Flow efficiency is not about increasing the speed of value-adding activities. It is about maximizing the density of the value transfer and eliminating non-value-adding activities.
“We become so caught up in our big problems that we ignore the little ones, failing to realize that some of our small problems will have long-term consequences—and are, therefore, big problems in the making.”
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
“Yet randomness remains stubbornly difficult to understand. The problem is that our brains aren’t wired to think about it. Instead, we are built to look for patterns in sights, sounds, interactions, and events in the world. This mechanism is so ingrained that we see patterns even when they aren’t there. There is a subtle reason for this: We can store patterns and conclusions in our heads, but we cannot store randomness itself. Randomness is a concept that defies categorization; by definition, it comes out of nowhere and can’t be anticipated. While we intellectually accept that it exists, our brains can’t completely grasp it, so it has less impact on our consciousness than things we can see, measure, and categorize.”
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
“It simply doesn’t occur to them that after they get promoted to a leadership position, no one is going to come out and say, “Now that you are a manager, I can no longer be as candid with you.” Instead, many new leaders assume, wrongly, that their access to information is unchanged. But that is just one example of how hidden-ness affects a manager’s ability to lead.”
― Creativity, Inc.: an inspiring look at how creativity can - and should - be harnessed for business success by the founder of Pixar
― Creativity, Inc.: an inspiring look at how creativity can - and should - be harnessed for business success by the founder of Pixar
“Your employees are smart; that’s why you hired them. So treat them that way. They know when you deliver a message that has been heavily massaged. When managers explain what their plan is without giving the reasons for it, people wonder what the “real” agenda is. There may be no hidden agenda, but you’ve succeeded in implying that there is one. Discussing the thought processes behind solutions aims the focus on the solutions, not on second-guessing. When we are honest, people know it.”
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
“I heard a delightful—and possibly apocryphal—story about what happened when the British introduced golf to India in the 1820s. Upon building the first golf course there, the Royal Calcutta, the British discovered a problem: Indigenous monkeys were intrigued by the little white balls and would swoop down out of the trees and onto the fairways, picking them up and carrying them off. This was a disruption, to say the least. In response, officials tried erecting fences to keep the monkeys out, but the monkeys climbed right over. They tried capturing and relocating the monkeys, but the monkeys kept coming back. They tried loud noises to scare them away. Nothing worked. In the end, they arrived at a solution: They added a new rule to the game—“Play the ball where the monkey drops it.”
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
― Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
Greater Sum
— 2 members
— last activity Aug 24, 2015 06:19PM
Reading List and Discussion Forum for members of the Greater Sum community (students, alumni, partners)
Mike’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Mike’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Mike
Lists liked by Mike













































