THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA
By Mike Heronime

This book has been published by Numantra, the forever-new
marketing brain trust that maximizes client resources with fresh
insights, accountable solutions and kick-ass results.
Questions or comments about this book, please contact Mike
Heronime at mheronime@numantra.com.
To learn more about Numantra, visit numantra.com
Copyright © Numantra 2007 All rights reserved.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
01
RUBBING IDEAS THE RIGHT WAY
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
“I’VE GOT AN IDEA!”
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
As a general rule, we don’t trust ideas.
Ideas are very fragile things at first. But given the opportunity,
an idea can become a powerful force that can change lives and
even redirect the course of civilization. Maybe it’s because of
their potential power that ideas are so often maimed and killed
before they really get a chance to be realized.
When you hear someone say, “I’ve got an idea!” with a tone in
their voice that indicates their pleasure for having been clever,
do you respond with an equally enthusiastic “Oh boy!’ or is your
reply more of a groan. Be honest. No one is listening in right
now. Maybe you reject the idea because of the person it’s
attached to. “That person never has good ideas.” Take a minute
and list in your mind all of the people that you value for their
ideas. Now compare that list to the number of people you know
in total. Chances are you have a relatively short list.
If you’re like most people then you tend to shut down other
people’s ideas. And you’ve experienced having your own ideas
shut down as well. It’s natural human nature to attack an idea.
To try to reveal its weaknesses. To expose its flaws. This will
ensure that potentially dangerous ideas are dealt with before
they become something too horrible for words.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
CHANGE IS ONLY AS GOOD
AS THE IDEA DRIVING IT.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
For society this is probably not altogether a bad thing. If people
embraced every notion that was verbalized by their fellow man,
just think of the problems that would produce. We could easily
become a society of anarchistic flakes, subject to the whims of
every individual we came into contact with. Leaderless,
visionless, gullible animals.
But consider for a moment what life would be like if every new
idea was immediately rejected out of fear with the unfamiliar
and unknown. We would all be sitting around right now in our
caves waiting for the strongest caveman to tell us what to do
next—our progress as a civilization forever halted by our fear of
change.
Change is only as good as the idea driving it.
You’ve probably heard the myth, “There’s no such thing as a bad
idea.” Actually, there are bad ideas. Running with scissors.
Unprotected sex. Mullets. Solar powered flashlights. The real
truth is that these were good ideas gone bad. Running, good.
With scissors, bad. Sex, good. Unprotected, bad. Hair cut, good.
Business in the front – party in the back, bad. Flashlights, good.
Solar power, good. Together, bad.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
“AN IDEA CAN TURN TO DUST OR
MAGIC DEPENDING ON THE TALENT
THAT RUBS AGAINST IT.”
– BILL BERNBACH
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
The point is that an idea is neither good nor bad until someone
decides to do something about it. It’s just an idea until someone
decides to produce it. Publish it. Present it. Poke it in the public
eye. How good is the idea? Well that all depends on what you
do with it. Advertising legend Bill Bernbach put it more
eloquently when he said, “An idea can turn to dust or magic
depending on the talent that rubs against it.”
Being talented at rubbing ideas the right way is no simple task.
Think back to your list of people you value for their ideas. These
people are in the minority. But it’s not a closed society. It’s just
that few people are willing to take the risks that come with
promoting an idea. Rubbing ideas the right way is a matter of
suppressing your fears, opening your mind, and accepting your
personal limitations in order to embrace the broader capabilities
that exist in the world around you.
But first, you need an idea. It doesn’t have to be your idea. It
doesn’t have to be a good idea. But it has to be an idea.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
02
WHAT IS THE IDEA?
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
AN IDEA ACCOMPLISHES.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
At its core, an idea is a relatively simple thing. But most ideas
stumble before they have a chance to grow because they were ill
defined. And defining the idea is crucial if you ever want to get
someone to help you do something with said idea.
Unfortunately, most people take their idea fairly far down the
path in their own mind before they realize that they need help
with their idea. And by then, they end up describing their idea
in terms of its execution. They’ll talk about what it’s going to
look like, or act like, or sound like, instead of where the idea
came from or what problem it solves.
An idea accomplishes.
It serves a purpose. It has a reason for being. It is a thing unto
itself. It requires little introduction. Just a mention, really. An
idea is inspirational. It’s value is self-evident to the people it
serves. An idea is always the answer to a problem. In order to
realize an idea’s fullest potential, you must first boil an idea
down to its core. Define the idea in relationship to the problem
it solves.
When you have done this, you should be able to describe this
idea in just a few words.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
AN IDEA IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER
TO A PROBLEM.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
PROBLEM: Toothpaste usage had leveled off leaving little room
for sales growth in this category.
IDEA: Make the hole bigger on tubes of toothpaste.
PROBLEM: Consumers are familiar with the Tabasco brand but it
isn’t a product they think of as often as Tabasco would like.
