One of the most important qualities for leaders is the capacity for vision. Extraordinary leaders, however, are visionaries. The dilemma for visionaries is that they often are ahead of their time. Leaders with vision see the horizons and lead people there. Visionary leaders see beyond the horizon and try to communicate to those they lead vistas of places yet unseen and possibilities of things not yet realized. It’s hard enough for leaders with a vision; they need to be resilient in the face of resistance. For visionary leaders, it’s harder. They need to change people’s perception of what is possible, and they need courage to commit to persistence of vision in the face of incredulity.
Often, those most unable to change their perception when faced with the visionary are the experts and insiders. They tend to be committed to the orthodoxy of the guild, limited by an inability to challenge beliefs, protective of privileges, perks, and position, and bound by the myopic power of homeostasis. This frustrating state of affairs makes for good drama and amusing stories when visionaries are able to prove the experts wrong.
“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil, 1859
“Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.” Pierre Packed, Professor Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon”. Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” Western Union internal memo, 1876.
“Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.” Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
“Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.” The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
“But what… Is it good for?” Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM commenting on the micro chip, 1968.
“So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.'” Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer.
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.”-A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.).
“If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.” Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” note pads.
“You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can’t be done. It’s just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.” Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the “unsolvable” problem by founding Nautilus.
“A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.” Response to Debbi Fields’ idea of starting Mrs. Fields’ Cookies.
“Who in their right mind would ever need more than 640k of ram!?” Bill Gates, 1981.
