Because by the time something looks obvious, it is probably already too late to catch up, page explained that waiting to jump on big ideas is a losing game.
Google co-founder Larry Page believes people should dedicate 20% of their time to pursuing ideas that seem “crazy and far out”, a philosophy that is likened with the company’s famous “20 percent rule,” which Google reportedly ended more than a decade ago. Page also noted that people in the tech world tend to misjudge how quickly major breakthroughs happen, and he admits to being overly optimistic about timelines.
You know, I know I am super, I guess, optimistic in terms of how long it takes to do things,” Page said during a Zeitgeist 2013 talk. “And so I think we underestimate the large-scale change and, also, as technologists, we are always way more optimistic it will only take a year to do. Looking back, however, the Google co-founder realised that big projects actually take a very long time to come together.
That reality leads to a simple conclusion: you have to start today.