Handling the Naysayers Who Kill Creativity

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Naysayers can hinder creativity by rejecting good ideas and preventing projects from taking off. These individuals gain power by constantly saying no, as they lack their own ideas and are unable to offer constructive solutions. To overcome their negative influence, it is essential to encourage collective problem-solving and push them to think of ways to improve or turn their apprehension into enthusiasm. By doing so, even the naysayers are forced to be creative, imaginative, and articulate in finding solutions.

What I learned from reading Finding The Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Keep, and Nurture Talent by Nolan Bushnell.

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A pong is a piece of advice designed to help enhance creativity. It applies to only where the advice is helpful. Unlike a rule which thinks itself applicable to every situation. (4:36)

Cherish the pink-haired. (16:53)

Hire the obnoxious: Steve Jobs believed he was always right and was willing to push harder and longer than other people who might have had equally good ideas but caved under pressure. (19:07)

Expect to be criticized. Everyone said Atari was nuts. When I explained Chuck E Cheese they laughed. "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad." President of Michigan Savings Bank, advising Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in Ford Motor Company, 1903 (20:23)

One of the best ways to find creative people is to ask a simple question: What books do you like? (24:15)

When your company establishes that anyone can and should contribute, you will end up hearing some very good suggestions coming from unlikely places. (26:03)

I strongly believe that everyone who wants to be creative must find a place where their mind can be alone and untouched any the insanity of complexity. (30:20)

Champion bad ideas: WD-40 is called that because the first 39 versions of the product failed. WD-40 stands for “Water Displacement, 40th formula.” (32:11)

Any idiot can say no. There’s no mental process there. If you don’t like something, the trick is to think of something better. (37:04)

Invent haphazard holidays. Unplanned days off for the entire company (38:00)

Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had a good idea. The thing that matters is what you do with the idea once you get out of the shower. So if there’s only one thing you take from this book, it’s this: You must act! Do something! (41:29)

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