Quotes from David Kelley

That opting out [of creativity] that happens in childhood … moves in and becomes more ingrained by the time you get to adult life.

Failure sucks, but instructs.

Striving for perfection can get in the way during the early stages of the creative process.

Consciously or not, we feel and internalize what the space tells us about how to work. When you walk into most offices, the space tells you that it's meant for a group of people to work alone. Closed-off desks sprout off of lonely hallways, and in a few obligatory conference rooms a huge table ensures that people are safely separated from one another.

there's no word in the Tibetan language for "creativity" or "being creative." The closest translation is "natural.

It is out of character for a country that prides itself on intellectual freedom to put the education of its young in the hands of the state.

Everything is a prototype," says Claudia. "So, we would do an org change and I would say to everyone, 'It's a prototype." Which means (a) I have permission to be wrong and (b) I want your feedback if it's not working.

The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing - building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help.

Her philosophy, Objectivism, advocates reason, individualism, and personal happiness. Conservatives are more likely to favor faith, tradition, and duty as core values. Politically, Objectivism is classically liberal or libertarian. It expresses a worldview associated with the Enlightenment. Ayn Rand fundamentally rejected the conservative-liberal distinction in culture.

free-market capitalism and free expression allow people to flourish and cooperate. Freedom encourages independence and responsibility, too, because it respects the fact the we are each individuals.

It's hopeless to argue with conspiracy theorists, or Flat Earthers. Life is short, irrationality is endless. Spending time and energy engaging with someone who has displayed consistent irrationality is the loss of time that could be spent engaging with more reasonable and honest partners.

Self-sacrifice ends in pain and death. It is rational selfishness that leads to health, happiness, love, and trust.

Thinking is a capacity with a biological basis. It takes effort. It consumes energy—some 20% of the body's total budget goes to supporting brain activity.

The Objectivist ethics holds that human good does not require human sacrifices and cannot be achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. It holds that the rational interests of men do not clash—that there is no conflict of interests among men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices nor accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value.[13]