Red Thread Thinking: Weaving Together Connections for Brilliant Ideas and Profitable Innovation

I think sustainability is more than just non-depletion of resources. For me, sustainability is about creating profitable businesses that not only have positive outcomes for their employees, investors, and nearby communities, but also are able to reach out and help others become more self-sustaining.

Individuals can be change makers, and the micro results can turn into macro movements when people naturally recognize the benefits. Small changes eventually add up to a groundswell.

it just proves that while you believe in that first aha and it gets you on the path, there is a point where you have to be sensitive to the need to not be married to it—even though you need to override criticism when appropriate.

Achievement demands connecting to your personal motivations and desires, but then reaching beyond your feelings, and often past your comfort zone, so that you can expand your knowledge, face obstacles with curiosity rather than fear, accept and judge criticism, and act, always act.

“When people make choices in a market economy, they are deliberately choosing the solution that best meets their needs. Also, we don’t want to have to depend on donor grants and donations. That’s not sustainable.”

What I’m talking about goes beyond integrity. We need to reassert and expand our understanding of business’s relationship to social and environmental responsibility.

Just because you love an idea and think it’s great does not mean that your intended market will respond accordingly. Innovators can become so attached to a particular iteration of a concept that they miss information telling them to pivot one way or another to improve on their innovation.

Design (of both the product and its wrapping) is not about being artistic; it’s about creating something that communicates its value in a unified, aesthetically pleasing, captivating, and easy-to-understand way.

Passion is not blind allegiance to your idea. On the contrary, it’s a willingness to explore, experiment, play, invest energy, hit a dead end, and then chase a new direction that allows your mind to refine, revise, alter, and grow good ideas.