IDEA: Make the label synonymous with a dare they’ll remember.
PROBLEM: Rewarding consumers with free product under the
cap on soda bottles became a burden for the participating
convenience stores to fulfill the rewards.
IDEA: Digitize the reward and fulfill it on the Internet.
PROBLEM: Travelers at the airport wanting to simply check in
and get a boarding pass have to wait in long lines behind people
with more complicated, time-consuming problems.
SOLUTION: Install computer kiosks that print boarding passes for
travelers’ that self check-in.
PROBLEM: A laundry detergent company develops a new
formula that out performs all of their competitors but no one is
aware of it.
IDEA: Demonstrate the product in a side-by-side comparison.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
DESCRIBING IDEAS CAN BE A BIT OF
A MINE FIELD.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
Here’s an idea (actually a couple of ideas tied together into one
solution) that I love. Tracy Sachs, a recent graduate of the Miami
Ad School, had conceived of and designed an environmentally
themed campaign for Duracell. Batteries sold in Walgreens
would not only be purchased but also recycled through the store
(first idea). To make consumers aware of this benefit, the
packaging was designed to make the batteries look like insects
sitting on a leaf (second idea). Getting retailers to help recycle
batteries is a good idea. But changing the packaging to present
Duracell as environmentally friendly is a terrific idea. Too many
marketers would just slap a recycle icon on their existing package
and go to market. And the best thing about the packaging idea
is that it will really help Duracell stand out on the shelf as
different and new.
Describing ideas can be a bit of a mine field. When you begin to
give words to your idea, is it full of jargon? Is it really an idea or
is it a clever combination of buzzwords? Will it stand on its own
merit, stripped of the package it’s been cast in? Oftentimes, the
lack of an idea can be covered up with concepts and language
that promise more than they can deliver.
Would your idea make sense to your uncle? Try describing it to
your spouse. Does it lose its meaning? Has its wisdom waned?
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE IS
CROWDED WITH SLACKERS.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea after all. Maybe it wasn’t even
an idea to begin with.
Does it solve a problem? Does it do it in a way that others can
understand? Could you share it with someone else and then
count on them to see it through to completion? Or does it
require further explanation? Will it be necessary for you to be
present through each and every step of its implementation?
The most common mistake people make when it comes to ideas
is mistaking tactics for ideas. This mistake is so easy to make
because the tactics seem to make so much sense. They are the
steps that would be taken to make the idea happen. And for a
lot of people, it is much more comfortable to discuss the tangible
tactics than it is the more intangible concept that lies at the core
of the idea.
“What difference could it possibly make?” one might argue.
“These tactics seem to make a lot of sense. Especially in the
context of the problem. Why not just do them and forget about
all the hairsplitting. Who cares if it’s a tactic or an idea as long as
you have a solution?” It’s an argument of convenience more
than anything else. Alluring to the lazy. The path of least
resistance is crowded with slackers.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
AN IDEA CAN BE TRANSLATED AND
EXPRESSED IN AN INFINITE
NUMBER OF WAYS.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
It’s like this: a tactic can only be executed one way. That’s it. It is
what it is. A complete definition of the solution. The precise
path. It may be good or it may be bad but at the end of the day,
it’s all you have to work with. On the other hand, an idea is
open-ended. An idea can be translated and expressed in an
infinite number of ways. An idea can lead to a variety of tactics
that all have various levels of merit. An idea is bigger than any
tactic can ever hope to be.
When people begin to explain their idea by describing the
execution, chances are that they have fallen in love with a tactic
and have lost sight of their idea. Chances are, they never really
understood their idea to begin with.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
03
GETTING IDEAS
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
HARVEY PEKAR GOT ALL OF HIS
IDEAS FROM HIS OWN LIFE.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
“Where do your ideas come from?” It’s a question constantly
being asked of writers and artists. Usually, the answer to the
question is a quip. A dodge. A sniff at the poor, unimaginative
troll that dared to waste the creative person’s time when they
assumed that they could possibly understand the artist’s muse.
Science fiction author Roger Zelazny once rudely responded to
the question by telling a teenager that the Journal of Crazy Ideas
is published quarterly in Schenectady, New York. He went on to
suggest that members of the Science Fiction Writers of America
can use any of the ideas published in the Journal as their own.
Zelazny’s explanation for why two different writers will often
have the same idea in different stories.
And then there are the rarer responses that connect the source
of ideas to inspiration: nature, friends, other artists, music, and
sex — just to name a few. Harvey Pekar got all of his ideas from
his own life. He started focusing on his own pathetic existence
with a new purpose in mind and translated what he saw into an
underground comic titled, American Splendor (which incidentally
became an HBO Film that won top honors at Sundance and
Cannes in 2003).
