Learn English – Is the word “ideator” acceptable in public communication; is there a better word

single-word-requestsword-usage

I can't find "ideator" in traditional dictionaries, but I've found it on urbandictionary.com and with an unfortunate definition on Medical Dictionary (related to suicide).

Urban Dictionary

Ideator A person who creates productive ideas, a conceptualist.A
person that processes and passes on their ideas and inventions to
others to help sell or publisize a commodity. A solutions person,
problem solver, think tank.

Medical Dictionary

A person experiencing suicidal ideation

So, my question is twofold:

  1. If I use this in public communication such as articles, white-papers, etc., does this word harm my credibility or the quality of my writing?

  2. Is there a better word that means the same thing?

Here is an example of the word in-context in an article about leadership and the workforce:

Marcus is an ideator, but, generally, current corporate structures and
cultures do not know what to do with an ideator; there's no processes
or expertise to identify, encourage, nurture or leverage ideators
within the workforce. Frustrated, ideators leave organizations to join
other organizations or to strike out on their own when most businesses
could greatly benefit from the presence of ideators within their
ranks…

Best Answer

Because of the strong negative connotations created by the specialized medical use, using ideator in a serious positive context is a tough decision. A person imagining suicide is actually a denotation of ideator :

A person experiencing suicidal ideation
medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com

On the other hand, that derivative is based on a broader definition of ideate:

verb

[WITH OBJECT] chiefly Psychology
1.0 Form an idea of; imagine or conceive.

1.1 [NO OBJECT] Form ideas; think.
ODO

Consistent with the definition on Urbandictionary.com, Wiktionary offers a general definition of ideator:

One who ideates; one who holds or generates an idea, or synthesizes a concept.
Wiktionary.com

There is significant evidence that ideator continues to be used in positive non-slang contexts. One example from pages 262-264 of Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change by Gerard J. Puccio, Marie Mance and Mary C. Murdock:

This indicates that, as the Ideator score goes up, so does an individual's tendency to produce many original ideas. [discussion omitted]...
Meanwhile, the Ideator scale showed a strong negative relationship with Steadiness. This finding reveals that individuals with high Ideator tendencies have a degree of comfort with change, seek variety,and are willing to challenge prevailing thought [discussion omitted]...
For example, effective ideation may not only depend on one's ability to think like an Ideator but also to experience feeling like an ideator.
Emphasis mine

Apparently, some creative people are convinced that the positive connotations of ideate, overcome the negative connotations of the medical usage.

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