Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was a Nobel Prize winning physicist. Like Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson, he was a gifted communicator and much of his advice about science fits perfectly within the world of advertising. For instance, “See failure as beginning.”
See Failure as a Beginning
Feynman said, “Experiment, fail, learn, and repeat.” He knew he would experiment; he knew his experiments would often fail. Advertising is, to a degree, an experimental arena. We have to try new things, and to succeed, we have to be willing to fail. Research can be predictive but is far from perfect. As the saying goes, “The only true test is the marketplace.”
It’s OK Not to Have All the Answers
This applies to leadership and to our industry. No one knows it all. Feynman was comfortable with that. We should be, too. Knowledge is certainly a good thing, but in lieu of having all the answers, cultivate the ability to find them.
Imagination
Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Feynman’s version is softer. Imagination separates the mundane from the magnificent. Leaders in our industry (and pretty much every other industry) should always be encouraging creatives to pursue ideas no matter how farfetched they may seem at first.
Stay Curious
Curiosity didn’t kill the cat; it showed him where the mouse was hiding. The advertising industry and its leaders often rely on the routine, but it’s curiosity that makes things better, finds solutions and increases knowledge. In advertising, we go out of our way to make the consumer curious. We should always encourage our own.