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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Robert Iger
Read between
July 24 - July 31, 2023
The path to innovation begins with curiosity.
Those hours aren’t for everyone, but however you find the time, it’s vital to create space in each day to let your thoughts wander beyond your immediate job responsibilities, to turn things over in your mind in a less pressured, more creative way than is possible once the daily triage kicks in.
Innovate or die, and there’s no innovation if you operate out of fear of the new or untested.
Instead, it’s about creating an environment in which you refuse to accept mediocrity. You instinctively push back against the urge to say There’s not enough time, or I don’t have the energy, or This requires a difficult conversation I don’t want to have, or any of the many other ways we can convince ourselves that “good enough” is good enough.
Japanese word shokunin, which is “the endless pursuit of perfection for some greater good.”
In your work, in your life, you’ll be more respected and trusted by the people around you if you honestly own up to your mistakes.
True authority and true leadership come from knowing who you are and not pretending to be anything else.
I’ve found that often people will focus on little details as a way of masking a lack of any clear, coherent, big thoughts. If you start petty, you seem petty.
Managing your own time and respecting others’ time is one of the most vital things to do as a manager, and he was horrendous at it.
A company’s culture is shaped by a lot of things, but this is one of the most important—you have to convey your priorities clearly and repeatedly.
Don’t let your ego get in the way of making the best possible decision.
One of the things I’ve always instinctively felt—and something that was greatly reinforced working for people like Roone and Michael—is that long shots aren’t usually as long as they seem.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.”
But being present for your people—and making sure they know that you’re available to them—is so important for the morale and effectiveness of a company.
Managing creativity is an art, not a science. When giving notes, be mindful of how much of themselves the person you’re speaking to has poured into the project and how much is at stake for them.
A little respect goes a long way, and the absence of it can be very costly.
