Quotes from Tom Kelley

if team members believe that every idea gets fair consideration, and that a meritocracy allows their proposals to be judged across divisional and hierarchical lines, they tend to put all of their energy and their creative talents to work on ideas and proposals for change. They work harder, persist longer, and maintain their urgent optimism when they believe victory is just around the corner.

Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration.

being creative doesn't have to mean starting from scratch or being the sole originator—it's about adding what you can, about making a creative contribution.

That is the surprising, compelling mathematics of innovation: if you want more success, you have to be prepared to shrug off more failure.

Creative confidence is like a muscle—it can be strengthened and nurtured through effort and experience.

Individuals who come to believe that they can effect change are more likely to accomplish what they set out to do. Bandura calls that conviction "self-efficacy." People with self-efficacy set their sights higher, try harder, persevere longer, and show more resilience in the face of failure.

Instead of long lectures followed by exercises, most of our classes at the d.school give students a little instruction up front and then get them working on a project or a challenge. We follow up in debriefs to reflect on what succeeded—and what can be learned from things that didn't work.

But as you look at the sweep of your life and start to think of a legacy that survives beyond it, giving others the opportunity to live up to their creative capacity seems like a worthy purpose.

If you have only a few ideas in your idea bank, you're more likely to settle on one of the few you have and defend it fiercely, even if it's not optimal. But when ideas are plentiful and easy—if you (or your team) have a dozen a day—then there's no need to become territorial about them.

Just as writer's block happens when writers stop writing, so, too, does innovation grind to a halt when prototypes stop being built. When the muse fails you, don't mope at your desk. Make something.

Innovation is now recognized as the single most important ingredient in any modern economy.

Geshe Thupten Jinpa, who has been the Dalai Lama's chief English translator for more than twenty years, shared an insight with us recently about the nature of creativity. Jinpa pointed out that there's no word in the Tibetan language for "creativity" or "being creative." The closest translation is "natural." In other words, if you want to be more creative, you just have to be more natural.

The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will Ã¢â'¬Â¦ pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it, that's maybe the most important thing Ã¢â'¬Â¦ Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.

Klutz Press.

one of the scariest snakes in the room is the fear of failure, which manifests itself in such ways as fear of being judged, fear of getting started, fear of the unknown. And while much has been said about fear of failure, it still is the single biggest obstacle people face to creative success.

I used to think that to make something happen in a corporation or in the army, you had to be at the higher ranks, to be a general. But you just need to start a movement.

That combination of thought and action defines creative confidence: the ability to come up with new ideas and the courage to try them out.

If you want a team of smart, creative people to do extraordinary things, don't put them in a drab, ordinary space.

Like a muscle, your creative abilities will grow and strengthen with practice.

Mark Twain said a century ago, "It's not what you don't know that gets you into trouble, it's what you know for sure that ain't so.

As Brown writes: "When our self-worth isn't on the line, we are far more willing to be courageous and risk sharing our raw talents and gifts." One way to embrace creativity, Brown says, is to let go of comparison.

At its core, creative confidence is about believing in your ability to create change in the world around you.

Everything in modern society is the result of a collection of decisions made by someone. Why shouldn't that someone be you?

The history of discovery is full of creative serendipity.