# Guts and generosity

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2019-08-14

blog-post, business, create, creation, generosity, guts, innovation, innovative, reblog, seth-godin

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[Today's Seth Godin post](https://seths.blog/2019/08/innovation-is-guts-plus-generosity/) on innovation, guts, and generosity is Seth Godin at his best. One of the reasons why I like it is that I keep thinking that "innovative" has become too much of a buzzword. It's similar to walking around and telling everybody you're a cool person. If you have to explain it to everyone, then you're probably not cool. At the same time, I also find his generosity angle to be a clever one. Here is Seth's post in its entirety (short and sweet, as usual):

> **_Innovation is guts plus generosity  
> _**_  
> Guts, because it might not work._
> 
> _And generosity, because guts without seeking to make things better is merely hustle._
> 
> _The innovator shows up with something she knows might not work (pause for a second, and contrast that with everyone else, who has been trained to show up with a proven, verified, approved, deniable answer that will get them an A on the test)._
> 
> _If failure is not an option, then, most of the time, neither is success._
> 
> _It’s pretty common for someone to claim that they’re innovative when actually, all they are is popular, profitable or successful. Nothing wrong with that. But it’s not innovative._
> 
> _Allow generosity to take the lead and you’ll probably discover that it’s easier to find the guts._

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/guts-and-generosity)*