Ideas are maddening.

Even Oscar Wilde would say:

An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all

We all get ideas. It could be an idea for a book, a blog post, what to have for lunch, or a product that everyone needs to have. But if you know anything about ideas, they will lead you on a journey filled with frustration and joy.

But what do you do when an idea fails?

Eric Leebow had an idea that he thinks can change the lives of everyone on the internet. Check out how he told the world his newest and greatest idea:

That idea seems very similar to another idea… Hint: Starts with an F and ends with a B.

In fact you can even go to the freezecrowd website. Unfortunately this is all you get:

It seems that this idea is still “pending.”

After a few laughs it is hard not to spot the passion in the voice of Eric Leebow and the desire to make his idea a possibility. Unfortunately, its 11 years later and his idea is still in development. As I watched this video I couldn’t help but think about how to deal with the failure of an idea. Like Eric, we have had ideas fail and even disappear. But how do you deal with the death of an idea?

Here are 3 things that I think we can do when our ideas fail:

1. Let It Go

Sometimes the best thing to do is let go. But Chris Martin is right, the hardest part is letting go. Letting go of something that you are passionate about and have developed can leave you feeling useless, but can be the very thing that you might need to do in developing your next idea. Who says that just because you failed with your first idea doesn’t mean that the next idea cannot happen. Check out this quote:

Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.

It is true, letting go can be the hardest part but can also free you up to develop another idea. Sometimes ideas need to be let go so you can develop something else.

2. Give It Away

I use to work at a creative arts ministry in Illinois. One of our practices for developing ideas was to have “fresh eyes” look at each idea. After a long process of talking about our ideas as a team, it was always good to allow someone unrelated to the team and idea take a look and find out what they think.

Often the fresh set of eyes gave us new ideas or confirmation about the original idea. Not only will this process help you see new things, it will also provide much needed energy to an idea and allow you to push through the final stages of an idea. Your idea might seem dead, but it just needs new life.

3. Take It With You

I really believe that ideas build on themselves.

The 8BIT Network is a great example of an idea building upon itself. It started with a blog (ChurchCrunch.com) that wanted to resource the church with relevant and practical content and developed into a network of 4 more properties that cover all avenues of technology and the church. Small ideas can often turn into something big, the same can be said with ideas that never seem to pan out.

The first idea could fail, at least on the surface, but ultimately could lead to another idea or a learning experience that will be valuable in time. Even though the idea seems to be a failure at the time, you never know when it could come back to be a success in helping you with another idea.

If you have seen the movie Inception with Leonardo Dicaprio you might remember the quote Leonardo Dicaprio’s character said. Check out this video for the quote:

Ideas truly are the most powerful thing we have. It can be a virus that spreads the every part of your brain or a spark that ignites a movement. Not matter how many failures or successes you have had with ideas, you have to keep dreaming, you have to keep ideating, and you have to keep coming up with ideas.

Who knows, maybe your next idea could be the one that changes everything.

How do you deal with the failure of an idea?