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• The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1: The Art of Being Unreasonable
• Being Unreasonably Unreasonable
• Discovering the Art of Unreason
• 2: Why Not? The Powerful Question
• “Why Not?” as the First Step to Success
• Nothing Sets Me off More Than Being Told I Can’t Do Something
• “Why Not?” Should Be Something You Ask Every Day
• 3: Forget Conventional Wisdom
• Conventional Wisdom Strangles Innovation
• Innovation Is a Permanent Revolution
• Success Is a Starting Point, Not a Conclusion
• Nothing Lasts Forever
• Look Outside Your Personal and Professional Comfort Zone
• 4: Do Your Homework No Matter How Much Time It Takes
• Don’t Waste Time on Shortcuts-They’re Usually Dead Ends
• Pay Attention to History
• Is Core Competency Just Another Term for Complacency?
• Once You’ve Done Your Homework, Put in the Long Effort—It Will Pay off in Unexpected Ways
• Big Ideas Don’t Happen in a Moment
• You Can’t Do it All Yourself, So Ask Questions and Delegate
• 5: The Value of Being Second
• Follow the Smart First Movers
• Markets Evolve and First Movers Sometimes Can’t, or Won’t, Keep Up
• First Movers Always Leave Some Room—You Just Need to Find It
• Study a First Mover’s Failure for Clues to Success
• Whether You’re the First Mover, The Second, or the Last—Just Keep Moving
• 6: How to Work 24/7 and Still Get 8 Hours of Sleep
• Work Doesn’t Have to Be Your Life, But Your Life Is Your Work
• Know What You Have to Do, Which is Less Than You Think
• Not Everyone Needs 8 Hours
• Setting Priorities Means Being Disciplined, but Not Rigid
• If You Can’t Delegate, It’s Not Them, It’s You
• Try Saying “Let’s Move On”—Even to Me
• 7: Bright and Young Is a Winning Combination
• Sometimes You Are What You Wear
• Interviews Don’t Have to Be Tricky
• Qualifications Are Almost Everything
• How to Keep ‘Em Once You Hire ‘Em
• Youth Can Be a Risky Bet
• Older People Can Be Young Too
• 8: Risk
• Clinging to Safety Is More Irrational Than Taking Risk
• Asking the Key Questions
• Risk Can Be Contagious—Don’t Catch the Deadly Kind
• Never Bet the Farm—Or Even Half the Farm
• 9: How to Get Results
• Make Sound Promises and Offer Something in Return
• Perfect Your Pitch, and Make It Big
• 10: Leverage
• Some Straight Talk About the Mother of All Loans—Your Mortgage
• Spread the Wealth—How to Leverage Doing Good
• Extend the Power of Your Dollar—Find Money That Costs Less Than Yours
• Leveraging People and Effort Works Just as Well as Leveraging Money
• 11: Marketing
• Know Your Customers and What Moves Them
• Focus on Value Because Your Customers Will
• Market Like a Major Player, but Don’t Spend Like One
• Make What You’re Selling Matter—From the Name and Slogan on Down
• Selling a Cause Requires More Than Conviction
• 12: Investing
• Don’t Fear Risk, but Don’t Take One if You Don’t Have to
• Focus on Picking an Advisor, Not Stocks
• Diversify or Die
• Volatility Happens
• 13: Negotiation
• How to Make a Sound Offer Every Time
• In a Good Negotiation, Everybody Wins
• Never Be Afraid to Ask
• Surviving the Silences and the Stares—Stay Unemotional and Disciplined
• Be Ready to Say Yes and Don’t Sit Down Unless You Can Make a Decision
• Don’t Swing Wildly—Start Close to Where You Want to End Up
• Never Forget What Makes the Other Guy Tick
• 14: The Logic of Being Logical
• A Logical Idea Is One That Makes You Say, “Why Didn’t I Think of That?”
• Like Wine, an Idea May Need to Age
• 15: I Ain’t Nothing but a Hound Dog
• Go After Big Game
• Whether or Not You Succeed, You Have to Keep Hunting
• Unreasonable Persistence Produces Big Payoffs
• Even the Unreasonably Persistent Must Know When to Quit
• 16: Is That the Best You Can Do? Motivating People by Challenging Them
• High Expectations and Shared Challenges Create Loyalty
• Nothing Motivates Like Achievement
• What’s Better Than Praise—Money and Higher Expectations
• Fear Is Not a Motivator—It Only Gets You Unhappy Employees and Poor Work
• Whether You Succeed or Fail, Keep Moving
• 17: Competition
• Just Because There’s a Winner Doesn’t Mean There’s a Loser
• Architecture—The Purest Form of Competition
• The Unexpected Pluses of Architecture Competitions
• Concept Over Cost
• 18: It’s Better to Be Respected Than Loved
• Disagreement Is Healthy—Learn How to Distinguish It From Dissent
• Good Principles Are Portable—Stick to Them
• Let Go of Power Before You Let Go of Principles
• Don’t Become Ensnared by Egos-Not Even Your Own
• If You’re in the Way, Move
• Nothing Wins People Over Like Success
• 19: Giving Back
• Everyone Can Be a Philanthropist—Not Just the Rich
• Don’t Just Give It Away—Look for the Place to Make a Difference
• Start Giving Now—And It Doesn’t Have to Be Money
• Be a Philanthropic Game Changer—Start Local and Think Like an Entrepreneur
• 20: Education: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste
• The World Is Moving Forward, but American Education Is Stagnant
• If There’s a Crisis, Get Involved and Make a Change
• Big Goals and Big Results
• Taking Big Risks Means Getting Big Pushback
• 21: The Unreasonableness of Art and Artists
• Why I Collect
• Doing Homework—Even for an Avocation—Will Deepen Your Experience
• Pursuing a Passion Sometimes Means Casting Aside Your Business Sense
• How Not to Get Distracted by Your Passion
• A Passion Is Not a License to Spend
• For Even Greater Rewards, Share What You Love
• 22: Reflections and Second Thoughts
• My Parents’ Unintentional Gift
• My Sons and My Choice—On that Elusive Work-Life Balance
• Don’t Let Others Define Your Failures or Your Successes
• My Proudest Moments—They May Not Be What You Think
• I Hope My Greatest Achievement Is Yet to Come
• The Best Move I Ever Made
• Appendix: Eli Broad Career Highlights
• Index
• Supplemental Images