Top Thoughts for January 26, 2023
IShared DEAS has the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage:
Niccolò Machiavelli to resist change:
“It should be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, or more dangerous to manage than a new system. Because the promoter has a hatred of all who profit by preserving the old institution and are only lukewarm defenders of those who gain the new.”
Source: The Prince Translated by Thomas G. Bergin (1947)
George Steele and Paul Kircher in innovation:
“Picture a man who manages weapons for a king in the Middle Ages. If he is scientifically minded, he tries to improve his bows and arrows by working on different parts of the product. The researcher may be assigned to study the properties of feathers. He will try to improve the type of birds, study the feather selection, and storage, investigate whether they should be trimmed ½- or ¾-inch wide, etc. . This man will conduct what many call ‘scientific research’ for years. He may achieve many improvements, which will give arrows better strength and accuracy; but what are the chances that such a man can invent a gun? If he hears about one, chances are he will do everything to point out how unstable and dangerous it is to carry a powder horn, how inaccurate the bags are on g gun, and several families depended on the chicken feather business for their livelihood. .”
Source: The Crisis We Face: Automation and the Cold War
Check out these ideas every Thursday on Top Blog. Find more ideas at Leading Thoughts index.


Posted by Michael McKinney at 06:44 AM
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