But what moved Harvey from a schmuck to a creative genius was
not the source of his ideas. It was the re-examination of his
surroundings with a new sense of purpose. For Harvey, life was
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
MOST OF THESE STUDENTS OF
CREATIVITY AGREE THAT IDEAS
COME FROM A
SUBCONSCIOUS PROCESS.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
no longer something to fight, it was something to admire. And
study. And the more mundane it was, the more it moved him to
write.
There are a number of people who have studied the process that
creatives go through to develop their ideas. Most of these
students of creativity agree that ideas come from a subconscious
process that takes two relatively unassociated thoughts and
combines them together to produce a new thought — a new
idea. In the case of Harvey it was all of the energy that he had
been putting into searching for an idea for a comic book (comic
concepts: thought number one) colliding with all of his anxiety
and depression about his life (pathetic loser: thought number
two) producing the great idea: a comic book about his pathetic
life as a loser.
James Webb Young totally nails this subject in his short but
insightful book titled A Technique for Producing Ideas. In his
book, he suggests that when advertising creatives are tasked
with producing ideas for an assignment that they prepare
themselves in two areas. The first area is specific to the
assignment and the second is general to the creative person’s
constant need for inspiration.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
ONE MORNING WE WAKE UP AND
“POOF” WE’VE GOT AN IDEA.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
According to Young, the first step in the process is to absorb as
much information as possible about the specifics of the
assignment. For example, if the assignment centers around
advertising for a product, the creative person needs to learn
every relevant fact that is available to them concerning the
product, the people that use the product, and the people that
make the product.
The next step in the process is an ongoing task. And that is the
collection of raw information. The source material for this raw
information is the world. The creative person must be constantly
absorbing new information and experiences from a broad range
of sources: movies, books, museums, theater, parks, clubs,
websites, friends, relatives, music, food… the list goes on.
The third step is a matter of trusting in the power of the
subconscious mind. Because our minds are always at work trying
to create patterns and make connections, we will unwittingly
begin to match information we’ve collected about our product
with our experience at the circus. Or the funny thing our friend
told us. Or the way we learned to ride a bike.
And then one morning we wake up and “poof” we’ve got an
idea. The problem here is that this happens after the fact all too
often. The reason for this is ironically connected to how
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
WITH IDEAS, TIMING CAN BE
EVERYTHING.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
desperately we are searching for an idea. The harder we try to
come up with an idea, the less likely we will succeed. But once
we relax our mind and let our subconscious do the work, the
sooner we will produce an idea.
And with ideas, timing can be everything. I believe that the most
expected and unoriginal ideas that we are capable of are on the
surface of our minds. These are the thoughts that occur to most
everyone. It’s crucial that we spend the time that it takes to dig
deep into our subconscious where we will find the original idea.
When we make ideas our job, the risk of producing ideas from
the surface of our mind is tremendous. BBDO was the agency of
record for KFC. At the end of their tenure, they presented an
advertising concept to their client based on the old joke about
the chicken that crossed the road. Now this is a prime example
of the kind of lame idea that comes from surface thinking. And
KFC recognized it right away. In 1989, KFC used a "Cross the
Road" campaign from former agency Young & Rubicam, New
York, that franchisees disliked. And rival Wendy's International
was, at that time, using a "Why people cross the road" effort for
its chicken nuggets. KFC quickly put their account in review
following the presentation of the lame chicken-crossing-the-road
idea from BBDO.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
“I BELIEVE THAT GREAT IDEAS ARE
INDIVIDUAL ACTS OF INSPIRATION,
BUT THAT GREAT ADVERTISING
PROGRAMS RESULT FROM A TEAM
EFFORT WHICH BUILDS UPON AN
ORIGINAL IDEA AND EXPANDS IT.”
— KEITH REINHARD
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
The burden of producing ideas is great. And it’s better handled
with the help of others than trying to fly solo. But too often,
people get hung up on the ownership of ideas. And this
produces narrow thinking that limits the source of ideas. And
narrow thinking is just as deadly to an idea as surface thinking.
The truth is that if you’re worried about whose idea it is, you’ll
be left behind in the search for an original idea. Keith Reinhard,
former chairman of advertising behemoth DDB Worldwide,
observed, “I believe that great ideas are individual acts of
inspiration, but that great advertising programs result from a
team effort which builds upon an original idea and expands it.”
Getting feedback on ideas that challenge our way of thinking is
crucial to the process. If we allow ourselves to become impressed
with our own ideas then we will most likely shut down any more
thinking around it. Having achieved personal satisfaction, we
can miss new revelations that can be used to improve the idea
and take it in unthinkable directions. If we’re impressed with
our idea, this should be the first indication that we should re-
examine it. Chances are that re-examination will lead us in a
new direction that we are even more excited about.
And if we generate a lot of ideas, we need to be more selective.
A large volume of ideas usually contains several versions of a few
ideas. Ideas that are derivative of one another. And there will
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
certainly be ideas that are not as complete or as well-thought
out compared to others. It can be a painful process to choose to
leave behind ideas but it is a necessary part of the process.
