It is said that Steve Jobs created this saying for Apple Computer employees…
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do…
I of course love this quote. To me it means authenticity, being who you really are. In fact, we are all a little crazy. We are born not knowing judgement. Somewhere along the way, probably around elementary school, we start modifying our personality to fit in with the other kids. I hated watching my kids try to conform, I hated doing it myself. The problem is, some of us never stop trying to fit in. Instead of looking inside and admiring our genius, we stay safe holding on to what others want to see in us. I heard someone say, “don’t die with the light inside you.” I have heard it said another way, “don’t leave without giving your gift away.” You can’t give away your gifts if they are cemented over with other peoples beliefs about you.
I say the crazier the better, at least it won’t be boring, nothing worse than being bored to death. I’m have met some people who have conformed so much to they look and act like robots. They say all the right things, they look just right but they take few risks. To talk with them feels kind of shallow. They protect themselves from any real depth of conversation. I find myself trying to get them to take some small risks with me (probably one of my many flaws.) If I can’t get them to open up a little, I usually don’t spend a lot of time with them.
Being a little crazy is OK. It probably means that you trust yourself enough to be who you are and trust others to respect you. This allows you to offer up your gifts to the world more freely. Just think about what could be accomplished if you could get several kinda crazy people in the same room to invent something new. I guarantee they will come out with something fresh and original. The opposite happens when you get everybody who has conformed in the same room. They won’t trust themselves or each other to say what they really think. No risk … no reward.. staying safe won’t get the job done. It will turn out to be another boring unoriginal uninteresting meeting.
WE NEED MORE originals, we need more authenticity, we need more integrity, we need more risk takers, we need more transparency and we need more crazy people. Here’s to the crazy ones…
