Quotes from Scott Berkun

If you'd like to be good at something, the first thing to out the window is the notion of perfection.

I don't want to be perfect. I want to be useful, I want to be good, and I want to sound like myself. Trying to be perfect gets in the way of all three.

People tell me this is obvious. But it's ok to be obvious. Knowing and doing are different. Many people know many obvious things they completely fail to do, despite their knowledge.

The bottleneck is never code or creativity; it's lack of clarity.

Increasing creativeness doesn't require anything more than increasing your observations: become more aware of possible combinations.

The best lesson from the myths of Newton and Archimedes is to work passionately but to take breaks. Sitting under trees and relaxing in baths lets the mind wander and frees the subconscious to do work on our behalf. Freeman Dyson, a world-class physi- cist and author, agrees: "I think it's very important to be idle...people who keep themselves busy all the time are generally not creative. So I am not ashamed of being idle.

In a recent survey, innovative people — from inventors to scientists, writers to programmers — were asked what techniques they used. Over 70% believed they got their best ideas by exploring areas they were not experts in

Self-motivated people thrive when granted independence.

Howard H. Aiken, a famous inventor, said, "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."[

The love of new ideas is a myth: we prefer ideas only after others have tested them.

The inability to scale is one of the stupidest arguments against a possibly great idea: greatness rarely scales, and that's part of what made it great in the first place.

No technique, no matter how good, can turn stupid coworkers into smart ones. And no method can magically make employees trust each other or their boss if they have good reason not to.

Nearly every major innovation of the 20th century took place without claims of epiphany.

Professional management was born from the desire to optimize and control, not to lead waves of change.

Most people doubt online meetings can work, but they somehow overlook that most in-person meetings don't work either.

Anyone can criticize or accept praise, but initiating a positive exchange is a hallmark of a difference maker.

Much of what bad managers do is assume their job is simply to find new things to jam and new places to jam them into, without ever believing they need to understand how the system—the system of people known as culture—works.

The mystery for why some people you know succeed or fail in life is how courageous they are in pulling people aside and how effective they are in those private conversations we never see.

We develop ulcers, high blood pressure, headaches, and other physical problems in part because our stress systems aren't designed to handle the "dangers" of our brave new world: computer crashes, micromanaging bosses, 12-way conference calls, and long commutes in rush-hour traffic.

the only reason anything good ships is because of the programmers. They are everything. They are not factory employees; they are craftspeople, craftspeople who are the fundamental creative engine of making software.

As a rule, if you insist on speaking your mind, you will inevitably find yourself somewhere where everyone hates you.

What good is something that scales well if it sucks? Why is size the ultimate goal or even a goal at all?

The future never enters the present as a finished product, but that doesn't stop people from expecting it to arrive that way.

With no universal measure for meaning to compare with the seemingly solid accounting for income, we fall into the data trap. Our larger culture, and our pesky parents, push us toward decisions that seem to score well but are blind to the most important elements of healthy careers and meaningful lives.