“The trick to finding ideas is to convince yourself that everyone and everything has a story to tell. I say trick, but what I really mean is challenge, because it’s a very hard thing to do. Shampoo doesn’t seem interesting? Well, dammit, it must be, and if it isn’t, I have to believe that it will ultimately lead me [to something] that is.” “The other trick to finding ideas is figuring out the difference between power and knowledge. You don’t start at the top if you want to find the story. You start in the middle, because it’s the people in the middle who do the actual work in the world. My friend Dave, who taught me about ketchup, is a middle guy. He’s worked on ketchup. That’s how he knows about it. People at the top are self-conscious about what they say (and rightfully so) because they have position and privilege to protect — and self consciousness is the enemy of ‘interestingness.’” “In ‘The Pitchman’ you’ll meet Arnold Morris, who gave me the pitch for the ‘Dial-O-Matic’ vegetable slicer one summer day in his kitchen on the Jersey Shore: ‘Come on over, folks. I’m going to show you the most amazing slicing machine you have ever seen in your life,’ he began. He picked up a package of barbecue spices and used it as a prop. ‘Take a look at this!’ He held it in the air as if he were holding up a Tiffany vase. That’s where you find stories, in someone’s kitchen on the Jersey Shore.”
What the Dog Saw – Malcolm Gladwell