Recent Articles
Coachability
Jun 8, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
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Seth Godin tells us about the value of being coachable, and gives the example of the Bolshoi Ballet.
Years ago, at the great Bolshoi Ballet, auditions for the troupe were conducted among 8 year old girls. That’s because it took ten years to become great. How did the auditions work? The teachers weren’t looking for the best dancers. They were looking for the dancers who took coaching the best. The rest would come with time.
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As I posted yesterday, it’s not what you’re born with that counts. To be great, what matters is not what you’re born with. It’s how much you’re willing to learn. In ballet, sports, whatever field you choose to pursue. We all have the potential to be great. It’s a matter of whether you’re willing to take the coaching required. Are you?
[?]Be Original
Jun 8, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
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The problem is, the media and popular culture play up the value of being like someone else. I’ll use soccer as an example since it’s what I’m most familiar with. Every time a new talent shows up, he’s immediately compared to a player from history. Messi is the new Maradona. Nasri the new Zidane. Kaka the new Ronaldinho. The list goes on, and its a prevailing trend that goes past just soccer.
With the media being this way, is it any wonder that we try to be like others? My advice: forget about being “the next [insert name of celebrity here]” and focus on being “the first and only [insert your name here]“. That’s the best thing you can do.
How to be remembered
Jun 8, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
Guy Kawasaki tells us to do one thing right.
It’s something I’ve been saying for quite a while now, and I’m happy to have one more example for proof.
Doing one thing right means that people have something to remember you by. If you do too many things, it’s hard for people to pinpoint you. That also means it’s hard for people to remember you. If you want to be significant, if you want to be remembered (and I’m pretty sure we all do), do one thing right.
[?]Field Sense
Jun 7, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
Graphs of the amateurs’ reactions showed that they could anticipate where the ball would go only if they witnessed the racket making contact with it. Experts knew what would happen roughly a third of a second earlier, when the server’s cocked arm was still unfolding.
What happened in that fraction of a second? A lot, Farrow reasoned. Up to a point, he theorized, the direction of a serve was fundamentally unpredictable: Whatever clues existed weren’t ones that an opposing player could discern. By the time the ball had been hit, on the other hand, even a novice could make a plausible guess at its trajectory. What separated the pros from everyone else was the ability to pull directional information out of the early stages of a swing and therefore to predict a split second earlier where to head.
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The difference is vision. It’s to be able to see where things are going before others can. It’s the ability to see things that others normally don’t. And contrary to popular belief, the article shows that it’s probably trainable.
Similarly, what sets apart traditional ‘geniuses’ from the rest of us? People who have changed the world - Einstein, Steve Jobs, Galileo, the list goes on - what separates them from us? While I do believe that some talent is born with, I believe we all have the potential to be that talented. It can be taught.
What sets them apart is what they saw. They looked at things in a different way. They were able to see where thing were going, they were able to envision the future and the future possibilities. And they worked based on that. But that vision can be taught and trained. We all have that potential, if we train it well, we all have that potential to change the world.
Train yourself to envision the future, to envision what lies ahead. Learn how to see things in a different light. And you too can change the world.
[?]Lessons from Nollywood: Grassroots
Jun 7, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
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Galesburg High School witholds diplomas
Jun 7, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
The incident nicely encapsulates so much of what I find repulsive about public schooling:
1) Greater emphasis on appropriate social behavior rather than education
2) Blind obedience to authority
3) Collective punishment
4) Power-hungry, incompetent administrators
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The thing I agree with the most is the second point. But all his points are valid.
It’s really a disgraceful thing for the school to do. And I sincerely hope that the students’ punishments are not followed through with.
[?]Bumptop
Jun 6, 2007 Moved from Blogger Comments
Just came across Bumptop, an awesome innovation by Anand Agarawala. Here’s a guy willing to rethink the way we view computing, he’s willing to challenge a status quo that a lot of people blindly accept. Really cool innovation. Can’t wait for it to come out.
On a similar note, here’s something I’ve been eagerly anticipating for quite long: Symphony OS.
Without people like these, society and technology won’t progress. And I really admire them for what they’re doing.
What status quo are you willing to challenge?
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