Sharing ideas and information can be a profitable business approach. (Image via Flickr, by Kalandrakas under CC)

There are some things that people don’t like to share. Lovers (well most people don’t), money and ingenious ideas usually top this list. There are a bunch of good reasons for keeping these things to yourself and exposure to risk is a big one. Willingly share your lover and you don’t know what you might pick up along the way. Share your money and you run the risk of not having enough of it sometime in the future. Share your ideas and risk them being implemented by someone else.   

Nonetheless, our parents always taught us to share our toys and our sweets and in our modern era of open-source software, open education and international collaboration, grown-up sharing is a concept the needs to be revisited. 

Obviously the risks are still there though - no one wants to give away their ideas for nothing. So here are some tips to make idea sharing a little more profitable and a little less scary.

1). Get paid for your brilliant idea

Had a mind-blowing idea? If you’re the creative type, implementing your ideas is usually a lot more difficult than coming up with them in the first place. But that doesn’t have to mean that your scheme isn’t fantastic and doesn’t deserve to be shared with the world. I’m sure, in addition to teaching you to share, you mother also told you not to ‘hide your light under a bushel’ (whatever a bushel is). Depending on how you sell it, there’s a good chance that someone out there will have the resources and the capacity to turn your brainwave into a tangible reality.

2). Use openness and idea sharing to encourage profitable innovation 

Potentially, you are not only the master of great ideas, but you also have the chutzpah and the resources to make them happen. This is rare, but possible - think Richard Branson. If this is the case, it is important to remember two things. Firstly, even a brilliant idea can be improved on – particularly by someone who is removed enough from it to be objective. Secondly, if making dosh is your ultimate goal, realise that greatness does not inevitably translate to profitability. Putting your idea out there and getting some input could help you uncover hidden avenues of revenue generation.  

3). Pay someone else for their ideas  

If you’re less of a thinker and more of a doer there’s no need to beat yourself up about it. After all, the world would be a very lackadaisical place if everyone sat around coming up with great ideas and there was no one around to make them happen. So, if you’re someone who recognises genius when you see it, pay someone to think for you and then turn their ideas into profit. Great things can come of the amalgamation of a business mind and a creative one - look at Google Earth. Created and previously owned by Keyhole Inc, it would never have reached its current proportions had it not been acquired by Google.  

4). Engage end users from the start 

You have this great idea and you’re in the process of making it happen. Sharing it with the people who will ultimately benefit from it has many advantages. First of all, it gives you the opportunity to seed the idea with them so that they can anticipate its inception. Secondly, sharing in this way allows you the opportunity to ‘test’ the idea and ultimately improve on it. Finally, ironing out the creases early on can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. There are always improvements to be made on your originality and implementing these from the start will maximise the profit you could make from your project.  

This is just a beginning and there’s a lot more to this whole new way of thinking. At Quirk, it’s quickly becoming the lifestyle of choice, with our textbook being licensed under Creative Commons and the fact that we live and breathe in an environment that is so conducive to the formulation and implementation of great ideas. Sharing is often easier said than done though - I have a lot of siblings, so I know. But it has value and so I’ve just sat down with Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams’ book, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything which is a good introduction to this principle. I’ll get back to you when I’m wholly convinced. In the meantime, give your office-mate half your chocolate - it’s a good start.