Introduction ixChapter 1 I Am Who I Say I Am 1Chapter 2 Listening to Understand 9Chapter 3 Building Off of Other People's Ideas 17Chapter 4 From Spark to Flame 23Chapter 5 The Fear of Looking Stupid 33Chapter 6 People Don't Think about You as Much as You Think They Do 37Chapter 7 Facing Failure: Be Wrong to Be Right 45Chapter 8 Heightening 55Chapter 9 Yes and, Maybe, No 61Chapter 10 Small Decisions Add Up 77Chapter 11 The Cult Factor 85Chapter 12 Be Patiently Impatient 93Chapter 13 Pain Tolerance 99Chapter 14 Luck Is Like a Train 105Chapter 15 Fire the Assholes 109Chapter 16 Ushers, Vomit, and Why People Clean Bathrooms 113Chapter 17 Diversity Is a Choice 119Chapter 18 Are You Worth $10 an Hour? 123Chapter 19 Nobody Knows Anything 127Chapter 20 Who Gives a Shit? 131Chapter 21 Everything I Know in Business I Learned from Coaching Girls Softball 135Chapter 22 Trapped in the Bowels of the Grand Bazaar 145Chapter 23 The Ambassador and the Bathroom 149Chapter 24 China Talk 153Author's Note on "Shit" 163Acknowledgments 165About the Author 167Index 169
NORM LAVIOLETTE is the Co-founder of Improv Asylum, IA innovation, Laugh Boston, and Asylum Gaming and Esports (AGE). He leads Improv Asylum and IA Innovation's strategic business and artistic vision locally, nationally and globally. Norm has firsthand experience in building companies from start-up to multimillion-dollar businesses. Norm knows why culture is integral to long-term success and has built a team that exemplifies why communicating, listening and trusting are so important.