Genius of the AND

Video Transcript

In Built to Last, Jerry Porras and I coined this term called the Genius of the AND. It’s the idea that the best leaders are really good at holding two seemingly opposite things in the mind at the same time. Like that wonderful quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” We noticed that our leaders are really good AND people. They don’t succumb to the tyranny of the OR. Think of all the ANDs we’ve talked about so far. Humility AND will. Offer a great place to work AND be rigorous. Get the wrong people off the bus. Passion AND best at AND economic engine. Short term-urgency AND long-term building, the 20 Mile March. Creativity AND discipline. Bullets AND cannonballs. Big bets AND productive paranoia.