By "Idea guy" the author actually means "Idea guy that has no skills, cannot execute his idea, and does not want to take responsibility guy".
Yes we all hate that guy.
But there are plenty of idea guys&girls who are busy executing ideas, competent, have skills, and still might come up with a useful idea that would help your project.
I was a part of a gaming community where we decided we could make our own game. We ended up with 95% of interested participants being "Idea Guys" and the remaining 5% being able to communicate a relevant skill. Needless to say, the project never got past its first bikeshed.
Another problem with an 'ideas guy' is that they are rarely involved in the execution.
I attempted to start businesses with a few friends of this type when I was younger.
The result was mostly the same: I would spend weeks/months working on the product/idea, idea guy would either get bored because they are just sitting there waiting for the launch and move onto something new or attempt to become my defacto manager.
Some people like the idea of running a business and seem to think it only involves telling other people what to do and waiting for results (as if that's the hardest part).
The other concern is that what happens to this person in the next phase of the business?
Many ideas people will realize they don't have the skills and will try to push for ideas that aren't necessarily better, but that they can attach their name to...causing havoc.
Ideas are easy. I have tons of good ideas and the skills to execute. Now, I will only consider parterning with someone if they have money to invest or a relevant business network+some other skill.
No, because those aren't 'idea people'. The phrase is meant for people who only come up with ideas and nothing else, it's not meant to describe anyone who has ideas.
The 'creative thinking industry'. :-) That sounds suspicious.
I once bought a book called Ideas Generation. I think it was this one.[0] A couple of years later one of the authors was in the news for plagiarism. Whoops!
I don't mind "idea guys" all that much, as long as they're okay with me giving them an "oh hell no". I'm useless at the ideas side of things. Just not visionary at all. But I can take an idea and merrily drive it to execution.
Good point @udev, I'll just add a few extra points.
'Idea guys' can come in different shapes and sizes, people on average need to be able to understand the areas in which an 'idea guy' is a net positive or a net negative. Since a large part of comments are pushing the negative experiences I will list a few positives. I have seen cases where an idea guy creates synergy around coders that are heavy on execution,'idea guys' helping teams go through certain design thinking phases or helping them understand how design thinking benefits them, 'idea guys' helping a team tackle their hurdles throughout the implementation.
Most of all, I think it is worth noting that most 'idea guys' are likely adding value in other ways too, since most jobs are not dependent on only one variable you bring. It is also more likely for a person to only see a small % of the value someone may bring to the business
Oddly enough, just saying that people should see things in a different perspective is an idea or recommendation. Does that mean I will now be labelled as an 'idea guy' with a negative connotation?
Yes we all hate that guy.
But there are plenty of idea guys&girls who are busy executing ideas, competent, have skills, and still might come up with a useful idea that would help your project.
Should we hate these guys too?