Big companies have trouble with innovation. Innovation is about bad ideas, or ideas that look like bad ideas. That's the fundamental thing.
Interpretation
Innovation often starts with ideas that seem poor or unviable, especially in large companies.
This quote emphasizes that the path to true innovation is often littered with ideas that may initially appear to be bad. In large companies, the bureaucratic structures can stifle creative thinking, making it harder for unconventional ideas to emerge and be explored, which is critical for true innovation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a corporate training session on fostering a culture of creativity.
As a company gets big, the information that informs decision-making gets massive. Depending upon the prism through which you view the business, your perspective will vary. If two people are in charge, this variance will cause conflict and delay.
You read these management books that say, 'These are the hard things about running a company.' But those aren't really the hard things. The hard things are when you have to layoff half your company, or you have to fire your best friend. Or you have to figure out a way not to go bankrupt.
Look - this is the terror of being a founder & CEO. It is all your fault. Every decision, every person you hire, every dumb thing you buy or do - ultimately, you're at the end.
Nobody knows how to be a CEO. It's something you have to learn. It's a very lonely job.
As long as people are clear on what they need to do and what's going on, you're very likely to succeed. When nobody is clear, then you're guaranteed to fail.
I emphasize to C.E.O.s, you have to have a story in the minds of the employees. It's hard to memorize objectives, but it's easy to remember a story.
Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third.
Businesses are not paid to reform customers. They are paid to satisfy customers.
I am confident that partnering my Dollywood Company with a great company like Gaylord will create something truly special.
You say: "I'm a blue sky thinker." Investor thinks: "You have no business model, and you don't know how to ship."
In the long run managements stressing accounting appearance over economic substance usually achieve little of either.
If you aren't committed to diversity of thought, you have no business launching a startup.
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