Execution Is Worthless Without Vision [Game Design]

"Ideas are worthless. The only currency that holds any weight is the ability and drive to execute." writes Mike Birkhead.

I know plenty of great executors whose game development careers are going nowhere and are staring mystified at the success of companies whose products they consider to be massively inferior to their own. Being focused purely on execution is generally a way to avoid taking creative risks, and the stereotypical "ideas are worthless" line is more of a self justification for good engineering and technical execution of art, audience be damned.

Execution is worthless without vision. Nobody cares if your game is well made, they care that it's remarkable, not the norm, a new idea. You’re not in the business of making better toothbrushes.