I think society as a whole is trapped by the fallacy that logic always beats emotion. This conviction stifles innovation, removes personal responsibility and harms our wellbeing. The best people I know are able to mix logic with emotion.

"When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity."

— Dale Carnegie

Companies invest a great deal of money in ensuring they make logical decisions. Large companies believe the only good decisions are based on facts. The problem is that in most situations there is not enough information to make a logical decision. Instead, you have to resort to emotion and ethics.

Innovation to me is the process of willing something new into existence against all odds. It’s an emotional process, just as much as a logical one. Bringing something completely new into the world requires faith. You have to believe that your idea will lead to something worthwhile. There will never be enough facts to know for sure.

Risk and reward are closely connected for exactly this reason. Risk is exposing yourself to uncertainty and danger. You might be wrong, but if you are not, you have a chance to win big. If you completely remove risk from decisions, you will drastically reduce the potential returns. Being afraid of being wrong or failing will hold you back.

I encourage everyone who works for me to make risky decisions. Believe in something. Try something new. I will reward courage as much as success. If you do your homework, gather facts, make a decision and own it, I will support you no matter the outcome.

Hesitating and delaying is much more costly than moving forward with the belief it will work out!

Happy New Year!