Developing ideas is a process that requires choice. We have to
choose the direction we will take our idea.
Of course nobody ever said it was easy. And that’s really only the
beginning.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
04
IT’S HARD WORK
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
WHEN IT COMES TO PRODUCING
IDEAS, IF WE DON’T WORK HARD
AT IT THEN OUR IDEAS WON’T
AMOUNT TO MUCH.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
When I was in college, I spent three years roofing houses.
Compared to other jobs I could have done, it paid well. But it
was hard work. To roof a house, you have to tear off the old
roof and hammer down or pull thousands of nails. And then you
have to haul packages of roofing shingles up to the roof. Which
usually meant carrying about a hundred and twenty pounds of
shingles on your shoulder while you climbed a ladder to the roof.
Several trips were required. And once you had all of your new
shingles up on the roof, you had to nail them down. Sure, I used
a staple gun to put the shingles on. So it saved me the hard
work of hammering nails into every shingle. But staple gun or
no staple gun, there was no way to escape all of the bending
over. And no way to escape the Texas sun. Roofing houses was
back-breaking, blistering, bloody work.
I remember thinking that once I had myself a decent “indoor
job” that working would be a lot easier. I took a job in
advertising and I can say honestly that it’s certainly not any easier
than roofing houses. In a lot of ways, it’s much harder. Of
course it’s always a matter of how hard or easy we want to make
a thing. But when it comes to producing ideas, if we don’t work
hard at it then our ideas won’t amount to much.
In A Technique for Producing Ideas, James Webb Young explains
how the job of producing ideas will require the creative person
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
RARELY DO WE EVER GET A
LUXURY OF TIME FOR
PRODUCING IDEAS.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
to be constantly at work. When we aren’t busy working directly
on an assignment, then we have to be at work collecting the raw
material that produces ideas. To collect the raw material, the
creative person must be constantly absorbing new information
and experiences from a broad range of sources. Basically, this
means constantly expanding our horizons. It’s a full-time job by
itself.
If that was all there was to do, then it would be a lead pipe
cinch. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy. The real work comes when
we are tasked with applying all of this horizon expanding to
producing practical solutions to problems through original ideas.
And there are several factors that make this difficult task even
harder.
First, there is the assignment itself. Not every assignment is
equally inspiring. And then we have the subjective nature of
ideas. What seems like a good idea to one person is less
impressive to another. And rarely do we ever get a luxury of
time for producing ideas. But the one person most responsible
for making our job harder is none other than our self.
Steven Pressfield describes this problem in his book, The War of
Art, where he introduces us to the idea of Resistance. “There’s a
secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
APPLYING OURSELVES CREATIVELY
TO FORMULATING IDEAS TAKES
DRIVE AND DETERMINATION.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s
hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is
Resistance,” writes Pressfield. He goes on to give his readers
about a hundred and sixty pages worth of advice on how we can
fight the inner demons in our struggle with ourselves to produce
ideas.
It’s a phenomenon. This problem we have with being our own
worst enemy when it comes to creativity. Roger von Oech
describes the problem as the “Ten Mental Locks.” In his book, A
Whack on the Side of the Head, von Oech identifies these locks
(The right answer; That’s not logical; Follow the rules; Be
practical; Play is frivolous; That’s not my area; Don’t be foolish;
Avoid ambiguity; To err is wrong; and I’m not creative) and then
provides practical methods for unlocking our creative potential
with a “whack on the side of the head.”
Applying ourselves creatively to formulating ideas takes drive
and determination. It’s no easy road. There are obstacles along
the way. Many of them are put there by others but by all
indications, the biggest of these we have erected on our own.
Breaking down these barriers is something that we have to
commit ourselves to doing every day and always.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
“SHIFT THE PROBLEM FROM ‘HOW
CAN I HAVE A GREAT IDEA?’ TO
‘HOW CAN I MAKE THIS MISERABLE
AD BETTER?’”
— DAVID FOWLER
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
David Fowler is the copywriter that wrote those award-winning
radio spots for Motel 6. You know the ones that featured Tom
Bodett saying that “they’ll leave a light on for you.” Fowler has
made a career out of breaking down barriers to creative thinking
at places like the Richards Group, Goodby Silverstein, and Ogilvy
& Mather. And he has put some of the lessons he learned along
the way into a book titled, The Creative Companion.
Does Fowler think that producing ideas is hard work? He
describes writing theme lines like this: “The old-fashioned chain-
gang way of writing lines is this: write a page of lines, double
spaced. Let one sentence lead to another, one thought to the
next. When you have three pages, print them. Take a pencil and
cross out all the lines you hate. Maybe there’ll be one you sort of
like. Now, start with that line and go another three pages. I call
this the chain-gang method because it’s a little like breaking
rocks. Only harder.”
Few people enjoy having to do things over. Having completed a
task, we’re ready to push on. But according to Fowler, doing it
over is just a part of the process. “Making a great ad can seem
overwhelming. Pretty soon, you’re paralyzed. So make a bad ad.
