Ally Dowsing-Reynolds's Key Ideas from Originals
by Adam M. Grant

In every field, even the most eminent creators typically produce a large quantity of work that's technically sound but considered unremarkable by experts and audiences.

If you want to be original, "the most important possible thing you could do," says Ira Glass, the producer of This American Life and the podcast Serial, "is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work."

Many people fail to achieve originality because they generate a few ideas and then obsess about refining them to perfection.

When we've developed an idea, we're typically too close to our own tastes, and too far from the audience's taste, to evaluate it accurately. We're giddy from the thrill of the eureka moment or the triumph of overcoming an obstacle.

The most accurate predictors of whether a video would get liked, shared, and funded were peers evaluating one another.

Instead of attempting to assess our own originality or seeking feedback from managers, we ought to turn more often to our colleagues.