Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage

You have to assume that the system is not going to change. But even if it does, why should you wait around for it? You can’t be paralyzed by this inequity. You can’t be afraid to confront the system as it is.

The absence of the very constraints that incubators set out to help start-ups avoid prevents their ability to enrich and create value.

actually bring value and convince them of it.

Constraints, it turns out, also provide us with a unique opportunity to discover and employ our strengths in a way that enriches. Constraints alter the path that we take, even in the instances in which they make us feel like we have no options.

You’re trying to elicit interest and start a conversation.

a sense of overpreparation can lead to worse results. It can lull people into complacency,

Gut feel is simply the combination of your own experiences and your unique ability to make connections in nonlinear, non-incremental, and hence unexpected and delightful ways.

We see one path that worked for someone else, and then try to replicate that, forgetting that there are infinite ways to get from point A to point B. And there are lots of point B’s.

Know your basic goods or the basic goods of the organizations you are leading, because they are what you will come back to, time and time again. They’re the key elements that will ensure your survival, your subsistence, and your ability to truly enrich.