I wrapped up The Five Faces of Genius by Annette Moser-Wellman on my recent trip. Here are some quotes that caught my attention:

  • "People aren’t genius; ideas are–and each of us is capable of our own breakthrough ideas."
  • "Customers are rarely aware of all the the ways you or your firm can help them."
  • "Try to protect your alone time. Don’t fill your schedule to overflowing with meetings. Don’t become seduced by busyness."
  • "Nature invites the purest of inspiration. Beauty feeds the creative soul."
  • "It’s only when we pursue our questions that our creative spirit can thrive."
  • "We mistakenly think that if our desk is clean, there will be space for ideas to land. But I can tell you that it’s impossible to innovate that way. Your voice mail light will always flash. Your e-mail will always announce that you have mail. There will always be someone asking for your help."
  • "Only when you record do you give the ideas the honor they deserve. It’s the ideas we do something about that count."
  • "In times of change don’t strive for ideas that make things a little bit better. Strive for ideas that make things completely different."
  • "Sometimes it is the stress of our restrictions that can provide the best results."
  • "Ideas come to people individually and not to teams. Teams may facilitate, build, or implement ideas, but the spark of ingenuity strikes in units of one."
  • "All great ideas bring a death to the organization and some folks work hard to kill ideas that threaten the status quo."
  • "Our joy comes less from what we do, but rather how we do it. When we make creative and unique contributions in what we do every day, no matter what the chore, we find some purpose in most anything we choose to do."
  • "Make bold your religion–choose the bold decision, the bold projects, the bold careers–and when you do, you’ll find meaning in your work and your genius within."

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