#400 The Stubborn Genius of James Dyson

**David Senra** (0:00)
So, it took me nine years to get to episode 400 That means over the last nine years, I've read and reread 400 biographies and autobiographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs. My number one recommendation has been for many years and still is to this day, James Dyson's first autobiography called Against the Odds. I covered James Dyson's first autobiography on episode 25, episode 200, episode 300, and on episode 400, what I've done is I spent the last two weeks reading and re-reading both his first autobiography and his second autobiography. Dyson wrote his second autobiography about 20 years after his first. So I want to read two sections from his first autobiography and then I'll tell you how this episode will be different from the other Dyson episodes. First thing he says, I am led to the belief that for vision, one might equally well read stubbornness. At any stage in my story, when I talk of vision, an arrogance seems to have gotten the better of me. Remember that I am celebrating only my stubbornness. I am claiming nothing but the virtues of a mule. I think that is one of the most important sentences in his first autobiography and it's why I'm naming this episode The Stubborn Genius of James Dyson. The second thing I want to read to you. He says, this is a business philosophy, which is very different from anything you might have encountered before. This is not even a business book. It is, if anything, a book against business, against the principles that have filled the world with ugly, useless objects and unhappy people. We all want to make our mark. We all want to make beautiful things and a little money. We all have our own ideas about how to do it. What follows just happens to be my way. And that is exactly what I want to talk to you about today, which is Dyson's very unique business building philosophy. So what I've done is made a list of about 100 of the best sentences across the two books, 126 of the best sentences, to be exact, across the two books that I think will help you understand and explain this really unique way in which James Dyson has built one of the world's most valuable companies. And if I had to summarize into a single sentence, it would be difference and retention of total control. This is one of the most important ideas that I've learned from James Dyson, one that has absolutely grabbed me and held on to me for, you know, for six or seven years. It says, difference for the sake of it, in everything, from the moment the idea strikes to the running of the business, difference and retention of total control. This principle of Dyson's will be repeated across decades. He says, I have sought out originality for its own sake. This is a philosophy which demands difference from what exists. And the benefit of this business building philosophy being laid out in two autobiographies is what you realize is like, oh, Dyson's innate personality is perfectly suited for the business building philosophy that he has created. This is what he said. I have been a misfit throughout my life. Misfits are not born or made, they make themselves. I was a stubborn, opinionated child desperate to be different and to be right. He is innately disgusted and repelled from following the herd. One of the most important things that ever happened to James Dyson is that he winds up meeting Jeremy Fry. Dyson starts working for Jeremy Fry from a young age. Jeremy Fry becomes his mentor. And this is one of the things that he learned from Jeremy Fry. It's one of my favorite parts of both books. Here was a man who was not interested in experts. He meets me, he thinks to himself, here's a bright young kid, let's employ him. And he does. He risks little with the possibility of gaining much. It is exactly what I now do at Dyson. This attitude to employment extended to Jeremy's thinking in everything, including engineering. He did not, when an idea came to him, sit down and process it through pages of calculations. He didn't argue it through with anyone. So when I'm describing Jeremy Fry, what is so fascinating about this is Dyson's describing Jeremy Fry. He's really describing himself. So when he says Jeremy Fry, when he got an idea, you know, did not sit down and process it through pages of calculations. He didn't argue it through with anyone. Dyson won't either. He learned this from Jeremy Fry. It's very important. He just went out and built it. When I came to him and I'd say, hey, I have an idea, he would offer no more advice than to say, you know where the workshop is, go and do it. But we'll need to weld this thing, I would protest. Well, then get a welder and weld it. When I asked if we shouldn't talk to someone, say about hydrodynamics, he would say, the lake is down there, the land rover is over there, take a plank of wood down to the lake, tow it behind the boat and see what happens. Now, this was not a modus operandi that I had encountered before. College had taught me to revere experts and expertise. Fry ridiculed that. As far as he was concerned, with enthusiasm and intelligence, anything was possible. It was mind-blowing. What's happening to Dyson at this point in his life. Different ideas have a way to just crack your mind open. This idea that he learned from Jeremy Fry grabs a hold of him and he uses it for his entire career. It was mind-blowing. No research, no preliminary sketches. If it didn't work one way, he would just try it another way until it did. And as we proceeded, I could see that we were getting on extremely quickly. The root principle, which again, I think is now foundational to Dyson's business building philosophy. The root principle was to do things your way. It didn't matter how other people did it. It didn't matter if it could be done better. As long as it works and it is exciting, people will follow you. Dyson demands difference. The more you read his words, the more you listen to him speak. I watch all of his product presentations. He's out of every single person alive. He's the founder I most want to meet and spend time with in person. And when you observe him, it's just very obvious Dyson demands difference. Back to what he learned from his mentor. Jeremy Fry, more than anyone else, encouraged me to think for myself and to just do it. Jeremy Fry taught me without saying a word, that each day is a form of education. I still find myself putting into practice at Dyson, some of the same things Jeremy said and did when I worked for him half a century ago. And so one of the things that Dyson and Jeremy Fry had in common is the fact that they both used history, learning from history as a form of leverage. They were obsessed and they would talk with each other about the designer and engineer heroes from history. And it's from these conversations that Dyson said this, I was left with a burning ambition to emulate the designer and engineers that I admired. Dyson wrote, I have an interest verging on obsession with the past. And he explains why this is so important. He says it's about understanding and celebrating the progress that has been achieved, learning from it, and building on it. So you and I have talked about this reoccurring trait for history's greatest entrepreneurs over and over again. I would say these guys have this encyclopedic knowledge of history in their head. Dyson took it a step further. He wrote a book called A History of Great Inventions. It is literally an encyclopedia of great inventions. I have the book. I read it. I highlight it. I thought I did a bonus episode. I have to find out where that is. Maybe I'll just do an entire another episode on it. But it is very interesting to me. I was rereading it through as I was making the outline for this podcast too. And it's interesting, the more I thought about it, it's like, oh, look at the title that he chose. He didn't say the history of great inventions. He said a history of great inventions. And I think the important part of the way Dyson looks at things is like, there's a lot of different ways. This just happens to be mine. And my business building philosophy, which I think he just absolutely nails, is tailor-made for me.