“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.
“Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."
When I feel vulnerable about the possibility of failure, I try to remember this quote. I try to remember that vulnerability and connection are the heart of innovation. Maybe the greatest lesson on creativity that I've learned from the research is this: When failure is not an option, neither is innovation. Steve Jobs lived that truth.
How could I not add my voice to the many appreciations of Steve Jobs being offered today? Before I heard the news yesterday, I had actually watched a video from 1987, the Apple Knowledge Navigator, which blew me away the first time I saw it and now I know was uncannily accurate. The vision, the persistence to stick to it, the ability to make it happen that Jobs had are amazing. But Steve knew his role and acknowledged in his commencement address at Stanford that he would eventually give way to new generations of leaders.
Of all the things I've seen today, this quotation and tribute by Brene Brown is my favorite, I think. Also notable are the person who wrote" iThank you," Roget Von Oech's observation that he finally understood why Apple called its new iPhone the 4S—it's for Steve, and Steve's own closing words from that Stanford address—"Stay hungry; stay foolish."
There's a remarkable image offered in tribute at Brene's blog.