The Crazy Ones

Published 20051206 by Olivier Blanchard | E-mail this post

Hop on over to Kathy Sierra's blog for her post on bravery, confidence, and getting past the paralysis of uncertainty. Very cool stuff, as always:

"If your new Big Idea doesn't scare the hell out of you, it's probably not
a new Big Idea. If it doesn't scare other people, it might be because you
allowed the consensus (or what you imagined as the consensus) to smooth
the pointy bits, buffing and polishing the idea into a nice safe state that
displeases nobody and delights nobody."
(...)
"But--if we let the critics (or fear of criticism) talk us out of an idea
we still believe in, the world will be more homogeneous. Smoother. Less
interesting. Imagine where we'd be if people throughout history had always given
in to the critics (or fear of critics). Imagine the ideas that would have been
lost if others hadn't been brave enough to stand up against smart people who
disagreed. Nature needs change and diversity, but humans tend to favor the
status quo."

... Well, not all humans. Some of us are wired a little bit differently. It isn't so much that we're difficult. We really aren't. It's just in our DNA to a) figure out ways to make things better for people around us, and b) to find ways to take these ideas and actually make them happen.

We just want faster wheels. Safer helmets. Sharper pictures. Easier web interfaces. Cleaner fuels. Smarter workspaces. Softer beds. Fun retail spaces. Cheaper orbiters. More powerful telescopes. Tastier drive-thru coffee. Food, clean water and medicine for every human being on the planet. Better advertising. Put simply, we have the skills to make these things happen, and don't feel like waiting for someone else to get around to it.

Kathy posted a link to the very cool ode to "The Crazy Ones", from Apple. Remember the ad? If not, maybe this will refresh your memory:

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Amen.