Bob Sutton points to some interesting sources on the value of little ideas.
He reviews Little Bets a new book by Peter Sims.
This modern masterpiece demonstrates that the most powerful and profitable ideas are produced by persistent people who mess with lots of little ideas and keep muddling forward until they get it right.
He also spots Shawn Acor’s book The Happiness Advantage and this related article. I fastened on this argument:
Goals that are too big paralyze you. They literally shut off your brain says Achor… The amygdala, the part of the brain that responds to fear and threats, hijacks the “thinker” part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, says Achor. The amygdala steals resources from the prefrontal cortex, the creative part of the brain that makes decisions and sees possibilities.