At the end of The Everyday Innovator podcast, the interviewee shares a quote related to innovation. Here is a selection of my favorites.
Understanding the Problem
A problem well stated is a problem half solved. ~Charles Kettering, General Motors
Customers aren’t looking for a 1/4 inch drill, they are looking for a 1/4 inch hole. ~Ted Levitt
If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend the first 55 minutes defining the problem. ~Albert Einstein
Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers. ~Voltaire
Love the problem, not the solution. ~Ash Maurya
Thinking Differently
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. ~John Cage
I have no special talent, I am just passionately curious. ~Albert Einstein
Sometimes we focus on the door that has just closed, and miss the door that just opened. ~Braden Kelley
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. ~Edward de Bono
Whenever I go on a ride, I’m always thinking of what’s wrong with the thing and how it can be improved. ~Walt Disney
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought. ~Albert Szent-Györgyi (discovered vitamin C)
Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way. ~Tom Freston
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. ~Henry Ford
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for people telling you that you are nuts. ~Larry Ellison
Being Customer-Focused
How will you know how to speak to your customers if you never speak to your customers? ~Will Evans
There is only one boss, the customer. ~Sam Walton
You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You cannot start with the technology and try to figure out where you are going to sell it. ~Steve Jobs
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. ~C.S. Lewis
There are three core skills at the heart of successful innovation: powerful questions, deep listening, and the ability to empathize. ~Chuck Appleby
Simplicity
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. ~Antoine de St. Exupery
Any product that needs a manual to work is broken. ~Elon Musk
Any fool can make things bigger [and] more complex. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction. ~Albert Einstein
The Importance of Shipping
If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late. ~Reid Hoffman
Perfect is the enemy of good. ~Voltaire
Innovation is rewarded. Execution is worshipped. ~Danny Gilbert
Persevering
Successful people aren’t afraid to fail. They’re afraid of not trying. ~Dana A. Oliver
There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. ~Zig Ziglar
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. ~Winston Churchill
The struggling moment is the seed of innovation. ~Bob Moesta
I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways it won’t work. ~Thomas Edison
You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. ~Art Fry (Post-it Notes creator)
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
No transformative innovation has had a return in the first year. ~Mark Johnson, Innosight
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right. ~Henry Ford
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. ~Milton Berle
We are kept from our goals not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal. ~Robert Brault
Being Nimble
The degree of innovation in your company is inversely proportional to the number of signatures it takes to get the funding to try something different. ~Anonymous
And when the devil saw them making progress, he grinned, and invented committees. ~Todd Dewett
It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission. ~Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Hopper (programming visionary)
Change before you have to. ~Jack Welch