Even revolutionary ideas can be crippled by self-doubt. Kate Raworth sketched her now-famous "donut" diagram and immediately dismissed it as "fluffy and fuzzy," hiding it in a desk drawer for months. This reveals the vulnerability innovators feel and the courage required to share a concept that breaks from convention.

Instead of traditional classroom training, Stone would take new salespeople on live sales calls. They'd observe him, attempt a pitch themselves, and receive immediate feedback. This rapid, immersive cycle built competence and confidence quickly, even for those without a college degree.

Don't pitch big ideas by going straight to the CEO for a mandate; this alienates the teams who must execute. Instead, introduce ideas casually to find a small group of collaborative "yes, and" thinkers. Build momentum with this core coalition before presenting the developed concept more broadly.

Traditional economics often repels people with complex math. Economist Kate Raworth intentionally used the simple, non-threatening metaphor of a "donut" for her alternative economic model. This disarmed common fears around the subject and encouraged broader, more accessible engagement.

Encourage team members, not just founders or marketers, to build their personal brands by publicly sharing their learnings and journey. This creates an organic, multi-pronged distribution engine that attracts customers, top talent, and investors. It's a highly underrated and cost-effective go-to-market strategy.

Forcing innovations to "scale" via top-down mandates often fails by robbing local teams of ownership. A better approach is to let good ideas "spread." If a solution is truly valuable, other teams will naturally adopt it. This pull-based model ensures change sticks and evolves.

The young founder hired an experienced executive who became a mentor and effectively his boss. He learned more from observing this leader's actions—how he interacted with people and approached problems—than from direct instruction. This demonstrates the power of learning through osmosis from seasoned operators.

Spreading excellence should not be like applying a thin coat of peanut butter across the whole organization. Instead, create a deep "pocket" of excellence in one team or region, perfecting it there first. That expert group then leads the charge to replicate their success in the next pocket, creating a cascading and more robust rollout.

Richard Thaler realized he couldn't convince his established peers of behavioral economics' merits. Instead, he focused on 'corrupting the youth' by creating a summer camp for top graduate students and writing accessible journal articles. This new generation then populated top universities and changed the field from within.