Originals
by Adam Grant
Grant studies people who champion new ideas and finds they are not reckless: they hedge, procrastinate strategically, generate many ideas to find good ones, and build coalitions. The research is well presented and the advice is unexpectedly reassuring to cautious people who assumed originality required abandon.
Read it if…
you have ideas and assume you are too careful to act on them.
Skip it if…
you want a creativity how-to; this is research on originals, not exercises.
Three things you will actually use
- Keep the day job while you test the idea.
- Produce volume; your best idea is rarely your first.
- Recruit allies before you pitch the skeptics.
Do this first
Generate twenty ideas for one problem before evaluating any; quantity is the route to quality.
Our verdict
Reassuring and smart; good for careful people with ambitions.
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