Then make better ones. You’ll shift the problem from ‘How can I
have a great idea?’ to ‘How can I make this miserable ad better?’
Go make the ad you’d make if it was your business, your product.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
WHEN WE LEARN TO ACCEPT THE
RIGORS OF OUR WORK AND
APPROACH EVERYDAY EXPECTING
IT TO BE HARD, THAT’S THE DAY
WE CAN CALL OUR SELVES A PRO.
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Sell something. Imagine you’re standing on a used car lot,
banging on the hood of a car. Now make an ad like that and see
where it leads you. Just don’t stop with that ad.”
There is one thing that makes this hard job of producing ideas a
little easier. And that’s acceptance. When we learn to accept
the rigors of our work and approach everyday expecting it to be
hard, that’s the day we can call our selves a pro. Jerry Seinfeld
made this observation in the documentary, Comedian. He
describes watching some construction workers who are heading
back to the job after their lunch break. Seinfeld remarks that if
these guys can pick themselves up and haul themselves back to
work after having busted their asses all morning just so they can
bust their asses all afternoon, then how much harder should he
be working at writing comedy? He comes to the realization that
those guys just don’t think about it. They just get back to work.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
05
HOW TO NURTURE AN IDEA
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IDEAS ARE BORN INTO A COLD,
HARD WORLD WITH VERY LIMITED
CHANCES OF SURVIVAL.
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Ideas are kinda like me when I wake up in the morning. They’re
not really themselves at first.
Ideas are living things that are born. They grow. And reproduce.
They adapt and respond — depending on the people that rub up
against them. Ideas are born into a cold, hard world with very
limited chances of survival. If we want our ideas to survive —
thrive even — then there are some very specific steps we must
take to help them on their way.
First of all, we have to make sure it’s really an idea. I’ve said it
before but it’s worth repeating:
An idea accomplishes.
It serves a purpose. It has a reason for being. It is a thing unto
itself. It requires little introduction. Just a mention, really. An
idea is inspirational. It’s value is self-evident to the people it
serves. An idea is always the answer to a problem. In order to
realize an idea’s fullest potential, you must first boil an idea
down to its core. Define the idea in relationship to the problem
it solves. When you have done this, you should be able to
describe this idea in just a few words.
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OUR IDEA MIGHT BE THE GREAT
ONE, BUT WE’LL NEVER KNOW IF
WE DON’T BELIEVE IN IT FIRST.
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Unfortunately, most of us mistake tactics for an idea, primarily
because we don’t have a fundamental understanding of ideas to
begin with. If we want our idea to succeed, we have to make
sure it’s really an idea. And then make sure it’s really an idea we
believe in.
Oftentimes, we’re much too casual about our idea. When the
idea is challenged, we avoid the opportunity to take our idea to
the next level and instead dismiss it with a shrug. “Meh, it’s just
an idea.” It is our responsibility to examine our ideas closely and
quickly. We work in a world where ideas can happen in rapid-
fire succession, so if we want to keep up, we have to be fast.
And we can’t afford to blow it off because there are just not
enough really good ideas out there. Our idea might be the great
one, but we’ll never know if we don’t believe in it first.
If we want to be successful at defending or promoting our idea,
we need to have an intimate understanding of its essence.
Examine it. Strip it down to its bare essentials. What problem is
it solving? What purpose does it serve? What parts of the idea
are necessary? Unnecessary? What makes it good? What makes
it dangerous? Helpful? What do we call it? Can its very name
explain everything about it? Know every aspect of the idea
inside and out. And then share it.
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WE NEED TO LET AN IDEA TAKE ON
A LIFE OF ITS OWN
SEPARATE FROM ITS ORIGIN.
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We cannot afford to be cavalier about sharing ideas. Knowing
who to share our ideas with and when to share our ideas can
drastically change the fate of an idea. We should pay close
attention to the people that we include in the process of
developing our ideas and recognize those who aid us in the
process versus those who hinder us. That’s not to say that we can
keep ideas bottled up. Eventually we have to release them and
make them available to even the harshest critics. But that’s
probably not a great way to start.
We need to give our ideas the chance to grow and become
bigger than their beginnings. This is almost impossible to
accomplish on our own. We have to involve others. We need a
variety of perspectives and opinions. We need to let an idea take
on a life of its own separate from its origin. When we include
people that we trust—that we know have the appropriate
respect for the process of developing ideas—then we give our
idea it’s best chance to become great.
Through this refinement process, it’s important for us to keep
learning more about our idea. Eventually, as we shape and
develop our idea, we will need to present it to others who will
be responsible for buying it or publishing it, or producing it. We
can gain acceptance of our idea when we are effective at
explaining it in terms specific to our audience. And it’s very
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NOT ALL IDEAS GET TO LIVE.
