The Power of Starting Something Stupid: A Book by Richie Norton

Richie Norton, a friend of mine from college, is about to release his first book The Power of Starting Something Stupid: How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen & Live Without Regret.  We caught up recently and I told Richie about my recent involvement in the launch of Dan Pink’s book To Sell is Human.  Richie and I came up with a bunch of great ideas to help launch his book and so he asked me to help promote his book before it becomes available on 5 March 2013.  It’s pretty amazing how successful this book looks like it is going to be – it’s only his first hard copy book!  He published an ebook last year called Resumes are Dead, that book did really well also, and you can pick that up at Amazon.  I got a hard copy of the upcoming book in the mail not long after our chat and I tore through it quickly, becoming familiar with some great new principles from Richie.

What is my intent with, The Power of Starting Something Stupid?

Just like I’ve done with other books like Good to Great or To Sell is Human, I want to share a few of these great principles I’ve become familiar with while reading The Power of Starting Something Stupid (that’s a dang long title so let’s call it PSSS for short).  While I am not yet totally convinced by everything in the book, I have to admit there were multiple times I was so inspired that I stopped reading and took immediate action based on what I had just read.  The inspiration that lead to action is undeniable.  The book has inspired me to short-term and long-term action.  It has motivated me to start pushing on my flywheel, as Jim Collins would say in Good to Great, and do what I can now to live my passions.

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the principles I found valuable in PSSS and encourage you to preorder the book now so you can get the rest of the story and start doing more of the things you love.

What does he mean, The Power of Starting Something Stupid?

Your initial response to the title is likely similar to mine, to pause and try to decipher the intent of the author.  Let me help clarify it for you so you don’t have to leaf through the pages of the book.

Richie explains in the first few pages, “People are innately passionate about certain unique aspects of life...And people are blessed with bouts of clear and concise intuition that drive them toward distinct goals and aspirations within their jobs and their lives as a whole. (You are not excluded from this group.) But people disregard these inspired thoughts, these high-potential opportunities, as ‘just another stupid
idea.'”

Richie argues that these “stupid ideas” are actually some of the best things we have in life and we should follow certain steps to make them realities.  In essence, these “stupid ideas” are what he calls, the New Smart.

My initial response to this idea was to resist.  If everyone took this advice and starting doing something stupid, there would be quite a few problems.  I’m not going to just up and quit my job and start painting because I’m passionate about it – I got kids to feed!  However, that’s not what Richie’s suggesting.

“It’s important to note that the New Smart isn’t being flippant and making decisions without forethought of preparation.  Those types of behaviors would be classified as unhealthy and stupid.  The New Smart is having the ability to discern when the label ‘stupid’ is masking a smart idea.  Embracing the New Smart requires employing ample forethought and preparation, and then committing to move forward against the current of the discouraging and even condemning opinions of others.”

What Richie is suggesting is not the get-rich-quick quit-your-job stuff that I’ve seen peddled through self-help books.  The core of it is about believing in those great ideas you have and actually doing it.  It’s like putting your hand on the flywheel Jim Collins talks about and actually pushing.

If you’ve read this far, be careful and be warned.  The rest of the book will likely compel you to make some exciting decisions.  And I hope it does.  But the first step, is to preorder the book.  The next post will be about the three biggest excuses we make for not pursuing our “stupid” ideas: the lack of time, education, and money.