A note from Daniel

Dunbar's research suggests one vaguely reassuring thought: even with all the advanced technology of a leading molecular biology lab, the most productive tool for generating good ideas remains a circle of humans at a table, talking shop. The lab meeting creates an environment where new combinations can occur, where information can spill over from one project to another.

Daniel Where Good Ideas Come From, page 61 · February 15, 2024 Save to shelf

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Daniel p. 246

Go for a walk; cultivate hunches; write everything down, but keep your folders messy; embrace serendipity; make generative mistakes; take on multiple hobbies; frequent coffeehouses and other liquid networks; follow the links; let others build on your ideas; borrow, recycle, reinvent. Build a tangled bank.

Daniel Feb 15, 2024

Daniel p. 245

Ideas rise in crowds. They rise in liquid networks where connection is valued more than protection. So if we want to build environments that generate good ideas-whether those environments are in schools or corporations or governments or our own personal lives we need to keep that history in mind, and not fall back on the easy assumptions that competitive markets are the only reliable source of good ideas.

Daniel Feb 15, 2024

Daniel p. 183

The platform builders and ecosystem engineers do not just open a door in the adjacent possible. They build an entire new floor.

Daniel Feb 15, 2024

Daniel p. 172

Legendary innovators like Franklin, Snow, and Darwin all possess some common intellectual qualities a certain quickness of mind, unbounded curiosity— but they also share one other defining attribute. They have a lot of hobbies.

Daniel Feb 15, 2024

Daniel p. 171

Apple calls it concurrent or parallel production. All the groups— design, manufacturing, engineering, sales meet continuously through the product-development cycle, brainstorming, trading ideas and solutions, strategizing over the most pressing issues, and generally keeping the conversation open to a diverse group of per-spectives. The process is noisy and involves far more open-ended and contentious meetings than traditional production cycles— and far more dialogue between people versed in different disciplines,

Daniel Feb 15, 2024

Daniel p. 166

entrepreneurs who built bridges outside their "islands," as Ruef called them, were able to borrow or co-opt new ideas from these external environments and put them to use in a new context.

Daniel Feb 15, 2024

More from Daniel

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Ultra Successful p. 61

when you study people who've created extraordinary lives, you realize they didn't follow templates for career paths and lifestyles; they designed their own blueprint.

Daniel Aug 12, 2026

Ultra Successful p. 60

The False Constraints That Limit Your Potential: - The Size of Your Opportunities I see that the most successful people swing big, even when they have no business taking those swings, and they often land The difference between you and them is your "willingness" to believe you belong in bigger conversations.

Daniel Aug 12, 2026

Ultra Successful p. 60

The False Constraints That Limit Your Potential: - How Quickly You Can Scale Whether it's your business or your career, there are unspoken timelines that people accept as gospel.They are all untrue: "You can only really grow at 10% a year." "You need to pay your dues for a decade before getting promoted." These artificial limits keep people moving at a crawl when they could be sprinting or pushing for more. The most successful people I know refuse to accept conventional wisdom about timelines, and oddly enough, they break them all the time.

Daniel Aug 12, 2026

Atomic Habits 0

• Being motivated and curious counts for more than being smart because it leads to action. • It is desire, not intelligence, that prompts behavior.

Daniel Aug 12, 2026

Ultra Successful p. 54

Our limits lie in our thinking. You need to root them out and rework them. A lack of self-belief will fundamentally change how you direct your actions...across all facets of your life. The person who thinks they "might not be capable" of being the next CTO will fill themselves with anxiety and be less likely to take any chances, even if they get there. Chances that might showcase their talents and make them outstanding in their work.

Daniel Aug 11, 2026

Ultra Successful p. 54

Keeping the Fire, Slaying the Dragon (Part II) - People won't promote or fund me vs I AM JUST TALKING TO THE WRONG PEOPLE - I'm not built like X person vs I CAN LEVERAGE WHAT / KNOW TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN - My company isn't built for distance vs I CAN ARCHITECT THIS TO GO WHERE I WANT - These might not work vs I WILL PUT THIS INTO THE WORLD AND SEE WHAT COMES

Daniel Aug 11, 2026

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