# Professor Melissa Schilling highlights key characteristics of successful innovators, from her book, "Quirky"

1 Faculty News March 12, 2018 ![CNBC logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_034412.gif?itok=MRidxYS3)>

Excerpt from [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/3-traits-elon-musk-albert-einstein-and-steve-jobs-have-in-common.html) -- "'Pursuing goals they see as intrinsically noble and important made them fiercely motivated and focused and it provided a form of ego defense against criticism and failure,' [Schilling](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/melissa-schilling) says. 'We can all benefit by cultivating a grand ambition, a goal that is big enough to stretch our vision beyond our current horizon and important enough that it fuels our tenacious effort.'"

[Read more](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/3-traits-elon-musk-albert-einstein-and-steve-jobs-have-in-common.html)