Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant. This was a very relaxing read, not a lot of deep thinking to the book. Adam is a good storyteller. Originals addresses challenges to improve the world by simply being an original thinker willing to defy accepted practices, or wisdom by others.
Adam shares upfront how he ‘missed the boat’ on investing with the founders of Warby Parker. He was teaching the four at Wharton Business School.
However they did not quit grad school and go for broke to launch their company. They actually landed other internships, which leads one to think they did not truly believe in their idea.
When GQ called them the Netflix of eyewear, we like cheering for the underdog. The Italian company Luxottica, was the ruling king of eyeware and owned LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Ray-Ban, and Oakley, and the licenses for Chanel and Prada. David versus Goliath?
You just needed a well designed visual website, which Adam admits the four left to the very last day before launch. Fair to say luck factored into much of their success.
Adam fails to account for the accepted explosion of eCommerce in society. We all know by now that by 2010 the ‘Amazon-ification’ of just about every product that could be sold online was well accepted. Adam shares the personal compelling story, yet anyone would have been the next Warby Parker.
Originals has good insights to the Segway failure. Dean Kamen’s reputation in medical device success did not translate into a consumer transportation success. Again the failure was attributed to the price-point. The irony has been learning this week (reading this book) the Chinese company that today owns Segway announced it will no longer be manufactured. Forbes article about the demise of the Segway.
Good lessons on how Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos and John Doerr hyped the Segway beyond their known product markets. Jobs spoke about Segway’s development, code named “Ginger” during a MacWorld event that further hyped the machine before the official launch.
To be honest Originals has hits and misses. The story regarding the type of web browser used at work dictates how ‘professional’ you are? This is like comparing the success of writing a book based upon the author using a pen versus pencil. Does not make an impact. Yet overall an easy read. This must be the seventh book to mention Daniel Kahneman repeatedly….maybe consider his book instead.
The surprising habits of original thinkers | Adam Grant
92nd Street Y | Adam Grant and Malcolm Gladwell: Originals—How Nonconformists Move the World
The Aspen Institute | Originals: How Nonconformists Move the World