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"A leader is best when people barely know that s/he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him/her, worst when they despise him/her. 'Fail to honour people' they fail to honour you.' But of a good leader, who talks little, when his/her work is done, his/her aim fulfilled, they will all say, 'We did this ourselves.'"
Lao Tzu, Chinese founder of Taoism, author (6th Century BC)
A 2005/6 MIT survey of innovation in technology found a number of characteristics common to innovators working in that field..
- They are not troubled by the idea of failure,
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They realise that failure can be learned from and that the 'failed' technology can later be re-used for other purposes,
- They know innovation requires that one works in advanced areas where failure is a real possibility,
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Innovators are curious about what is happening in a myriad of disciplines, not only their own specialism,
- Innovators are open to third-party experiments with their products,
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They recognise that a useful innovation must be "robust", flexible and adaptable,
- Innovators delight in spotting a need that we don't even know we harbor, and then fulfilling that need with a new innovation, and as such
- Innovators like to make products that are immediately useful to their first users
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