Well, if we’ve gotten this far without it…

Some ideas got killed before they even have a chance to grow.

All because some buzz killer didn’t immediately see their usefulness.

That person liked the idea of new things, but only if they materialized fully formed with a well thought out business case.

Now, the personality who does this tends to be skeptical, analytical and outcome oriented. Rather than respecting the emergent value, they demand certainty before moving forward with an idea.

Which can be an important archetype. Organizations need people like this to prevent wasted time, effort and money. Their mindset is, well, if we’ve gotten this far without it, why do we need it now?

Valid point. And the truth is, you absolutely don’t need it now. I’m not trying to convince you of that. The whole point of emergent value is, let’s find out. Don’t dismiss any idea outright. Instead of defaulting to the mindset of, is this is useful today, we should wonder, okay, how might this become useful in ways we don’t see yet?

It’s like the tree falling in the woods parable. If something valuable is created, but one person can’t immediately see how to plug it into an email sequence, then does it even exist?

Yes. It does. Have a little vision.

Reminds me of the riveting biopic about the pilot episode of snl. Lorne was a young broadcaster with only a few credits to his name. But in the mid seventies, he created a concept for a new show that would be performed live on television in front of a studio audience. The content would be cutting edge and unpredictable.

In the movie, network executives were confused and skeptical. One of them said to the up and coming producer:

Ninety minutes of live television by a group of twenty year olds who’ve never made anything! Do you ever stop and wonder why they said yes? A counterculture show starring total unknowns with zero narrative and even less structure! They want you to fail. Do you even know what this show is? Tell me. Lorne stared down the executive and said, it’s an all nighter in the city. It’s catching the top comedian at a drop in, or finding a legendary musician strumming his guitar in the back of a dive bar. It’s meeting a girl outside of a bodega and getting lucky in a phone booth. It’s everything you think is going to happen when you move to the city.

The rest was history. Snl became the vehicle for launching the careers of some of the most successful comedians in the world. The network didn’t take into account emergent utility. Since they didn’t immediately see the show’s usefulness, they tried to pull the plug.

But the creator had faith. The idea felt right. And he trusted that its potential value would get unlocked over time.

What ideas are you rejecting because of a lack of vision?