The art of good decision making is looking forward to and celebrating the tradeoffs, not pretending they don't exist.

New fashions (of all sorts) come from unexpected places, not from the arbiters of what's correct.

Most people have bosses who hire them to fill a slot in the work chart and to do what they are told. And most people who are doing what they are told feel safe; it feels reliable.

The easiest way to thrive as an outlier is to avoid being one. At least among your most treasured peers. Surround yourself with people in at least as much of a hurry, at least as inquisitive, at least as focused as you are.

Understanding the mythology of your partner, your customer and your audience is far more important than watching the instant replay of what actually happened.

We don't become mediocre all at once, and we rarely do it on purpose.

Instead of working hard to keep their share of a shrinking pie, or working even harder to make sure the industry stays as is, I think the most essential thing legacy book industry players can do is set up independent ventures with great people and little interference and work really hard to put themselves out of business by starting at the bottom, not by reinforcing the top.