Often the set deadline for idea presentation, or the motivational power of time pressure ("up against a show deadline") determines not only the amount of time that can be devoted to idea generation but the outcome itself. But whether the generative phase lasts a few hours or several days, the shape and form of the idea must be such that its content is carried with both bravura and conviction. So how do we know when the idea is ready to launch? First, ideation is not about perfectionism. If we want to share the ideas with the outside world, there comes a point at which we must be done with the ideation stage, at least for the time being. So how to let go of the idea? Because there is a risk with launching an idea that is half-baked as well as with an idea that has been overworked.This is where pre-presentation preparing kicks in. That is to say, to let people we trust have a look at the idea before its presentation because they may be better placed to see the idea in the nude, as it were, rather than clothed in the ideator's vision yet to be denuded. Or, a kind of reality check. Ultimately, however, the clue to knowing when an idea is ready to be launched may have less to do with the idea itself than to know that, in the context of creativity, trying is everything.
