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One of my all-time favourite books is “Originals” by Adm Grant is a book about how to be original. Grant discusses the qualities of original people, generating and recognizing original ideas, communicating original ideas, the timing of getting an original idea into the world, nurturing originality from childhood on up, the issues of groupthink, making decisions, building coalitions, challenging the status quo, and so much more.
Original people also tend to produce a lot, which gives them a better probability of producing something truly amazing. They often have creative hobbies, such as music, arts, crafts, writing, or dance, that can serve as a source of creative insight. They question the defaults and don’t take the status quo for granted.
Idea generation isn’t the issue.
“But in reality, the biggest barrier to originality is not idea generation — it’s idea selection.”
Most people are overconfident about their abilities, the importance of their ideas, and their potential for success. I guffawed at this statistic Grant shared: “College professors: 94 per cent rate themselves as doing above average work.” Hah!
Judging your ideas can be tricky. Grant says your intuition and gut feelings can actually be accurate — but only when you’ve trained your brain properly. If you have the relevant expertise, let your brain do it. If not, then intuition is just as likely to lead you astray. Peer judgments about ideas can also be…
