When I write my novels I don't really have a huge plan beforehand; I don't have the whole plot and architecture, so the story is sort of discovered as I write it.
One of the things I'm most proud of about my career is the fact I've managed to keep options open.
Security... it's simply the recognition that changes will take place and the knowledge that you're willing to deal with whatever happens.
Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise: those guys have well-planned careers. I'm just on a journey. Wherever I run across a job, I say, 'Okay, I'll do that.'
To truly prepare for the unexpected, you've got to position yourself to keep a couple of options open so when the door of opportunity opens, you're close enough to squeeze through.
I try not to plan that too much.
I take my time to do things and I never plan in advance. It's one step at a time for me. I'd like to stick to that.
As water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy.
I take one day at a time. I am not someone to define my goals.
We don't have a traditional strategy process, planning process like you'd find in traditional technical companies. It allows Google to innovate very, very quickly, which I think is a real strength of the company.
Any plan is bad which is incapable of modification.
My writing's like a journey. I'll know some of the stops ahead of time, and I'll make some of those stops and some of them I won't. Some will be a moot point by the time I get there. You know every script will have four to six basic scenes that you're going to do. It's all the scenes where your characters really come from.
What I learned in 'Sons' is that I would come in with a blueprint of a season and how it would go, and I realized that the looser my grip was, the better it became because the story found itself. Things happened as I wanted them to in terms of the bigger mile markers, but the fun part was I never knew how we would get there.
I'm definitely a seat-of-the-pants writer.
I try not to think too far into the future; I'm kind of a day-by-day kind of guy.
Goals have to be realistic and flexible.
When we have a clear sense of our destination, we can be flexible in the route we take to reach it.
In the Indian system of filmmaking, you don't plan well in advance, stick to a storyboard, or deliver only the scripted lines.
I never outline. I don't work from an outline. I have no idea where the book is going. I mean, even two-thirds of the way through, I don't know how it's going to end.
Nothing is a career move. Everything I've done this year has so not been a career move.
I don't map out my future to the minute details.
It really doesn't matter honestly to look at the scoreboard where it's 20 runs and 2 wickets down or 200 runs, 2 wickets down, because... if you're positive inside it really doesn't matter. It just requires different planning sometimes.
I wouldn't say I'm a very controlling person. For instance, when I talk to the actors, I don't tell them exactly what I want because I want them to surprise me. I even encourage them to change some of the verses of the script if they need to.
Somebody who doesn't understand my directing style could be pretty taken aback by it if I start going off the schedule and focusing on something because I'm inspired in the moment.
One thing about my dinner parties - they're never planned. I go to the grocery store, and I buy whatever is on sale. I get a lot of it, and I just send out a mass text: 'I just bought food. Dinner's at 8. Text me if you're coming.'
