Ideas are nothing. They're irrelevant. If you think your idea is so important, you're doomed. The reality is if you don't like one idea, I've got 299 more. If I tell you my idea, and you can execute better against that idea than I can - great; I get to play a terrific game.
Interpretation
Ideas are only valuable when acted upon; having many ideas is better than clinging to just one.
This quote from Warren Spector highlights the importance of execution over mere ideas. It suggests that innovation and success are not solely based on having a single great idea, but rather on the ability to adapt and execute numerous ideas effectively. The true value lies in the willingness to play and engage with the ideas, fostering a competitive spirit that encourages better execution and creativity.
In practice
In a brainstorming session to encourage team members to share multiple ideas.
I want my little corner of the world where I get to make games where you're not trying to win or lose; you're not trying to get a higher score - you are having unbelievable amounts of fun as you learn about yourself and the world. That's what games can do!
I have never made a game that wasn't explicitly about empowering players to tell their own story.
One is wise to cultivate the tree that bears fruit in our soul.
What did you put in the fire?" Kaladin said. "To make that special smoke?" "Nothing. It was just and ordinary fire." "But, I saw-" "What you saw belongs to you. A story doesn't live until it is imagined in someone's mind." "What does the story mean, then?" "It means what you want it to mean," Hoid said. "The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think , but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that.
Our great mistake is to try to exact from each person virtues which he does not possess, and to neglect the cultivation of those which he has.
Though I have drawn my sword in the present generous struggle for the rights of men, yet I am not in arms as an American, nor am I in pursuit of riches. My fortune is liberal enough, having no wife nor family, and having lived long enough to know that riches cannot ensure happiness.
One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.
Instead of taking the reader by the hand and running him down the hill, I want to lead him into a house of many rooms, and leave him alone in each of them.
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