Open Ideas?

Tom C W
2 min readOct 7, 2022
Photo by CJ Dayrit on Unsplash

“Everybody owns the great ideas”

I tweeted this yesterday, following a rather inspiring conversation I had. It’s from a song by Elbow, and it stuck with me because I wondered….do they?

I think they do. I think ideas are formed and built by experiences and conversations and are better when they are shared, openly in a way that allows this building. Sometimes maybe we hold onto ideas too tightly. I’m always conscious that you also need time and space to think, and that can be hard to find and resource in busy times.

So, today I’m trying something. I’m inviting you to spend a day thinking and exploring an idea. I can’t offer you the time, but I can give one of you £500 to hopefully help you find that time.

The concept is simple.

You write a short outline of the idea you want to spend a day thinking about. It should be something that has benefits outside of a single organisation and should have a social purpose. Beyond that, go wild. But do keep it fairly brief, up to 100 words maximum.

Every relevant idea is listed on Openideas.uk — only the idea, no other details about you.

Next Friday, 14th October, I will do a blind assessment of which idea I like the most.

I give you £500

No other strings. I won’t check up on you. There is no expectation to write or share what you did. I won’t share who had the idea, but I will share the idea chosen.

And that’s it. The ideas are out in the open, and maybe others can be inspired by them. Maybe others can build upon those ideas. Maybe this will become a regular thing.

  1. Go to openideas.uk
  2. Fill in the form by 10pm on 13th October 2022
  3. Make sure to leave your contact email
  4. On 14th October I will email the person with the idea I like to arrange payment
  5. I will share the chosen idea

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Tom C W

Do Good, Be Awesome. Thoughts on startups, social change, awesome things, and possibly running.