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possible that multiple audiences will be involved. We need to
have a complete understanding of the idea in order to
accomplish this task.
Finally, we need to be as objective about our idea as possible.
The worst thing that can happen is that we move forward with a
half-baked idea and in the process of trying to sell it to a client, it
becomes an abortion. It was never good enough to be accepted
for what it was so those involved made it into something it never
should have been. It is incumbent upon us to help make sure this
never happens. If we are dealing with a bad idea, an idea that’s
going nowhere, an idea that hasn’t responded to our best
attempts to give it life, then we need to let go. Leave it.
Abandon it. Get over those feelings of failure or attachment or
whatever. And just let it die an honorable death.
It’s a harsh reality. Not all ideas get to live.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
06
HOW TO SELL AN IDEA
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THEY DECIDED TO BECOME A
MEMBER OF OUR IDEA CLUB.
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For some people, just the notion of selling ideas is a repulsive
thought. “Sell out!” they cry. Perhaps our artistic integrity is a
discussion we should reserve for another time. Rather, when we
talk about selling ideas, forget about the financial transaction.
That’s not what’s really at stake here.
Instead, consider selling ideas to be an emotional transaction.
What we’re looking for when we sell our ideas is some form of
“buy in.” Basically, it’s a matter of agreement.
We tell the party we want to influence that what we have here is
a great idea. And they say that they agree. Poof! We have “buy
in.” They have bought in to our line of thinking. They didn’t
spend any money. They just committed themselves to joining
our school of thought. They decided to become a member of
our idea club.
Earning their buy in is the crucial step we need to getting our
idea to progress to its next level. Without buy in, our idea would
stop right there. With buy in, we are able to move it forward.
Sounds easy, huh? The real challenge here is that most people
take to the notion of being sold to about as well as artists take
to the notion of selling ideas. Nobody really wants to be sold to.
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NOW THEY’RE NOT JUST MEMBERS
OF OUR IDEA CLUB,
THEY’RE THE PRESIDENT.
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How badly do you want to spend your time visiting used car lots
or discussing life insurance? Right.
If we want to sell our idea, we can’t let on that we’re selling.
Rather, we have to involve the people we want to influence by
allowing them to arrive at the same conclusion that we have
come to. We need to bring them along in their thought process
from the problem that our idea solves to the solution that our
idea represents. We should remember that they are the
uninitiated and that we need to keep our explanations simple.
We need to boil our idea down to its core so that it’s easy to
grasp. And easy to appreciate. We need to invite them to join
our school of thought.
One of the best approaches to gaining buy in to an idea is to
help the party we want to influence to arrive at the conclusion
that our idea is really their idea. Talk about commitment. Talk
about emotional transaction. Now they’re not just members of
our idea club, they’re the president. To accomplish this amazing
trick, we have to be willing to let go of ownership of the idea for
the sake of the idea. Then we have to lead our quarry down a
path that has only one conclusion. And finally we have to
withhold the conclusion and wait for them to have the
great ah-hah.
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SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE HESITANT
TO BUY IN TO AN IDEA BECAUSE
THEY DON’T TRUST
THEIR OWN OPINION
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Being willing to let go of an idea is probably the single most
important step we can take when we are working to get others
to buy in to our idea. People can see a firm stance on an issue
coming from a mile away. And when they sense that we are
unwilling to compromise, we lose their trust. It is almost
impossible to negotiate with others when there is no spirit of
give and take.
Negotiating with clients over ideas is something Keith Reinhard,
chairman of DDB Worldwide, is passionate about. “I believe the
two easiest things an agency can do when an idea comes under
attack are (1) roll over or (2) dig in. In most cases, neither of
these is the right thing to do. In the art of negotiation,
achieving the desired outcome is the only goal. Amateurs and
beginners worry about talking tough and scoring debating
points. Does anyone really think the way to sell something is to
imply that the reticent buyer is a fool?”
Sometimes people are hesitant to buy in to an idea because they
don’t trust their own opinion and they are reluctant to commit
themselves to the idea club based solely on our suggestion. In
these cases, it’s always effective when we have other people that
have contributed to the idea or have joined this idea club to
participate in the discussion with the person we are trying to
influence. Our collective passion for our idea can be a powerful
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PEOPLE TEND TO GET ON BOARD
WITH AN IDEA WHEN THEY FEEL
LIKE THEY’VE BEEN INVOLVED
WITH IT FROM THE BEGINNING.
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influence over others. It is crucial to ensure that everyone
involved is on the same page before we attempt to move
somebody in this way. But our combined enthusiasm for our
idea can help support the fact that there are plenty of other
reasonably intelligent people that also believe in the idea.
It’s so important that we prepare ourselves for selling our idea.
We have to understand our idea in the most significant way. As
we bring someone else around to our way of thinking, it is very
likely that there will be a lot of questions and concerns.
Anticipating these issues and knowing in advance how to
respond to them can mean the difference between acceptance or
rejection of our idea. We need to be able to understand our
idea well enough to teach other people how to appreciate it.
