To achieve big progress, we need really weird people who can challenge the status quo and change the way we think about things. However, as companies get comfortable, they lose their innovative edge and become less adaptable to change.
The podcast hosts discuss the need to continue creating and innovating, and question whether other organizations have looked at Tony Hsieh's success with Zappos as a model.
The episode features stories of technical malfunctions at an event where Farnam Street's The Great Mental Models project is discussed along with one innovator's approach of having different projects to work on.
The innovation in candy has produced numerous flavors whereas ramen noodle flavors tend to be limited. While ramen noodles are primarily consumed by college students and those with low income, candy has a far reaching appeal to various demographics.
Genrikh Atshula, a Soviet inventor, helped the Russian Navy in the Stalinist period to innovate by identifying patents that were not innovations. He created water wings on a train which increased its speed and created a loud noise, and he also believed in nested doll strategy to increase the volume of things without increasing their size.
The spirit of Dogecoin is similar to Elon Musk's combination of humor and extreme ambition in the face of impossible odds, which requires taking bold risks in the space of ideas.
In times of crisis such as the pandemic, occasional disruptions can lead to businesses becoming less risk-averse and more innovative. On the other hand, too much planning and detail can take away the spontaneity that is often required for one to have a good time.
The history of innovation is marked by highly disagreeable people who invented solutions for a problem, just as James Watt invented the horsepower to sell steam engines to mines. Moreover, there are people for whom the idea of electric cars is attractive, but who refuse to join the Tesla cult, creating a whole market for electric cars.
The transcript discusses the story of an innovator and inventor who experienced a big setback in his superconductor work and how he dealt with it, as well as his struggle to get his film scripts produced.
As the internet allows for cross-pollination of ideas like never before, the number of possible pairings grows combinatorially, leading to an explosion of innovation across the planet, especially as the next four billion people come online over the next five years.
