Grace Hopper Quotes

The willingness to experiment with change may be the most essential ingredient to success at anything.

Part of being innovative in government is sometimes not trying to plot out the last chapter of the book, but to be open and see what comes back.

I don't believe in pitfalls. I believe in taking risks and not doing the same thing twice.

… embrace new ideas with energy!

A loser says that's the way it's always been done. A winner says there ought to be a better way.

We crave explanations for most everything, but innovation and progress happen when we allow ourselves to embrace uncertainty.

The important thing to remember, if you are trying something that is an innovation, is not to think too much about it. Because if you take too long, by the time you get there, the world will have changed. You take a risk, and if it doesn't work, you make a change. We are not betting our lives on it.

You know that I'm always a proponent of doing things differently.

Everybody's career has ups and downs. I like to take chances; I don't like to stand still. And I don't give a damn what the market is interested in; I want to try things.

Liberalism is the philosophy for our time, because it does not try to conserve every tradition of the past, because it does not apply to new problems the old doctrinaire solutions, because it is prepared to experiment and innovate and because it knows that the past is less important than the future.

Innovation requires an experimental mindset.

You embrace disruption. I think it's a good thing.

I'm old enough to know you can't close your mind to new ideas. You have to test out every possibility if you want something new.

Anyone who says failure is not an option has also ruled out innovation.

When you do something that people respond to, and then you start altering the blueprint for what worked, it's pretty fear-inducing. But sometimes, you have to do that, in order to push the boundaries.

What every employer is looking for is not someone who can do the job, but someone who can reinvent the job.

I like the idea of experimenting with different kinds of formats, and I think you've got to keep on your toes and keep changing.

I just think it's ridiculous to be dogmatic and be caught in the past. You have to be open, aware, nimble and flexible about changes in the world.

If you are too attached to your own thinking and how everything is done now, then nothing will change for the better.

Adapt your techniques to an idea, not an idea to your techniques.

Always think outside the box and embrace opportunities that appear, wherever they might be.

Above all, try something

You can think and you can fight, but the world's always movin', and if you wanna stay ahead you gotta dance.

In my work, I'm passionate about trying different things and being okay if I mess up. Now I'm trying to bring that into my own life.

The biggest threat to a better life is the desire to keep the future under control - to make the world predictable by reining in creativity and enterprise. Progress as a neat blueprint, with no deviations and no surprise, may work in children's cartoons or utopian novels. But it's just a fantasy.