5 Insightful Quotes to Improve Innovation

Don't you love a good quote? My favorites are those that are both insightful and memorable, and over my career many useful quotes have lodged in my mind. Over the past twenty-five years, I've had the privilege of working with a wide variety of innovative individuals at organizations such as IDEO, Herman Miller, WeWork and beyond. Throughout those years, there have been a handful of quotes that have proven themselves to be exceptionally useful when pursuing new opportunities to innovate. Here are my top five - I hope you also find them to be valuable as we seek to change the world together.

#1 "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” — Max De Pree

Max DePree, famed author on servant leadership and past CEO of Herman Miller, recognized the need for gracious truth-tellers. Most of us see the issues in our industries, in our organizations, and among our teams, but until someone breaks the inertia with a gracious but honest willingness to speak truth about what's wrong, it's impossible to pursue new and better ways of doing things.

#2 “Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

I know - it takes a few times reading this to comprehend what 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is getting at. What Schopenhauer is illustrating is that it's difficult and rare to see something in this world that no one else has already observed, but that's not actually the challenge. The real challenge is to "think what no one has yet thought" about these things that we're all staring at together. We need to meditate upon those things that are right in front of our faces - thinking creatively, systemically, and in an interdisciplinary manner about problems that we all take for granted - in order to land on new and inventive solutions. From there, that's where the seedlings of great innovation can sprout.

#3 “Never mistake a clear view for a short distance.” — Paul Saffo

As renown tech futurist Paul Saffo reminds us, overnight successes don't happen overnight. In the early and ambiguous stages of innovation, we seek a vision, Then, once we land on a vision, we (and the organizations who employ us) often lack the patience and fortitude to see that vision through. While the vision may be clear, a variety of conditions must exist for new ideas to fully mature to the point of completion - just ask anyone who has been through a home remodel! We shouldn't be surprised when we realize how long the journey to success actually is.

#4 “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” — Walter Elliot

As we seek to make that "clear view" a reality, the difference between good ideas that gain traction and good ideas that don't often boils down to perseverance. As Scottish politician Walter Elliot illustrates, the challenge to persevere often lies in the exhausting, iterative nature of it. Just when you think you've overcome a critical challenge to make your vision a reality - BOOM! - there is another problem. It's best just to gear up at the outset for a marathon that actually is comprised of one sprint after another. And sometimes it's best to decide not to begin the journey at all if you know that perseverance will be lacking (Seth Godin's book The Dip is an excellent resource here!). And finally...

#5 . “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” — TS Elliot

This is probably the quote I lean on more than any other. Poet TS Elliot nails it on the head - if you want to innovate, you better get used to being uncomfortable. Innovators swim in ambiguity, and often in insecurity, but choose to take risks anyhow. And among the many failures that are inevitable, they grow comfortable with discomfort until they get it right.