People tend to get on board with an idea when they feel like
they’ve been involved with it from the beginning. It’s unusual
that everyone necessary to produce an idea can actually be
included in the genesis of that idea. But when we share the
history and origins of our idea with those we want to influence,
it helps them to not only understand our idea better. It helps
them become endeared to it.
People do become endeared to ideas. And they become
passionate about them.
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THE FUNNY THING IS HOW IDEAS
END UP WITH NICKNAMES.
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I’ve always been amazed how an idea can light a fire with
someone and the next thing you know, they are walking the
halls where they work, sharing the idea with everyone that will
listen. After awhile, everyone in the office is talking about it.
And the funny thing is how ideas end up with nicknames. For
example, if an idea included a gnome as a part of its execution,
that idea might begin being referred to as the Gnome Concept.
It’s a sort of verbal shorthand for expressing the idea and
referring to it with others. We can help jumpstart this process by
naming our ideas before we present them. It gives the idea a
handle, something for people to grab hold of. Something for
people to take with them.
After all, we need people to take our ideas with them. We need
them to buy in.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
07
NOW MAKE IT A GREAT IDEA
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD
AND GREAT IS A HARSH MILE.
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In 2003, Communication Arts received 1,948 entries into their 9th
annual Interactive competition. They say that it was a
particularly low number compared to the number of entries
they’ve received in past years. Of those 1,948 entries, only 39
projects were chosen for inclusion in their Interactive Annual.
This is fairly typical. It’s the division between good and great.
What’s important to remember here is that all of the 1,909
entries that didn’t win had people behind them that were proud
enough of the work to enter it into the competition. We’re not
talking about bad work. 1,909 good ideas. 39 great ones. But
when you’re in the business of selling great ideas, it’s 1,909 losers
and 39 winners. The difference between good and great is a
harsh mile. Because less than good is unacceptable — not even a
consideration, good equals mediocre, run-of-the-mill, ordinary.
Great equals special, exemplary, innovative, unusual.
In his July 16, 2003 Any Wednesday, Keith Reinhard wrote that
“good is the enemy of great.” He reminds us that impatience
with the merely good is an idea initiated by Bill Bernbach who
said, ‘I don’t want people who do the right things. I want people
who do inspiring things.’”
Making our ideas move from good to great is particularly
challenging. Mainly because we have to be very hard on our
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MAYBE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE
MAKE AT THIS POINT COMES OUT
OF A FEAR OF RUINING OUR IDEA.
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ideas to get them there. Which can, if we’re not careful, fly right
in the face of nurturing our ideas. But at some point our ideas
move beyond their infancy and have to be pushed along in order
to reach their full potential. We can’t become complacent once
we’ve established our idea. We can’t become satisfied with our
having achieved “buy in”. We must now begin the arduous task
of refining our idea for its final implementation.
Maybe the biggest mistake we make at this point comes out of a
fear of ruining our idea. We begin to protect it and shelter it.
And this natural tendency causes us to become very conservative
at a time when we need to be even more bold. Again, Bill
Bernbach reminds us, “Playing it safe can be the most dangerous
thing in the world, because you’re presenting people with an
idea that they’ve seen before, and you won’t have impact.”
Perhaps the best lesson I received that addresses this issue was
through a story I read years ago in ADWEEK. It was an interview
with some of the creatives that work at Goodby Silverstein. They
claimed that the reason their work was so effective was because
every time they presented their ideas to their creative director,
he would say, “That’s funny. How can it be funnier?” There was
no acceptance of good, just the search for great.
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OFTENTIMES, WE CAN TAKE AN
IDEA TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL
WHEN WE MAGNIFY IT TO ITS
ULTIMATE STATE OF EXPRESSION.
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“How can it be funnier” rings in my ears whenever I review
ideas. It’s not just about humor, either. If the idea is dramatic,
how can it be more dramatic? If it’s tender, how can it be more
tender? Intellectual? Make it more so. How can our idea be
more of what it is? With our understanding of its essence, it’s
crucial for us to magnify it to its ultimate state of expression.
I remember presenting some ideas early in my career to my
creative director. They were solid analogies of the product
benefit that we were advertising. I had identified some specific
attributes and had written a campaign concept that was based
on those attributes. It followed the direction given. It was
strategically sound. It was accurate and truthful. And it was, as
my creative director pointed out to me, boring as shit. All of
those other things are important, but they don’t help your idea if
your idea goes completely unnoticed.
Oftentimes, we can take an idea to a whole new level when we
magnify it to its ultimate state of expression. And this might
mean that stakeholders in the idea who had bought in to the
original direction may need to be approached again for further
buy in. This can be risky to the point that many people will avoid
going back to the stakeholders for further dialogue. Instead,
they hold firmly to the original direction that has been already
accepted. Great ideas die like this all the time. But we will
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EXECUTING IDEAS IS A MARATHON,
NOT A SPRINT.
