Granted, quality of idea matters. The worst idea executed swiftly and repeatedly is still probably the worst idea. But it’s hard to know, with ideas, when you’ve got a winner or not. Hence, the power of iteration.

output=iterations∗rate∗ideaoutput = iterations * rate * idea

There are many ways to turn a good idea into great work.

  • Generate one immaculate idea, get it done, get it out there, promote it relentlessly.
  • Have ten good ideas, try them all quickly, put the best idea out there, pursue the one or two that seem most promising.
  • Have one hundred ideas of wildly varying goodness, try them at a fantastic pace, see which one sticks.

For better or worse, the world we live in favors the last one. The person with one great idea is often not the person who is known for great work. Unless they’re lucky, persistent, or both!

(Once you’ve got that good idea, you still need The Quality.)

Allow me an idiomatic metaphor: “Good Vibrations” was a whopper of a good idea but took 7 months to record. Most albums take far less time than that to record (not you, Bruce Springsteen), contain 8-12 songs, and 1-2 songs stand out. Today, you can slop out one hundred songs with AI and if any of them are listened to more than a couple times it’s a big success.

Of the many “All you need is attention, context, cheese-whiz” sort of papers out there, the unsung hero is “All you need is billions upon billions of iterations.”

Hence, evolution and all of human creativity as well! It only took hundreds of light bulbs and dozens of airplanes before Edison or the Wright Brothers found the one that works.