Go Make A Ruckus

Happy Memorial Day Monday!  I hope you are having a great holiday weekend.  Today’s quote is a simple yet powerful thought from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.  The idea is pretty clear: if you want to create or do anything interesting, new, or out of the box, you need to prepare yourself to face critics & naysayers.

The future is created by those who can put aside the natural fear of criticism & take the chance to do something special.  Creators do things that they believe in, unafraid of the reactions of others.  Doubt & negativity from others is no reason not to start a great idea.

Let’s look back at two “crazy ideas,” that never would have seen the light of day if their creators had been afraid.

In The Heights – everyone knows about the smash hit musical Hamilton.  Hamilton is Lin Manuel Miranda’s second musical.  His first, In The Heights opened it 2008.  It is an entirely hip-hop ode to the neighborhood he grew up in: Washington Heights.  In the Heights was like nothing ever seen on Broadway at the time.  Imagine the tenacity it took for Miranda to get his story produced and onto the Broadway stage.  I am sure there were plenty of people who thought it had no chance at success.  Good luck getting any of them to admit it now!

Airbnb – Airbnb is the brain child of 2 college buddies who were about to be evicted from their San Fran rental when they came up with the idea.  As meteoric a rise as Airbnb has had, there was a long few years where no one was particularly interested in their idea.  The founders had to persevere through rejection and legal challenges in order to make their company a success.  Today Airbnb is valued at more than Marriott & Hyatt combined.  Oh yeah, they don’t actually own any hotels.

Let’s be clear you don’t need to be a visionary playwright, or a tech company founder to be held back by the fear of criticism.  In my business, I worry all the time about how many great ideas I don’t hear because people are afraid to suggest something out of the box.  If you have an idea at work, say it.  If you have something you want to try, do it.  Don’t let people scare you out of executing a good idea.  Seth Godin writes in Purple Cow that safe is the new risky.  With the pace of change in society playing safe is not what it used to be.  Here is a link to Seth talking about the concept http://99u.com/videos/35027/seth-godin-keep-making-a-ruckus .

Please feel free to add in the comments any “crazy” ideas you can think of that were willed to life by someone strong enough to not let fear of criticism slow them down.

Have a fantastic week!  In Seth’s immortal words: “go make a ruckus.”