Jony Ive writing in Domus 1094 amplified one of my reflections on last year. Jony writes of the ‘fragility of ideas’; that they can be very easily killed. Jony has previously written about Steve Jobs
“You see, I think he better than anyone understood that while ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.“
Do you and those organisations that you work with have a a way of working, to ensure that these ’tiny glimmers of thoughts’ are nurtured through a qualification process to examine these ‘ghosts of light’ and determine those that have real value and should be developed? Who do you draw on to do this qualification? To be the most effective in deciding those ideas to take forward into development, Jony states that relationships are key to transforming tentative ideas into real solutions, having collaborators is the foundational relationship for success. These relationships can transcend individual, specific projects, and the mix of collaborators can be configured fluidly.
Jony then states two principles which really resonate with me:
1) We should be looking for 2 outcomes from our collaborations; what we make and what we learn. Both of these are only possible and of real value if we ‘appreciate’ and ‘hold’ our relationships and collaborations.
2) The fuel that drives and sustains us to do difficult things comes as much from relationships and commitment to each other as it does to a commitment to innovating.
Our real adventures are founded on the diversity of the creatives involved and we need to cherish our relationships.
