Title: Can-Do vs. Can’t-Do Culture
Context: Being unreasonable is sometimes the only reasonable way to solve a problem.
Synopsis: Business history is replete with tales of short-sighted, unimaginative cranks sneering at a novel idea simply because they failed to grasp the long term significance its application might have. But to be fair to our historical blowhards, there are most likely an infinitely greater number of shunned ideas that deserved their ignominious fate. But here’s the thing, no one ever goes down in history for saying no to a big idea. The daring it takes to embrace something outrageously prescient is often so great that the risk is deemed unacceptable to most reasonable people. Can we – or even better, should we – blame them? Of course we should! While the difference between stupidity and stupendous genius can be almost imperceptible, the willingness to empower people to explore is not for the faint of heart. After all, the search for reasons an idea can succeed is infinitely harder than the simpleminded cataloging of every potential point of failure.
Best Bit: “Big companies have plenty of great ideas, but they do not innovate because they need a whole hierarchy of people to agree that a new idea is good in order to pursue it. If one smart person figures out something wrong with an idea — often to show off or to consolidate power — that’s usually enough to kill it.”
via recode.com
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