When someone suggested making Peter Mandelson UK Ambassador to USA I’ll bet there was enthusiasm for the creative idea. After all, the requirements for a person of skill to fill such a job had changed. He or she wasn’t going to be dealing with the United States but rather with one mercurial individual whose view of diplomacy was Social Media on the internet. ‘Sharp’ was a need and the proposed candidate was needle pointed.
I can hear those in authority saying “Good idea”. I expect you can too.
I’m not going to make judgments about the rights and wrongs of what has happened. Well one, perhaps. That is, “If you throw your subordinates under the bus you mustn’t then be surprised if they try to reverse it over you”. Any boss who doesn’t realise that is in need of a short Zoom course for a few dollars – or even some pounds sterling.
Enough of the frivolities, there’s a lesson to be learnt.
Think back over the last few weeks. How many times have you said “Good idea” – or even thought it? Bright people are producing them all the time. Imaginative creativity is the new discovery, the circle round the moon most of us can’t afford. At TMI we hear ‘Good ideas’ with hysterical frequency – and encourage them to be thought through before being executed. And the word is valid. Most of them are ‘executed’. Not because they were bad ideas but because their time has either not yet come or already gone. Or simply because there is no profit in it.
Encourage the inventive….to work out their idea in detail before they launch it. If they don’t they will lose money and in the case of Ambassadors, jobs.
No good idea is perfect. Even Elon Musk admits that.
There’s a lesson here for all the good people who generously encourage budding entrepreneurs. You are right to enthuse but keep it rational. The brain rattle that lights the investor’s path seldom shows the tripping rocks on it. Being realistic isn’t wicked. It is kind.
So here’s to lots more good ideas.
And to making sure the people want them.
Good morning
John Bittleston
Please post your ideas to [email protected].
23 April 2026
