I’m taking a brief break from writing semi-amusing stories to talk about creativity.

There is a kind of creative idea that needs to be carefully moderated. The WIBCI idea. Wouldn’t it be cool if…

WIBCI’s are great during brainstorms. They’re great to get the ball rolling, to stir, to inspire, to get the room talking. WIBCI’s should never make it to production unless they can stand up to the test of ‘why’?

All great ideas share one thing in common. They have purpose. Their purpose may be to explore a theme (like a well-written novel or a movie), their purpose may be to solve a problem (like a new product or an application). The bottom-line is that purpose is important. To be cool is not a purpose.

An idea’s strength can be tested by how many people would potentially care about its purpose. If an idea’s purpose is to strengthen a brand position, you can be assured that not many people are going to care about the idea. If an idea is going to fundamentally disrupt an industry, then you’ll find the number of people that care will shoot up dramatically. People care about things that make them think, that inspire them, that change their lives, both functionally and intellectually. How do you determine if your idea is going to do that?

Simon Sinek tells us that we should ask why. We should interrogate. We should seek the reason for existence. We can apply this principle to just about anything, but it works quite nicely with ideas. Asking why an idea needs to exist is fundamental to its success. Having the data to back up the existence of an idea is crucial. To say that we need an application to allow people to see aggregated local community news might sound like a good idea, but where’s the data? Have I identified a need? Has their been an overwhelmingly positive response to a survey? Did I create a rapid prototype that received a ton of praise? No? Then I am sitting with a WIBCI, and sorry to say, WIBCI’s are nothing.

Creativity is only as good as its foundation. If the foundation is data, research, insight, empathy, and communication, then your output is going to be great. But if your foundation is weak, you’re going to have weak ideas. Once in a while you’ll luck out, but mostly you’re going to be shooting in the dark, wasting a lot of time.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.