Satoru Iwata Quotes

I have a different way of thinking. I think synergistically. I'm not linear in thinking, I'm not very logical.

To see things differently requires you to be wired a little differently.

We're always looking for candidates that have new approaches to problems.

When we started WeWork it really was thought of holistically.

I often try to think about, What sounds like a bad idea, but if you find the right plan of attack, it's actually a really good idea? I spend a lot of time really trying to systematically tackle problems from different angles.

If you wait for customers to tell you that you need to do something, you're too late. Good business leaders should be half a step ahead of what customers want, i.e. they don't actually quite know they want it. That's what innovation's about. With Plan A, we didn't wait for the consumers to tell us.

I think Fast Company has a tremendously smart focus and execution.

Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation.

What I often do is just think of a completely obtuse thing to do, almost the wrong thing to do. That often works because you start a different approach, something no one has tried.

Creativity is not just for artists. It's for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it's for engineers trying to solve a problem; it's for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.

I never had a plan. I have to say, I'm very shocked when people start a company and say, 'In five years I want to launch a perfume, or in 10 years I want to have this.' How can you know?

You have to be very fast-thinking, creative, and mobile. It is key to making a business move.

Some of the best ideas that we've invested in have made no sense to conventional sources.

I wouldn't know how to think inside the box because I don't even know where it is. I wouldn't know how to do it any other way.

Even when I was an actor in training, one criticism my teachers had was that I should think about directing instead of acting, because the best actors see the material they're working on through blinders. They can't see anything but their role. I could never really do that.

We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough.

I'm good at thinking outside the box, so much that you realise it's not a box to begin with.

Genius of great affairs abhors nicety of division

I like to say it's an attitude of not just thinking outside the box, but not even seeing the box.

I always think of the craziest idea first and then work backwards, because you never know: that person that you think would never return your call might be sitting at home with nothing to do.

I don't think in a box. I think in a sphere.

I try not to think small minded.

To thrive, all businesses must focus on the art of self-disruption. Rather than wait for the competition to steal your business, every founder and employee needs to be willing to cannibalize their existing revenue streams in order to create new ones. All disruption starts with introspection.

Your employees have lots of opinions about everything - your strategy and vision; the state of the competition; the quality of your products; the vibe in the workplace. There are tons of things you can learn from them.

Sometimes a crazy idea can make something special.