Arik Gabbai of The Smithsonian interviewed innovator Kevin Ashton, who coined the phrase "the Internet of Things." He has a new book called How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery.
What are the most important skills an innovator can have?
Tenacity is far more important than talent. Innovators don't do things that have never been tried; they do things that have never been done. The difference between successful innovators and everybody else is that innovators keep failing until they don't. They have to be irrationally passionate. Innovators keep banging their head against the wall until they make a door.
