Nowists get off on getting on, so they run when they could walk, jump when they could sit and dance when they could sit at the edge. They regret inaction, so simply act.
You get told to look before you leap. But if you are too careful you may end up just looking.
Embrace the perpetual joy of moving perpetually forward.
Your life is what happens when you’re busy trying to become unbusy.
Nowists are more likely to experience joy because they embrace the uncertainty of existence. They are switched on by the uncertain stuff of human life and come alive when faced with life at its most uncontrollable.
All we’ve got is Now. Life, composed of a billion moments, from our first to our last thoughts.
As an innovator, you need to be aware of how traditions, habits and bias can act as barriers to accepting new ideas.
Culture is the sum of the values, beliefs and assumptions of human groups.
Innovation can start with wanting what does not yet exist – and finding a solution – or seeing what does not yet exist – and finding an opportunity.
Before innovation – or practical creativity – there is insight. You must see the world differently.
Innovation is about practical creativity – it’s about making new ideas useful…
Plug into the anti-obvious power of the rebel. Or get those opposing minds to plug into your purpose, to solve your problem, to reimagine your process.
The true parents of creativity are curiosity and necessity.
If traditional doesn’t work, then traditions won’t do.
Problem-insight precedes solution insight. Someone has to recognise a problem before they start to solve the problem…
If there are no new ideas, there is no innovation. And if there is no creativity, there are no new ideas.
We need to move from comparative advantage to perpetual advantage…
Strategy was first used in Athens (508 BC) to describe the art of leadership used by the ten generals on the war council. Some argue for the more creative, human side, while others argue for the more analytic side of strategy.
Strategy and culture should have breakfast together.
Corporate strategy is usually only useful if you get people engaged with helping you to make it work.
All failure is failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation.
Following the rules of your industry will only get you so far.
With a clever strategy, each action is self-reinforcing. Each action creates more options that are mutually beneficial. Each victory is not just for today but for tomorrow.
Strategy is not really a solo sport – even if you’re the CEO.
Doing nothing requires effort. Over time, that effort is greater than the effort necessary to improve, or move somewhere better. The trick is to redirect energy.
Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.
Strategy is about out-thinking your competition. Mark Zuckerberg, while at Harvard, built a website called Facemash ‘for fun’. Even today, Facebook believe that ‘done is better than perfect’.
Brilliant strategy is the best route to desirable ends with available means.