Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life

by Ozan Varol

For example, the TV show Seinfeld performed abysmally before test audiences.47 When creating the show’s premise, the producers asked a question we encountered in an earlier chapter: “What if we did the opposite of what everyone else is doing?” At the time, the sitcom playbook was set in stone. A group of characters would run into problems, resolve those problems, learn something from the experience, and hug each other. From the get-go, Seinfeld producers were clear on their mission. They would flip the script. There would be no hugging. There would be no learning. The characters on Seinfeld would draw laughs from constantly repeating their mistakes and overlooking their own faults. In case there was any confusion, the writers wore jackets that said No Hugging, No Learning. But test audiences, accustomed to the standard sitcom playbook, were expecting lots of hugging and learning. As a result, Seinfeld was a spectacular failure in focus groups. Yet the show went on to become one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.