Tina Seelig: The little risks you can take to increase your luck
Tina Seelig teaches innovation and entrepreneurship and is passionate about creative problem-solving. Full bio
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luckier than others
increase their luck.
that most new ventures fail,
need all the luck they can get.
apparently caused by chance.
that come into play to make people lucky.
that you didn't even imagine.
three things with you
to capture the winds of luck.
with yourself.
that get you out of your comfort zone.
we do this all the time.
to learn how to walk or talk
who doesn't ride a bike
out of our comfort zone
the sense of who we are
giving them encouragement
and take some risks.
fill out a risk-o-meter.
we developed in our class
they're willing to take.
and physical risks and financial risks
and ethical risks and political risks.
their risk profiles with others,
that they're all really different.
out of their comfort zone.
to do an intellectual risk
they haven't tried before;
sitting next to them on the train;
they really care about how they feel.
I was on an airplane,
on my way to Ecuador.
put on my headphones
with the man sitting next to me.
and I learned that he was a publisher.
a fascinating conversation.
of the publishing industry.
of the way through the flight,
and I shared with him a book proposal
I was doing in my class.
this isn't right for us,
we exchanged contact information.
I reached out to him,
like to come to my class?
on reinventing the book,
We had a great experience.
a bunch of video clips
the students had done,
I was a little bit hurt.
with my students and not with me,
and he and his colleagues came to Stanford
and afterwards, we had lunch together.
considered writing a book?"
over a million copies around the world.
from a series of small risks I took,
you're the most unlucky person,
that get you out of your comfort zone.
with other people.
who helps you on your journey
in getting you to your goals.
on themselves or someone else,
what they're doing.
programs at Stanford,
to those students who don't get in,
people who are disappointed.
send me notes, complaining.
more successful next time around?
thanking me for the opportunity.
sent me a beautiful note saying,
from this program twice,
for the opportunity.
through the process of applying."
the graciousness of his message
and cooked up an idea
on looking at leadership in that context.
incredibly well through that quarter,
that he started working on
into a company called Play for Tomorrow,
from disadvantaged backgrounds
craft the lives they dream to live.
the winds of luck
that we didn't expect in the first place.
of the last couple of years,
some tactics for my own life
of every single day,
and I review all the people I met with,
to every single person.
and appreciative,
it has increased my luck.
and get out of your comfort zone.
your relationship with ideas.
that come there way and they judge them.
or "That's a terrible idea."
are often something truly remarkable.
in my classes on creativity
of looking at terrible ideas
for a brand new restaurant.
with the best ideas for a new restaurant
a restaurant on a mountaintop
with a gorgeous view.
a restaurant in a garbage dump,
that's really dirty,
cockroach sushi.
and throw them away.
and redistribute them.
that another team thought was horrible,
into something brilliant.
"This is a fabulous idea."
before they pitch the idea to the class.
What does that turn into?
from Michelin star restaurants
at a much lower price,
with terrible service?
that's a training ground
how to avoid all the pitfalls.
and exotic ingredients.
really innovative around you,
that have changed our life,
that when they pitched to other people,
it will never work."
were born into terrible circumstances,
or something terrible.
and show appreciation
even if they're crazy,
to catch the winds of luck.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tina Seelig - EducatorTina Seelig teaches innovation and entrepreneurship and is passionate about creative problem-solving.
Why you should listen
Tina Seelig is Professor of the Practice in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. She is also a faculty director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, the entrepreneurship center at Stanford School of Engineering. Trained as a neuroscientist, with a PhD from Stanford School of Medicine, Seelig has always been interested in how we think, especially how we come up with bold new ideas.
Seelig runs several fellowship programs that focus on entrepreneurial leadership and teaches classes in the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, also know as the d.school. Her highly-experiential classes are crafted to explore factors that contribute to creativity and innovation in individuals and groups within organizations, with an emphasis on how to frame and reframe problems, challenge assumptions, and generate innovative ideas.
After earning her PhD, Seelig was a management consultant and entrepreneur. She is the author of 17 books, including What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20, inGenius and Creativity Rules. She is the recipient of the Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering, recognizing her as a national leader in engineering education, as well as the Olympus Innovation Award and the Silicon Valley Visionary Award.
Tina Seelig | Speaker | TED.com