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51 : THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING STRONG IDEAS

James Dyson’s combination of intuitive and technical insight and the
business skills to commercialise his ideas, to see the entire idea
development process through from start to finish, are what marks him
out as the consummate innovator and not just an inventor.

demystifying the idea development
process The James Dyson case study demonstrates that the idea

development process is an iterative process within which ideas are
crafted, moulded and reinvented into valuable business opportunities.

One of the most significant yet undervalued business skills is the ability
to recognise and develop viable new business ideas for products,
processes and services.

Thomas Edison claimed that creativity
is ‘1 per cent inspiration and 99 per
cent perspiration’

It was Thomas Edison who once memorably claimed that creativity is
‘1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration’. Any accomplished
business person or entrepreneur will confirm that creating an idea is
not enough on its own to guarantee success in the market. The business
burial grounds are full of headstones commemorating superficially good
ideas which were never properly developed, were starved of the
resources to reach maturity, were ignored or blocked by those who
controlled access to the market place, were stolen by others, or which
in the cold light of day simply lacked the strength to live.

just a starting point The original business idea represents only

a first piece of the entrepreneurial jigsaw puzzle. It may turn out to be
the piece at the centre which defines the entire puzzle; it may be a
useful starting point which ends up off-centre; or it may turn out to be a
bland background piece which is impossible to use until later. It is also
possible that you eventually discover that the first jigsaw piece which
you locate belongs to a quite different puzzle to the one you thought
you were working on.

It is the actual completion of the jigsaw puzzle, the systematic and
persistent development of the idea into a fully functioning growth
business, which is the truly challenging part of the process.