About food, but perhaps applicable elsewhere

[Lawrance Timothy] Ryan listed the four criteria that define greatness in any artist:

• They are excellent craftsmen.
• They are innovators—they do something that no one has done before.
• They are “on trend,” as he put it—their innovations are perceived to be of value; people buy their stuff; they aren’t tragic and misunderstood, appreciated for their innovations after they’re dead.
• They are influential—others begin to do what they started.

Michael Ruhlman, The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen