From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Individuals who are creative are sensitive, they can be vulnerable and can take things incredibly personally – often they are putting the rawest version of themselves out there so when that's criticised it can be really difficult and damaging. We try to put ourselves in our client's shoes and champion empathy as a team.
Innovation is not about products or scientific laboratories- it is also about governance, education and everything we do as people. It is not about scientists alone innovating.
I give all of you permission whereby, if I change the way I behave, my beliefs, the way we are going, I give you permission to hit me in my face, you need to bring me back to reality.
Only a handful of diplomats and governments are prepared to put the global good before the national interest. Seldom is it the case for any diplomat that they put the global good high up on the agenda; in my career I've seen it very rarely.
There are really only three types of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, 'What happened?' Which group would you rather be in?
The way you eliminate fear is to approach your situation from every angle, almost as though it were a logic puzzle. It's also setting a goal but not being afraid to back away if you think that you're going to do irreversible damage on the way there.
I believe that you have to keep asking questions, and that there's no such thing as a negative question. It's all learning.
Everyone in a high functioning organisation is simultaneously a teacher and a student. They will have been taught by others, and will be teaching others.
The key for young individuals is to balance seeking wisdom from those who have preceded them—being open and receptive, yet not confusing confidence with arrogance—while offering their insights and ideas for collaboration.
I tell people to activate their inner honey badger. Even your professor should not be free from criticism.
When I set a goal for myself, and achieve that goal, that's what winning is to me. When you set out on that yellow-brick-road of life to fulfil your goals, just be the best you can be – and whether that means you finish as champion, first, second, tenth, whatever… if you've done your best? You're winning.
The idea that you will sit down with someone who's had 30 or 40 years of lived experience in a particular situation, and has been conditioned to analyze the world that way, and then somehow get them to change their mind in one sitting is implausible.