Stay Humble and Learn
I don’t think I’ve ever had an original idea in my life. Every idea I’ve ever had, all my learning, has come from other people—from what I’ve read, what I’ve seen, and what I’ve heard. And I think that’s true for all of us.
The notion of the great genius who sits down, thinks for a little bit, and then out of the blue comes up with a never-before-seen, totally out of left field idea is a myth. That’s not the way that learning and innovation and growth really works. All of our great ideas have come in conversation with and building upon ideas and thoughts that others have had before. That’s not a bad thing! It just means that we need to have a real understanding about where “breakthrough” ideas come from.
I have had businesses before where I was the “first” to do something. But it’s not because I invented every single element of the idea. I looked at all kinds of things, and then found creative ways to use those ideas, or new combinations of ideas and things that already existed, to build something meaningful.
If none of my ideas are original to me, then my secret to innovation has been to open myself up to learn as much as I can, from as many people and sources as I can. It’s how I played quarterback in the National Football League. I didn’t just study film (although I did that), and I didn’t just draw up new plays with our coaches and practice them with my teammates (although we did that, too). I also talked to my fellow quarterbacks. When we were playing the Colts, I might call Bart Starr and ask him what he did against the Colts. Another week, I might call Johnny Unitas and ask him for advice. I might talk to Don Meredith another week. And I learned from all these different players, with different styles, playing in different offenses, so that I could learn as much as possible and incorporate lots of ideas to create something that was perfect for our team.
In business, it has been the same way. I talk to everybody. I talk to my employees, who have one perspective. I talk to partners, who have a different perspective. I talk to our customers, and the people who are in the market we want to make customers, and they have another perspective. I talk to competitors. I talk to people who are not even in my industry, but just smart people whose thinking I respect. And at every step along the way, I am getting more information that I can use to make my business as relevant and effective as possible.
It’s also how I approach my personal life. I read both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times every day—two papers with very different viewpoints. I read the people I agree with, and I read the people I disagree with, because I want to see and understand the arguments of both sides. I can understand my own position so much better when I have a real understanding of what both sides are saying—because I know the objections and how to overcome them. And getting all the information I can from every angle helps me to come up with new ideas to support my mission, ideas that I might never have seen otherwise.
To do that, I have to stay humble. I have to go in open to learn and understand. I never assume that I already know the answers. It has been my experience in life that every time I think I have all the answers, something happens to remind me, very convincingly, that I most definitely do not! Above all, I know my core beliefs and principles, my true values, and that helps me to make sense of all the information and learning. I am not worried about losing myself, but I’m open to all the learning I can get, to keep my mind engaged and sharp, ready to make new connections. I believe I can learn something from everyone—even if it’s just “how not to do something,” like Thomas Edison, who tried 10,000 formulas before he developed a successful light bulb but said he wasn’t failing, he had just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work. Every new piece of information helps us get one step closer to the truth.
Stay humble. Keep learning. Engage with people and ideas, and you never know what you might be able to accomplish.
