Quotes About Innovation

The web has made kicking ass easier to achieve, and mediocrity harder to sustain. Mediocrity now howls in protest." The

Just about everything you learned in school about life is wrong, but the wrongest thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success. When

As we'll see, the greatest shortage in our society is an instinct to produce.

As we'll see, the greatest shortage in our society is an instinct to produce. To create solutions and hustle them out the door.

How can I create something that critics will criticize?

The factory is a dead end and so is compliance. More obedience will not make us better. That's why graceful is in such demand.

The lesson is that one person with a persistent vision can make change happen, whether climbing rocks or delivering services.

The obvious winners are the mid-sized and smaller companies looking to increase market share. These are the companies that have nothing to lose, but more important, they realize that they have a lot to gain by changing the rules of the game.

Are you one of those people? One of the people with too many good ideas? The folks who have notebooks filled with notions, or daydreams filled with the future? You've certainly met these people. They're too busy taking notes to get anything done, too busy inventing to actually instigate. To stop this process, one needs to do only two things: Start. And then . . . Ship. Can't

Instead of trying to use your technology and expertise to make a better product for your users' standard behavior, experiment with inviting the users to change their behavior to make the product work dramatically better.

We're all obsessed with ideas because ideas, not products, are the engine of our new economy.

You need editors, not brand managers,who will push the envelope to make [a brand media property] go forward.

We run our schools like factories. We line kids up in straight rows, put them in batches (called grades), and work very hard to make sure there are no defective parts. Nobody standing out, falling behind, running ahead, making a ruckus. Playing it safe. Following the rules. Those seem like the best ways to avoid failure.

Twenty years ago, the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500 either dug something out of the ground or turned a natural resource (iron ore or oil) into something you could hold. Today, fewer than half of the companies on the list do that. The rest make unseemly profits by trafficking in ideas.

Instead of being scientists, the best marketers are artists.

REDO THE MISSION STATEMENT AND THE BUSINESS PLAN EVERY THREE MONTHS

You need a formal business reinvention process. Put it in your calendar. Every three months, take your most trusted advisers, employees, backers, and even customers and get away from the phones for a little while. Start from scratch. "If we were starting over—no office, no employees, no customers—would we choose to be where we are today?" If the answer isn't, yes, then it's time to take a hard look at the path you took and the impact it has had on your business.

You've certainly met these people. They're too busy taking notes to get anything done, too busy inventing to actually instigate. To stop this process, one needs to do only two things: Start. And then . . . Ship. Can't

You don't have to like change to take advantage of it.

There are two ways to grow: by stealing from the competition or by growing the market. The first path is slow and painful and difficult. The second path is where the magic of fast growth kicks in.

More fashion = less need for quality

Ben & Jerry's avoided temptation for years. If they didn't have a super-cool flavor or a great promotional idea, they did nothing. Yes to free ice cream once a year at every scoop shop, but no to 5 percent off any pint this week at your local store.

Low price is the last refuge of a marketer who has run out of generous ideas.

The value we create is directly related to how much valuable information we can produce, how much trust we can earn, and how often we innovate.