Malcolm Gladwell's Advice to Entrepreneurs: 'Don't Be One Thing'

Malcolm Gladwell may have one of the strongest brands in media, but he never applies the word to himself. "I contradict myself a lot," says the best-selling author and New Yorker staff writer, whose books include The Tipping Point and Blink. "How can I represent something as well-defined as a brand if I'm constantly changing my mind?" Instead, he counsels creatives to think of themselves as ever-adaptable -- open to opportunities wherever they come. That's why, for example, he got into podcasting. It was on a lark, but now, three seasons later, his show Revisionist History is a consistent chart-topper. (Each episode is about "the overlooked and misunderstood," and is produced by the podcast company Panoply.) Here, he talks about his approach to productivity, his own evolution and why entrepreneurs need to balance ideas with execution.

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