I HAVE an idea

Your heart is pounding, your mouth’s gone dry. Your throat’s too tight to mention.

An idea has just come into your head.

The meeting room has gone quiet.

Are you going to keep it in or let it out?

Is it you or is it hot in here?

Whatever corner of marketing you work in, you’re going to need ideas.

Business opportunities.

Insights.

Brand positionings.

Product development.

Channels.

Pricing.

Communication.

Identity.

Customer experience.

Employee engagement.

Thankfully, it’s not all down to you. The trick is to use other people as much as possible.

Some of them - writers, designers, film makers, chefs - get paid to do this, so they’re really good at it.

Others never get asked. It’s not in their job description. But you never know what could happen once the shackles are removed.

Of course, an idea could be a plan of action or a suggestion.

An understanding of something.

Some piece of knowledge.

A belief or an opinion.

A reason for doing something.

A picture in your mind.

An aim.

A purpose, even.

It may be big or small.

But what it definitely will be is a thought.

That thought might have this very second popped into your mind. Or it might have been lurking there for years, waiting its turn.

Is now the moment for it to step into the spotlight?

I always remember John Hegarty saying: “Ideas at the start are fragile things.”

But when you look back at a day or year or career of work, these are the moments that matter.

That time you said out loud to a room full of people:

“How about…?”