Released Monday, January 19, 2026
Rule No. 6 — Your first idea is rarely your best.
Rule No. 6 summary: Great ideas emerge after rethinking and refining initial concepts, proving that persistence and revision often lead to better solutions. The most original thinkers don’t settle for their first solution—they generate many. Great ideas often emerge later in the creative process, after initial concepts have been tested, challenged, or discarded. Quantity breeds quality when you’re willing to rethink, revise, and persist beyond what’s obvious.
Why This Is Rule No. 6?
Because most leadership mistakes don’t come from bad intent—they come from locking in too early. Rule No. 6 is the moment where discipline matters: slowing down just enough to challenge the first answer before it hardens into strategy. Get this wrong, and every rule that follows is built on a weak foundation.
WEEK 3 Ask Yourself —
Where in your organization are decisions being made too quickly—built on the first idea that hits the table?
WEEK 3 Recommended Reading —
Originals by Adam Grant
“The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they’re the ones who try the most.” — Adam Grant
WEEK 3 Action Step —
Come up with three new variations on a current project before finalizing your plan.
Full Access to Rule No. 6
- Originals Summary
- Key Executive Takeaways
- Leadership Team Discussion Prompts
- Rules to Results 45min Workshop
- Red Flags
- Actionable Strategies
- Real World Scenarios
- Member Insights
- + more
This Rule isn’t finished—and it never will be. Business changes, leaders learn, and our Members keep sharpening the edges with real stories and hard-won lessons.
What you see here is today’s version. Tomorrow’s will be better, clearer, and backed by even more field-tested experience.
How do creative people come up with great ideas? Organizational psychologist Adam Grant studies “originals”: thinkers who dream up new ideas and take action to put them into the world. In this talk, learn three unexpected habits of originals — including embracing failure. “The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they’re the ones who try the most,” Grant says. “You need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones.”
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