All quotes from
Amanda's book
Innovation is simpler than you think.
70 percent of creativity is related to environment, which means that
it's entirely possible for just about anyone to learn to think more
innovatively.
The reality is that before anyone can do anything innovative or
original, there's got to be a sense of wonder or at least a spark of interest,
and a whole bunch of questions.
Curiosity requires the courage to risk being wrong -- which, in the
end, doesn't require all that much courage if you don't view being wrong as
catastrophic.
Curiosity doesn't determine a particular path in life; it just makes
it more likely that you'll choose the one that's right for you rather than
doing what you think you ought to want to do, or what will win approval from
others.
Our natural instinct, particularly when a problem is serious, is to
find a fix and try to implement it right away.
But the risk is that we never get to the questions that will deliver the
real payoff: the big, essential insights that point to a new path forward.
Even when risk is unavoidable, human beings tend to prioritize
security and predictability.
Don't conclude that the problem as it's first presented, or as you
first perceive it, is indeed the actual problem.
If you don't know what you're good at, it's hard to know how or
where to begin trying to make yourself even better, or how to take advantage of
new opportunities. Self-knowledge
clarifies ways to stretch and improve, by highlighting strengths that are being
underutilized or could be used to achieve different ends (and revealing blind
spots and weaknesses that may be derailing progress).
Failure promotes success only if you actually take the time to
analyze your mistakes.
The less willing you are to make mistakes, the more likely you may
be to make them because you've narrowed your mind and drastically reduced your
openness to new opportunities.
Easier is sticking with the status quo. Getting to "more interesting"
requires stretching past what's safe and predictable and venturing into the
unknown, to learn something new.
Try to see the world through your customers' eyes (even if you don't
have any customers).
Thinking about what other people need from you as a job you are
trying to perform can help you figure out the little changes that will make a
big difference.
"What do others need from me?" is a question that, in the
business world, drives successful innovation.
Curiosity is the antidote to complacency, but only if you act on
whatever it is you discover.
