How to Save the World in Your Spare Time

Somewhere in the world, perhaps in the back of your mind, lurks a thought so powerful that - once released - it will spread rapidly and forever change life on Earth.

I once thought that idea would be French Toast ice cream, but that's a story for another day.

My deepest, darkest fear is that the person who has this thought chooses to ignore it, and simply opens another beer, thereby condemning humanity to a bleak century of suffering. So let's take a minute and make sure you know which of your ideas deserve to be spread with enthusiasm.

Shockingly Simple Ideas: The best ideas are so insanely simple, you feel like an absolute idiot for not thinking of them earlier. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are all simple ideas. So is microcredit, which we used to call loaning someone a few bucks.

If you need three pages to describe your idea, and 30 more to "prove" it will work, it won't.

Consider the first human who thought, "What if we could start a fire without waiting for lightning to strike?" Think about how the world's greatest invention ended up in the form of matchbooks that are often given away for free. Simple and powerful ideas spread like, no pun intended, wildfires.

Stunningly Positive Ideas: One small change that ensures every person on Earth has plenty of fresh food and clean water, well, that's a powerful idea. In contrast, a better way to punish people who cut in line... doesn't quite make the cut.

Immediately write down any idea that helps, educates, excites or inspires people. Toss out any that humiliate or upset them. If your goal in life is to tear down the other political party, stay in bed; if your goal is to serve other people, get up early.

Fresh Perspective Ideas: There may be no new ideas under the sun, but there are plenty of fresh ways to use old ideas. We have barely begun to scratch the surface of ways to use wireless devices, digital commerce, and old Seinfeld episodes.

First we put sensors in office buildings, and we called them security systems. Then we put sensors in homes, and we called them fire alarms. Next, you can put sensors in your ____ and you can call them ______.

Lest you think this is too hard for you, that other people have all the great ideas, and that you couldn't possibly come up with a fresh idea involving an existing item, I have one world for you: Vine. It took six years after Twitter hit the scene for someone to think: hey, let's shorten videos, too. (Then it took Twitter another four months to buy Vine.)

Despite the last highly inspiring paragraph, you may still be skeptical of the promise of my headline, that you can save the world in your spare time. "Bruce," you may say, "What if my idea falls short of expectations. What if it only saves Cleveland, or Amsterdam, or a small park in Tanzania?"

In this case, I would counter, you still should be congratulated for putting down your beer and giving birth to another positive, simple and fresh idea. The world needs more of them.

If you want to hear more from me, just click the Follow button below. You can also download my free guides at Kasanoff.com, or read my book with Michael Hinshaw Smart Customers, Stupid Companies. On Twitter, I'm @NowPossible.

Images: (I kid you not) Mike and Bazlan