Ozan Varol (Author: “Think like a Rocket Scientist” and “Why Great Minds Don’t Think Alike”)

Great Minds Don't Think Alike - Ozan Varol

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Dear Colleagues:

Every once in a while, it is helpful to leave our narrow focus as experts and think about problems with a broader view. I’d like to introduce you to a thoughtful author who manages to blend his left brain and right brain remarkably well. While he was a NASA rocket scientist, he has a great imagination, and this is a necessary ingredient for creativity and innovation. I recommend his first book (see above). I have signed up to receive his blogs and he recently wrote a short piece that is a very important way to think about innovation and start-up companies: (https://ozanvarol.com/great-minds-dont-think-alike-2/). I am enclosing a PDF of it here, but the link above will give you more resources and access to his thoughts.

I’ve now been lucky to have been involved with multiple start-ups and so far, I’ve had a 50% success rate out of my first 6 companies. Ozan describes the formula for success that I’ve now seen work three times and, going forward, I use this as a metric to measure other opportunities. The point is that innovation is a team sport and diverse groups of individuals who can agree to have differences of opinions and different skill sets are the ones with the secret sauce that often leads to success. The most poignant example of this was my experience as a member of the IMASCAP team which was ultimately acquired by Stryker and is now what you know as Blueprint. I remember what felt like a “Medici Effect” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Medici_Effect). For those of you who aspire to be creative and innovative, this concept is not theoretical. I hope this may inspire you to look for teams with whom you can create such a Medici effect which leads to new innovations and ultimately value for our patients.

Kind Regards,

Jon “JP” Warner MD

Founder, CSS