Tuesday, November 29, 2011

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A "REAL" IDEALIST

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A REAL IDEALIST.  U.S. copyright law protects original works of authorship. This excludes, as the government website (randomly) makes note: band names and Elvis sightings, as well as methods of doing something … and ideas. In the case of the latter, the idea, the intent of this qualification was dramatically clarified by the Mark Zuckerberg character in “Social Network,” who scornfully replied to the Winklevoss brothers’ claim that Facebook was their idea: “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.”

The pretext is that ideas are a dime-a-dozen. But that it takes ingenuity, perseverance and hard work to bring words to life, which is why so many enthusiastically proposed “great ideas” never leave the launch pad. As management expert Peter Drucker famously warned, “Every great idea eventually deteriorates into work.”

Conference presenters at several recent aging services gatherings spoke of age-friendly cities of the future; life-changing new assistive technologies; breath-taking robotics; and other responses to positively influence the longevity revolution. For sure, to transform anything, let alone something as significant as our aging experience, requires such vision. But it also requires commitment. The true visionaries throughout history – Gutenberg, Edison, Jobs, Zuckerberg, etc. – were also realists and painstakingly turned their visions and ideas into action.

To succeed as a creative thinker, one cannot be discouraged by the immense challenge of birthing ideas … or distracted by the false praise heaped upon idea posers. After it’s all said and done, “You are what you do, not what you say.”

1 comment:

  1. As a healthcare writer and teacher of screenwriting, I can't tell you how many people have said to me "I've got a great idea for a screenplay."

    An idea? You have an idea! Wow! Can I read your 110-page, properly formatted story with engaging plot points and scintillating characters?

    I'm curious about the genesis of this posting, though. Are you saying that there are a lot of companies out there who target older adults with more bluster than action?

    And, now I have a new phrase to go along with "competitive shopping" (the phrase used for a Black Friday shopper who pepper-sprayed fellow shoppers to get the best deals).

    "Idea posers."

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