Everything is a prototype

Whether you are daydreaming about starting something new, grappling with a creative dilemma, or trying to live and work more experimentally, "Everything is a Prototype" is a field guide for the unknown and uncertain. It dismantles deeply held beliefs about our own inventiveness and shares proven methods for finding your best ideas among the noise and ultimately determining if they are worth pursuing. From the soot-covered factory to the glittering heights of Silicon Valley, it addresses the societal dogma that being wrong indicates flawed ability or bad character.

This book challenges the age-old stigma associated with errors and introduces a new framework for original thinking and a blueprint for using these essential elements in the creative process and innovation. It argues that making mistakes is not only normal but a secret of genius when done deliberately. It unpacks conventional wisdom on problem-solving across business, sport, coding, and popular culture, illustrating how experimentation is the critical ingredient for innovation and brilliance. Readers learn to become Prototypers, taking advantage of being wrong.

Starting with permission and ending with resilience, it offers a toolkit for navigating fears and frustrations, inviting personal transformation to do it over and over again.

Author

Brendan Kearns is a renowned designer with 15+ years of experience in Silicon Valley and creative teams worldwide. He focuses on bringing clarity to early-stage ideas through applied experimentation. Brendan founded RIVAL, a design lab aimed at evolving disruptive ideas. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and mentors venture capital firms and founders while frequently speaking and writing about applied creativity.