‘Hell, There Are No Rules Here — We’re Trying To Accomplish Something’


Creativity isn’t an exact science, and sometimes you have to break the rules to come up with innovative solutions. Thomas Edison knew that. In his lab, he didn’t bother with strict rules or regulations.

Picture: Kevin Galens/Flickr

When a new worker came in to work for Edison, he asked Edison what rules he should follow. The new workers was a bit surprised by Edison’s response:

I approached him in a humble spirit: “Mr. Edison, please tell me what laboratory rules you want me to observe.” And right then and there I got my first surprise. He spat in the middle of the floor and yelled out,

“Hell! there ain’t no rules around here! We are tryin’ to accomplish somep’n!”

Of course, the general rule of Edison’s lab was if Thomas Edison was working, so were you. But the point is that rules and boundaries often block innovation. Sometimes, you just have to let them go to really get something done.

Accomplish Something [Swissmiss]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


2 responses to “‘Hell, There Are No Rules Here — We’re Trying To Accomplish Something’”

Leave a Reply