Some Ideas Are Turkeys
Not every idea is going to take flight.
Some ideas will be complete turkeys.
Some indicators that your idea is a total turkey…
- No one you tell about your concept gets excited about it.
This is by no means a foolproof signal to abandon an idea, but it’s an early indicator that it might need work. If everyone loves your idea, that might be a different problem, but if you can’t get anyone to lean forward with interest and ask you to tell them more about your concept — it might be a turkey. - You can’t find a feasible way to produce it
If your idea requires a technology that doesn’t yet exist (a travel agency that uses teleportation technology to move your physical body from place to place) or uses rare resources that make it cost prohibitive or illegal to produce and sell (authentic diamond-encrusted rhinoceros tusk candle holders) — your idea might be a turkey. - Your idea is hard to explain
If you can’t explain your idea on a single yellow sticky note, it’s too confusing for the public to comprehend. Your idea needs to be simple enough for you to share with someone with zero previous experience with your concept. Not only that, but it has to be simple enough for that other person to go and share the idea with their friends and family and social media followers in order to get them interested in seeking out your idea in the marketplace. - The idea doesn’t excite you
Putting an idea into action is hard work and sometimes it can take a long time. Things go wrong, you’ll hit dead-ends and roadblocks along the way. If you’re not excited about working on your idea, you’ll never survive those setbacks and you will get distracted (or completely abandon) your idea along the way.
The best thing about turkey is the leftovers
Here’s the cool thing about identifying an idea that’s a turkey — there are parts and pieces of that idea that have potential. Something about that concept piqued your interest enough to consider pursuing it. If you can carve-up that turkey into smaller pieces, you’ll find a slice or two that you can re-heat and serve up on another day and reach a much different conclusion.
