A remarkable idea, diminished to a bullet point
Ideas on parade: Is it a dazzling show or just a conga line of bullet points?
A mentor of mine once said (and I'm paraphrasing here):
"You can present a remarkable idea independently, potentially changing someone's life, or you can incorporate it into a list, where it risks becoming just another bullet point."
In other words, if you list a bunch of great ideas, like this...
"Belonging is primal and fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being. The best companies on earth don’t “own” customers. They own a space and help customers belong there. The greatest companies are fans of their fans." - Mark Schaefer
"So if we can find a natural rebelliousness within ourselves (and presumably that’s why we went to art school), if we can harness that, we have an energy that we can turn into something useful. Something exciting and different. We can be outrageous to a purpose. That, for me, is great advertising." - Dave Trott
"The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying." - James Clear
"The storytelling mind is allergic to uncertainty, randomness, and coincidence. It is addicted to meaning. If the storytelling mind cannot find meaningful patterns in the world, it will try to impose them. In short, the storytelling mind is a factory that churns out true stories when it can, but will manufacture lies when it can’t." - Jonathan Gottschall
"A real writer (or artist or entrepreneur) has something to give. She has lived enough and suffered enough and thought deeply enough about her experience to be able to process it into something that is of value to others, even if only as entertainment." - Steven Pressfield
...they lose a lot of their impact.
You skim through them, maybe think, "that's pretty cool," and move on.
On the other hand, when an idea is presented in an impactful way, it can have a surprisingly huge role in one's journey of change.
Consider, for instance, the influence that the concept of 'atomic habits' (from James Clear's book, 'Atomic Habits') has had on the lives of individuals who have successfully implemented that idea.
But when you present the idea of atomic habits as part of some list, it becomes yet another brick in a wall of ideas.
My point is not to bash list posts... even though I do want to bash list posts. It's such a common formula. It's the pleb of content formulas. It's a cavern where original ideas meet their demise. It's the soft, warm blanket of content formulas that writers often wrap themselves in. It's an echo chamber of...
Ok, that's enough. 😁
Yes, I write list posts myself... sometimes! I'm a hypocrite, whatever.
Let's sweep that under the rug for now...
Here's my actual point:
Your ideas are the script, but how you present them is the performance that captivates the audience.
If you want your ideas to pack a punch, you need to think about how you package them and present them to the reader.
You can turn that idea into a bullet point, a quote or a tweet. Or you can expand that idea into a whole essay, or maybe even into something bigger.
That’s a topic we’ll be exploring more in future issues.
Until then…
Here's to all the great ideas buried in a mountain of treasure – 🥂 Cheers,
- Mitro
P.S. I said you can present your idea as a bullet point OR as a whole essay... But actually, you can do both:
I learned this from Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole from Ship 30 for 30: When you start small, like by writing a tweet, you can rapidly test different content ideas. Then you can repurpose your best-performing ideas into essays.
That's the simple interpretation of the system. But there's much more to it than that. Here's a practical framework from the aforementioned dynamic duo if you want to learn more.
P.P.S. I know I bashed lists, but a lot of people actually know me as "the guy who is utterly, unyieldingly, and unapologetically consumed by an all-encompassing, bordering on obsessional passion for lists." And I am. Lists are such an efficient way to organize ideas. At least in certain use cases. I guess it's more of a love-hate relationship I have going on with lists...
P.P.P.S. As this is my first post on Substack 🙀, I should probably introduce this newsletter and myself.