Bastille Day — Think Independent Thoughts

Bonne Fête Nationale to my french family and friends. On this day that celebrates so much for France, one thought for me is simply this. Think Independent Thoughts.

My “six most dangerous words in business” are:

• We’ve
• Always
• Done
• It
• This
• Way

Sometimes our best choice is to agree with others, but there is also great value in thinking independently, thinking differently. After all, if you use my definition of innovation being simply: “doing different things and doing things differently”, that all starts with thinking independent thoughts.

Beyond that, as Oscar Wilde said: “Be yourself; everybody else is taken”.

So, a few quotes on independent thinking to muse on today:

“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

Albert Einstein

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.”

Bob Marley

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.”

Robert Louis Stevenson