The Carry On Life

Ode to Inspiration

Anyone who has ever spent their time trying to come up with a business idea has definitely run into this before. You have a genius invention–pure inspiration! A quick Google search later, and you find that someone else already had this idea and is making millions. It doesn’t seem quite fair. You didn’t copy their idea. You came up with it on your own, yet you don’t get to cash in on it.

Elisha Gray got the raw end of the deal when he invented the telephone independent of Alexander Graham Bell, who ultimately won the rights to it. There’s a lot of controversy in this case, concerning who actually invented it first versus who filed for a patent first (Bell). Whatever the case, Bell got exclusive rights to what Gray felt he had equally created. This is a famous case, but I’ve been there too. Once, right after I got done detailing my awesome invention of a wireless router which made it possible for any connected device to stream music to your home entertainment system, my friend said, “You mean an AirPort?” Wow. Time to use Apple hardware, huh?

It’s kind of disheartening to feel that your great idea has already been done, and that you’ll never get the chance to realize your inspiration, but that’s only if you consider your inspiration to be a random occurrence–an idea as a drifting chunk of information that just happened upon your brain. If you do that, you’re robbing yourself of a lot of credit. Your idea was the result of your diligence of thought. The odd dummy might occasionally have a eureka moment and make something that’s wildly successful, but usually, great ideas come from lots of hard work.

Someone else creating something doesn’t limit the possibilities of great inventions you could make. Each invention broadens them. The invention of residential electricity (for more inventor controversy, see Nikola Tesla) might have swept someone’s great idea right out from under them, but it also opened up the floodgates for the invention of home appliances, air conditioning, personal computers, the list goes on.

Every new invention creates the possibility of countless more inventions. In this regard, it helps to be on the cutting edge of what’s out there, and think of how you can synthesize them into the creations of tomorrow. I guess my point here is to not feel bitter when someone is already getting rich off your idea. Instead, be glad that you’re smart enough to come up with an idea that has potential for success, and then apply those brains to making something else!

P.S. For an interesting talk, check out Matt Ridley’s When Ideas Have Sex at TED.