The Idea Farmer

I hope people will not call me a thought leader. That’s scary… I want people to think for themselves. I'm an idea farmer.

I read because I love collecting other people’s good ideas.

I nurture those ideas. I water them with my attention, and I feed them with my thoughts.

And after some time and energy the ideas start sprouting offspring. I let them mix and mingle with each other; I let them connect, compete, cooperate, and copulate in the weirdest ways. Sometimes they make me blush.

But the offspring is worth all that trouble. I care for these little new ideas, and I try to make them healthy and strong.

I’m an idea farmer. I grow new ideas from older ones.

And when the new ideas are big and fully grown, I sell them.

Or when they’re still young and small, I give them away for free.

Like now.

(image by Nicholas_T)

Jurgen Appelo is an award-winning speaker, trainer, and author of Management 3.0, a management book for software development. You can hire him as a speaker or trainer, to add some spice to your discussions, workshops, or conferences.