Daniel McGinn • Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian, Innovator, Micromanager

The right way is the hard way

The classic “ideas are worthless, execution is everything” adage is flawed.

Six+ months into an intense software build, I can attest that the little execution details make all the difference. But the constraint on executing well is not operational. It’s more often about having good ideas about how to resolve challenges.

In other words, good execution... See more

I think there are things in life that you want to telescope and compress and accelerate and streamline and make more efficient. And there are things where the value is precisely in the inefficiency, in the time spent, in the pain endured, in the effort you have to invest. And I don’t think we’re going to differentiate between those things. Because ... See more

Total efficiency constrains us. We become super invested in maintaining the status quo because that is where we excel. Innovation is a threat. Change is terrifying. Being perfect at something is dangerous if it’s the only thing you can do.