One of the most enjoyable parts of the work Communicators do is making change happen. Its enjoyable because the effort, the creativity and more importantly the idea that we are a part of spreading, has an impact.

Process and planning are important to delivering change, but the idea is always at the root of the strategy.

It’s the ‘idea’ bit that I wanted to write about today.

What is an ‘idea’. It often starts as something in your head. A thought. An image. A picture. A word. A connection of dots that sometimes leads to that cartoon image of a lightbulb appearing above someone’s head.

When you have an idea, it can sometimes feel good. It’s like you’ve figure out the answer that no-one else can see. The ‘Eureka’ moment.

At other times it causes restlessness and concern because at first ideas are hard to understand. And if you don’t understand them, huh, well try explaining it to someone else.

The idea may be confusing, or scary, or worrying all at the same time.  And when slowly if that understanding comes, and the thought, picture or concept becomes clearer, it may feel more like an ‘ah ha’ moment as one company I worked for often used to refer to it.

When I was a teenager, a close friend of mine was a budding entrepreneur. He was obsessed with it. And I listened to him intently as he spoke to me of concepts new and exciting, and altogether fanciful. Coming from a family of doctors, ‘business’ was as foreign to me as beetroot (what is that red stuff spreading into every morsel of food on my plate!). This friend of mine once said to me that “there is nothing special about ideas, anyone can have them, but it’s the ability to take that idea and turn it into something real that is special’.

Of course, I had to agree, it made sense. And this concept has stayed with me all throughout my working life. It is part of how I work. It is part of what I do.

You see I love the creative process. I relish and enjoy the time spent on thinking and coming up with ideas. But more than that I know that it is not solely the idea that is important. It is how you spread that idea that can be the telling factor. And it is often whether that idea is spreadable (like vegemite?) that can be the difference.

I often see my purpose as creating ideas that can solve a problem. It’s the real exciting part of the work. Its where your experience combined with your attentiveness to understanding people and society and culture comes together to deliver a solution for a company, a leader, or a community.

It’s this understanding that can help generate ideas that are spreadable, and help create a better story, and a better world to live in.

Yes, with the right idea, the right purpose, and a whole jar full of determination – you can make a real difference.