Stop Trying So Hard: The Key to Breakthroughs

You can’t reason your way to a breakthrough. You might think that you can systematically think your way there. Scan the market, identify gaps, and voilà! A big, disruptive idea. A to B to breakthrough. Except it almost never works that way.

Consider the stories you know about breakthroughs. Archimedes in the bathtub. Newton under an apple tree. Alexander Fleming and his moldy bread. Or even the Pfizer scientists and Viagra. Brilliant people who changed the world accidentally. Sure, they thought a lot about the problems they were trying to solve, but it took serendipity to help them get there.

I've learned this the hard way. I've been ultra-disciplined and tried to factor my way to big, disruptive ideas for weeks or even months — particularly when I'm working with fancy organizations or people with lots of credentials. But time and again, I can't get there until I stop trying so hard and instead go deep on something unrelated. For the future of Jewish life in America, it was punk rock. For the efficacy of the United Nations, it was family dynamics.

Artists get this. Writers, painters, and composers call it inspiration, and they’re not nearly as finicky about where their breakthroughs come from. The lesson is this: big ideas are unpredictable, so think accordingly. Dig into something unrelated. It really doesn't matter what. Trying to make sense of something new will help you make novel connections and see more possibilities.