I read Think Like a Startup by Brian Matthews last Thursday and it hasn’t left my head since.  My mind’s just been going over the great ideas and quotes in the entire piece.  I just wanted to share a few with you here.   I highly recommend you check out the whole thing and take a long, hard look at where you stand in libraries.

“We have to exceed our imaginations.  We can’t just find new ways of doing the same old things.  What we really need right now are breakthrough, paradigm-shifting, transformative, and disruptive ideas”

“Perhaps our future isn’t centered around access to content, but rather, the usage of it.  Maybe there is a greater emphasis on community building, connecting people, engaging students, assisting researchers, and advancing knowledge production”

“We can’t hire a few creative and improvisational individuals and expect them to deliver new service models if the work culture is not ready for new service models”

“New ideas are exciting.  You want to launch them as quickly as possible, but often you might feel that “it’s just not ready yet.”  That’s a surefire way to inhibit success.  Instead, distill the concept into a raw form and go with it”

“Realizing you may need to pivot your idea in a new direction is critical toward cultivating innovation.  Let it grow naturally.  Don’t force it to become something it doesn’t want to be”

If you are a bit hesitant about change in the library, read this.  You’ll be inspired to do something important immediately.