American entrepreneur Derek Sivers has this to say about the value of ideas.

“I don’t want to hear people’s ideas,” he says on his website. “I’m not interested until I see their execution. The most brilliant idea with no execution is worth $20.”

The quote is interesting as it highlights a point that should seem painfully obvious but so often is not — ideas on their own mean little; they need to be tied to action in order to make them truly valuable.

Coun. Arjun Singh will host the Kamloops Idea Festival Jan. 12, an event he hopes will bring city residents together in a forum to generate new ideas. The format will include short “lightning” talks about a range of topics including transportation, business, social services, culture and the arts. People will also break off into small groups and discuss the issues that come up.

“There’s a lot of good ideas out in the community,” Singh told The Daily News last week. “I’d like to get feedback that I myself can use as a City councillor.”

As an exercise in brainstorming and creativity, the Idea Festival sounds like a lovely idea. In order for it to be more, however, Singh and his council colleagues — many of whom have praised his effort in making the event happen — must recognize there needs to be a link between ideas and action.

Do we have a need for ideas? Certainly, but we also need them tied to specific acts in order for them to have impact. We hope Singh’s Idea Festival will also look for ways to link the many concepts that will be discussed that day to real-world concepts and practices. A focus on practical action as well as creative thinking will make the event worth much more.

As Sivers says, “Ideas are worth nothing unless executed. Execution is worth millions.”