Working on a digital strategy brief with a client, I was told we need a ‘big idea’. Driving back from the meeting, I heard Tim Berners-Lee, ‘inventor’ of the Internet being interviewed on the radio and I thought, ‘Now that’s a big idea’. But since then how many big ideas have there been? Very few I would suggest. What we have seen are chains of little ideas. Good little ideas that agglomerated into something much bigger. Search engines were a little idea to help academics. Visionaries saw the potential and one good little idea built on another until we have phenomena such as Google. Not a big idea but a chain of little ideas done very well.
I’m not suggesting we don’t keep searching for a big idea, just don’t wait for it. All that will come are whiskers. Build those chains of great little ideas.
