**Item number✌️from my office:** One of the few things I’ve bought for myself displayed in my office

Item number✌️from my office: One of the few things I’ve bought for myself displayed in my office.

It’s a cheap sign with this quote from Robin Williams: “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”

Man, I adored Robin. Earlier this year I read a biography of Robin and couldn’t put it down. He was brilliant, quick, endlessly creative, and also his own worst enemy.

I’m a reserved guy by default. A bit shy. Unsure of myself more often than I’d like to admit. A little reserved when it comes to my work.

But the older I get, the more I’ve learned to lean into that “little spark of madness” in my work, in my leadership, and in life.

Robin’s mind raced at 20,000 miles a minute. I definitely resonate with that. But he also showed us you can be a little unhinged and still take your craft seriously.

He wasn’t perfect. None of us are. But we don’t remember his missteps. We remember his brilliance.

I’m no Robin Williams (though I wouldn’t mind being an English nanny someday). But I keep this quote on my office wall as a reminder: my best work will always come when creativity, craft, and my little bit of madness meet.