected, we hope you enjoy them.
First Kindling Product Specialist and Arc90 Director Jen Epting suggests that:
By the simple action of typing out an idea, tagging it with a couple of relevant words and attaching something to demonstrate your point, the idea is already better… because it’s OUT THERE! And the mere fact that you wondered what Suzy in Accounting or John in R&D might think made your idea better because you accounted for their perspectives.
Next, I attempt to draw a parallel between ideas and mutation in an evolutionary system:
Change is generally bad; stasis is preferred. But occasionally something magical happens, and a mutation is helpful. Every once in a while, the giraffe baby’s neck is longer or the bat’s ability to distinguish its own frequency is improved. For whatever source you want to attribute that, it’s truly wonderful and magical. If you do believe in God, this is a great place in which to find Him. Another great place to find Him is in the those moments where an idea mutates in the mind.
John Caldwell, CEO of Fidget Factory, asks the memorable question: “What is the intent of your company’s “Idea Management” program? Are you looking for ideas or are you looking for solutions?” and suggests a set of Guidelines for an organization looking for great solutions.
Next up, Arc90 Founding Partner Rich Ziade talks about the individual and their search for great ideas:
An idea is, by definition, a departure. It’s a step away from the norm. To find new ideas (and by “find” I literally mean stumble upon an idea that you would otherwise never discover) you have to be willing to drift off and think in a divergent way. Pre-conceived notions of how the world works have to be brought into question and doubt. It’s almost a child-like reversion to questioning and doubting just about everything around you.
And finally, Kindling’s Lead Developer and Resident Poet Garrett Kalleberg closes out the week with a poem. Pulling a quote just wouldn’t do it justice, read it for yourself …now that’s a good idea.