From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
At Dyson our philosophy has always been to invest in the long term. To power our 25 year pipeline of technology we have just announced a further £1.5 billion investment into new research and development on top of our current spending of £3 million a week. You cannot create disruptive technology without investing heavily in the long term.
By the time you've spoken to the 30th person, you'll have a good idea if your problem is substantial or not. Validation can be pretty straightforward. All it takes is communicating with people.
You must surround yourself with great people, and as you grow, never forget the generosity gene. Building a great team is what this business game is all about. The team with the best players working together wins.
When we were first able to make approximately what our fathers made by doing performance, we considered ourselves completely successful and had no ambition beyond that. If we were playing fairs and cruise ships, we were happy.
This is a really exciting time for human space exploration, we have a lot to be hopeful about – and we have a whole bunch of private companies who have very credible strategies and vehicles. Like in so many other industries, the government has played a key role in kickstarting things – but to realise the full potential of this industry (space) we'll need private industry to get involved seriously; and we're just at the beginning of that journey.
Africa is an enormous continent, larger than the US, China and Europe combined. It represents 20% of the global land mass, and only 10% of the world's population. It offers an un-crowded space of opportunities including minerals, natural resources, water and agriculture.
Diamonds are rare, there haven't been any major finds for over 20years, and there are no major mines on the horizon. Demand- particularly in China and India- is growing rapidly, and in the very near future we will see demand outpace plateauing supply.
This is the equivalent of asking how close we came to falling through a big crack in the Earth when it didn't actually happen. However… going on eyewitness accounts from very informed and non-hysterical observers such as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and others, it looks like we were quite close. When people start talking seriously about some of the biggest banks in the world folding? …That says you're pretty close to a meltdown.
If you are able to share the things you're scared people will find out? That's real transparency, and that's how you earn the trust that transparency can bring, but if it doesn't feel uncomfortable, it's just marketing.
The antithesis of high performance is micromanagement—dictating every aspect of a task. This approach essentially communicates, 'Leave the thinking to me. Just follow orders, and maybe you'll advance.' It stifles creativity and initiative.
The smallest male can be dominant based on his social skills. Think about it; nobody walks into a big store in London and assumes the biggest person is the boss! It might be the old man; it might be the young woman!
A lot of entrepreneurs don't make that switch. They cling to that brand identity of 'I'm an innovator,' still tinkering with the product while everyone else is saying, 'Hey, it's good enough — let's hire our first salesperson.'