“The 'black swan' doesn't appear very often in coin-toss land but in agent based complex systems land, it appears quite a lot.”
— Professor Neil Johnson
Physics professor studying complex systems, crowd behavior, and social networks.

The quote archive

Creativity

A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.

Research shows that two-thirds of employees say that new ideas are greeted with skepticism or outright hostility and only one in ten employees genuinely feel they have the freedom to experiment with new methods, products and solutions.

— Gary Hamel

Management theorist & author who revolutionized strategic thinking

Especially at the beginning, it takes just the right amount of delusion to dedicate yourself to something ambitious. The reality is you're more likely to fail than succeed and so you need strong belief to commit your heart and soul to an idea.

— Perry Chen

Founder of Kickstarter, crowdfunding platform pioneer

I was 5 years old when I went to see it and when I came back, I remember thinking 'that's exactly what I'm going to do, I want to be a film-maker, I want to make people disappear, reappear, sing on screen and make beautiful love story.' That was the moment I decided, and I haven't looked back since.

— Tosca Musk

Producer and Director, known for Tesla and SpaceX documentaries

The greatest film-makers have an ability to work beyond the genre. Kubrick, Scorsese and even the great Ford who made Westerns, but transcended them. There's something about the vision of these film-makers that can use the supporting framework of a genre but create something which appeals to a wider story and audience.

— Paul Greengrass

Director of Bourne action films and political thrillers

I think it's always good to find a film which is a question and an answer. It's hard to do – and often, when you've already decided the answer before you make the film, you'll find the film is less successful. In a funny way- if you can frame your question accurately as something that you don't know the answer to- and use the film as a way of finding the answer- you'll get a more complex and engaging film.

— Paul Greengrass

Director of Bourne action films and political thrillers

The moment I sang and I saw the audience loved it, I felt this powerful electricity all over me, it was like falling in love and knowing my purpose right there and then. I didn't know what journey my dreams would take, but I knew singing filled me up like nothing else could. It felt like a superpower.

— Ally Brooke

Former Fifth Harmony Member & Solo Artist

Creative process by its nature involves figuring out all the things that don't work on your way to figuring out the things that do. You can't have it both ways…

— Seth Godin

Marketing Thought Leader & Author of "The Purple Cow

What it means to be creative is pretty simple. It's to do something human, something generous, something that might not work. It has to be all 3 of those things. You will find creative accountants, politicians, housekeepers and engineers… being creative is to solve interesting problems!

— Seth Godin

Marketing Thought Leader & Author of "The Purple Cow

If you're an artist, you start with catharsis. You have to express your own feelings. I genuinely believe that if music comes from your heart and soul, that people will hear that and will be able to connect with the truth of it.

— Nitin Sawhney

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

Music allows us to express our soul and feelings in a way that's very difficult to replicate with words. I've spent more of my life playing music than I have speaking, and I find it a much more effective way of communicating my feelings and thoughts than words have ever been.

— Nitin Sawhney

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

The process can kill their musicianship. The process can drown-out the music so much that you can't hear it anymore… you end-up so cut off from your intuitive self that it's a series of obstacles playing a piece of music rather than something which is an expression.

— Nicola Benedetti

Scottish violinist & classical music ambassador

I know a lot of people who develop and improve by squeezing more and more out of a repertoire, but the journey of development for me is somewhat opposite to that. I'm trying to let go more and more, to be less controlled and more open… that's where I feel the most impactful storytelling comes from.

— Nicola Benedetti

Scottish violinist & classical music ambassador

When I play, I try to embody the most primal state I can- that's when you're strongest, at your most powerful, intuitive and convincing. Too much information and analysis can actually get in the way of how you would naturally understand and feel your way through the structure of a long, complex piece of music.

— Nicola Benedetti

Scottish violinist & classical music ambassador

If a product is really good, time will give it the justice of beauty -that's real beauty, intelligence beauty, honest beauty.

— Philippe Starck

Renowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design

We have these myths about genius. We think those people have extra powers that we don't... that they were born differently... that they went to the right schools. I wanted to demystify this process. If you don't understand the process, you will never, ever, get there.

— Robert Greene

Author of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist

We have these floods of ideas when we allow ourselves to slow down – you get this pent-up energy that flows out of you.

— Joe Sanok

Founder of Practice of the Practice & Mental Health Business Consultant