Are they stuck? Are they scared?
When that happens they don’t need an inspiring quote. They’re not looking for a story to motivate them. They need actual permission and the embodiment of innovation. They need you to lead by experimenting, by failing, by being authentic. It’s great to quote Edison. It’s better to be an example of Edison. Innovators won’t innovate, experiment, fail, learn, succeed, without permission, without real life examples.141 years ago today Edison patented the phonograph — one of his over 1000 patents. How was he so productive? Let’s ask him. His answer? “Jeff, I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” Ahh, so you’re an experimenter.Related:
He Never Wrote a Song. He Changed Music ForeverLike with the phonograph. You were experimenting with the telegraph and the telephone and you asked yourself, “wouldn’t it be great if a machine could transcribe messages on paper tape and then the messages could be sent repeatedly and automatically later?” And then, the future came into view. What if you embossed paraffin paper, but not with dots and dashes, instead with representations of sounds?Wow. What if?
