The conventional wisdom that innovation can be institutionalized or done in a formal group is simply wrong.

Indeed, the entire gestalt of a new product must send an immediate and direct message to the consumer: this product is going to make my life (or a task) simpler, better, and more enjoyable.

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.

Discovering problems actually requires just as much creativity as discovering solutions.

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.

“Evolution requires us to continually refresh our competitive advantage. … To innovate forever, in other words, is not an aspiration; it is a design specification. It is not a strategy; it is a requirement.”

“The single biggest driver of stickiness, by far, was ‘decision simplicity’—the ease with which consumers can gather trustworthy information about a product and confidently and efficiently weigh their purchase options. What consumers want from marketers is, simply, simplicity,” write Patrick Spenner and Karen Freeman in “To Keep Your Customers, Kee

Ask tough questions. Am I wrong? Has someone else thought of this? Where can I take this idea? What do I need to find out to take it further? Was this an easy, emotional way out of something uncertain? Can I tilt this information in another direction and find a deeper truth, one that is bigger and more exciting?

When you are observing other people and talking to your network of informants (friends, professionals, family, and colleagues), put what you know and believe out of your mind so that you do not impose existing notions on what you see. Afterward, come back to all the data you’ve collected and mesh them with what you’ve seen and heard. It’s only then