The most delusional industry on the planet is the one populated by so-called ‘creativity consultants’. They seem to be under the collective mis-apprehension that their clients are short of ideas. The second most delusional industry on the planet is the one responsible for creating and selling ‘idea management solutions’. Usually to the same clients that thought they were short of ideas.

In theory, it makes for a cunning one-two: one, ‘we seem to be lacking ideas’; two, ‘best bring in an idea management system to cope with all the ideas we receive once we have inspired everyone to start generating lots of them. In practice, it’s a bit like a tattoo studio selling clients a tattoo-removal saw in case they have a future change of heart.

For the last decade, ever since I’ve been asking the custodians of these idea management solutions the question, not a single one has been able to convince me that their system has added even the smallest iota of tangible or intangible value to either the business or the poor souls who typed the details of their precious, fragile idea into the stupid system. To use another uncomfortable metaphor, we might just as well have cut a slot onto a toilet seat lid and labelled it ‘suggestions’. We might have had to unblock the outlet pipes once in a while, but otherwise, everyone would save a heck of a lot of idea management system adminstrators. And their supervisors. And the army of idea management software vendors that seem to be so desperate these days I need a machete to cut through all my idea management system spam mail.

The heart of the issue is this. The last thing a good idea needs is ‘managing’. Granted, any idea when it first appears is fragile. But if it’s any good, no-one that hears it is ever going to forget it. What it needs is nurture. And leadership. What it doesn’t need is to be pigeon-holed in some software geek’s idea of an idea factory farm.

Only bad ideas need to be managed. And frankly, the best way of managing them would be to cut actual, non-metaphorical slots in all the toilet seat lids in the company. Huh? Have I just taken myself full circle. I got it wrong the whole time. The real purpose of idea management systems is to formally dispose of and kill the myriad bad ideas that would otherwise have distracted everyone from the serious business of nurturing the tiny minority of good ones. I apologise.