So Good They Can't Ignore You

Where Good Ideas Come From, which I introduced in Rule #4 when talking about his notion of the adjacent possible. According to Johnson, access to new ideas and to the “liquid networks” that facilitate their mixing and matching often provides the catalyst for breakthrough new ideas.

To ensure that I really understand the new idea, I require myself to add a summary, in my own words, to my growing “research bible”

Every week, I expose myself to something new about my field. I can read a paper, attend a talk, or schedule a meeting.

many fans of lifestyle design, who left their traditional jobs to try to make a living on passive income-generating websites. Many of these contrarians quickly discovered that the income-generating piece of that plan doesn’t work well if you don’t have something valuable to offer in exchange for people’s money.

Ben Casnocha, who conceived, sold, and wrote a career-advice book concurrently with my own, allowing us to share numerous useful conversations at all stages of the process.

carve out one walk each day for free-form thinking about the ideas turned up by this background research

you need to be ceaselessly scanning your always-changing view of the adjacent possible in your field, looking for the next big idea. This requires a dedication to brainstorming and exposure to new ideas. Combined, these two commitments describe a lifestyle, not a series of steps that automatically spit out a mission when completed.

identifying a compelling mission once you get to the cutting edge can be seen as investing your career capital to acquire a desirable trait in your career.

and is launched in a venue where such remarking is made