Originals

Conviction in our ideas is dangerous not only because it leaves us vulnerable to false positives, but also because it stops us from generating the requisite variety to reach our creative potential.

It was only when they began thinking about the task and then deliberately procrastinated that they considered more remote possibilities and generated more creative ideas. Delaying

Idiosyncrasy credits accrue through respect, not rank: they’re based on contributions.

When you’ve spent years studying handbags, intuition can beat analysis, because your unconscious mind excels at pattern recognition. If you stop and take the time to think, it’s easy to lose the forest in the trees. If you don’t know anything about handbags, however, your intuition isn’t going to help you.

This is the second benefit of leading with the limitations of an idea: it makes you look smart.fn1

The first advantage is that leading with weaknesses disarms the

The third advantage of being up front about the downsides of your ideas is that it makes you more trustworthy.17

Having a sense of security in one realm gives us the freedom to be original in another.

Research on highly creative adults shows that they tended to move to new cities much more frequently than their peers in childhood, which gave them exposure to different cultures and values, and encouraged flexibility and adaptability.