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commit ourselves to persevere when faced with adversity.
Because good is our enemy. Ordinary and expected won’t cut it.
It’s a big job, executing ideas. Making them great. We shouldn’t
try it alone. There are always people who are inspired by ideas
and ready to throw themselves into the storm because they
know they will achieve greatness only when they accept risk.
Artists, directors, writers, musicians, photographers,
programmers, animators, designers, and illustrators all have
something to add to the equation when we move an idea from
good to great. But we have to make time for their involvement
if we expect them to be able to help us.
Executing ideas is a marathon, not a sprint. We have to pace our
selves. Be prepared for set backs and back-tracking. Be ready to
spend time. Be committed to the process. We have to be willing
to make sacrifices. Greatness has never been won easily. It’s
naïve to expect it otherwise.
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THE EXECUTION OF AN IDEA by Mike Heronime
08
THE QUALITY OF OUR IDEAS
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WHEN WE STRIVE TO MAKE OUR
IDEA GREAT, WE HAVE TO FOCUS
ON ITS INHERENT QUALITIES.
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People recognize quality. We all have a tendency to size things
up. “This elevator is too small. Your haircut makes you look like
a girl. This site bites. That movie kicks ass.”
In the movie, “Ghost World,” two jaded teenage girls, Rebecca
and Enid, arrive at their high school’s graduation party and assess
the situation:
REBECCA (watching the band)
This is so bad, it's almost good.
ENID
This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again...
We subconsciously pass judgment on everything we come into
contact with, even when it results in indifference. And when
these judgments are shared, they help define the parameters of
good. They establish the difference between high quality and
low quality based on spoken and unspoken agreements between
people in a group. Perception is reality.
When people come into contact with our idea, they will perceive
its qualities. When we strive to make our idea great, we have to
focus on its inherent qualities. How will it be perceived by the
senses. How it will look, sound, taste, smell and feel are crucial
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WE NEED TO FORCE OURSELVES TO
CHALLENGE OUR IDEA BASED ON
WHAT ITS VISUAL
REPRESENTATION WILL BE.
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to its ability to achieve greatness. In the case of electronic
communication, taste and smell are essentially mute, which puts
even more pressure on our need to impact the other senses.
First, lets consider how we approach the visual expression of our
idea. There are a number of tools in our toolkit for crafting the
visual aspects of an idea. Photography, illustration, graphic
design, animation, and cinematography comprise the main
categories of visual tools at our disposal. If we never become
great at employing all of these tools, we should at least become
great at considering their aspects every time we are tasked with
crafting our ideas.
We need to force ourselves to challenge our idea based on what
its visual representation will be. Should we use photography or
is it better if it’s illustrated? Is it graphical and static or is it
dimensional and animated? Most importantly, once we’ve
decided that we should use photography, for instance, we have
to challenge ourselves to make the quality of that photography
the absolute best it can be.
It should be mentioned that the absolute best quality doesn’t
necessarily mean the most polished. What might be required for
a particular idea to be expressed in the best way possible is a
photographic execution that appears to be very pedestrian. Or
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THE ARTISTRY INVOLVED IN THE
EXECUTION OF AN IDEA IS CRUCIAL.
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haphazard. Or accidental. Or awful. Even in these cases, pulling
off the desired effect will take an artist’s touch. The quality of
the execution hinges on the deftness of that touch.
The artistry involved in the execution of an idea is crucial. And
applies equally to its every aspect. As we consider the audible
expression of our idea, we should examine the need for music,
spoken word, and sound effects. If we decide to communicate
our copy through spoken word, is it through a voice-over
narration or on-camera? What is the quality of the voice? What
personality does it have? What does its quality say about our
idea?
Our ability to impact the way people feel through our idea
depends on the combined qualities of the visual and audible
aspects of the idea. What we say and how we say it is
everything. Bill Bernbach observed that, “you can say the right
thing about a product and nobody will listen. You’ve got to say
it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut. Because if
they don’t feel it, nothing will happen.”
The greatest minefield to consider when it comes to the quality
of an idea is the tendency we have to mimic other executions
that we admire. It’s good for us to be inspired by the great ideas
of others. But when we try to achieve results by applying the
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A GREAT IDEA IS ONLY MADE
GREAT THROUGH ITS EXECUTION.
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solution for another idea to the one we are developing, we risk
compromising the essence of the idea for the allure of a
compelling execution. When we allow our execution to be a
direct outgrowth of our idea, we are on the path to originality.
And the path to producing a great idea.
A great idea is only made great through its execution. As
brilliant as an idea may be, it will never be regarded as such
unless it is expressed in a way that is consistent with its essence.
Similarly, a bad idea can only be improved to a certain degree by
a brilliant execution. Because once people see it for what it is —
its essence — they realize it lacks substance and summarily
discount the execution. A great execution has to have a great
idea at its core.
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