As we enter the final stretch of 2009, it’s a good time for reflection. To spark some new ideas – and maybe a New Year’s resolution or two? – we’ve collected some of our favorite tidbits of unconventional wisdom from thinkers and doers past and present:
“The things we fear most in organizations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary sources of creativity.” –Margaret J. Wheatley
“Going with the flow is a euphemism for failing.” –Seth Godin
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” –Chuck Close
“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.” –John Kenneth Galbraith
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” –Erich Fromm
"Saints are sinners who kept on going.” –Robert Louis Stevenson
“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” –Albert Einstein
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”–James Baldwin
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald
***This post by J.K. Glei is based on research by the Behance team. Behance runs the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.