Jan 29 - Line for the day

"Well, it's a start," Jobs said, "but basically, it stinks."
- Pg 132, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

Why is it that every great idea essentially starts as a stinky one. You think of an out of the box solution or something radically new, and basically everyone will tell you it stinks. And it usually does. But those who stay with the idea, keep at it, work with the stink ... those are the people who go on to change the world.

Sticking with a stinky idea, however, is easier said than done. Once you've come up with what you think is something utterly awesome... only to find out everyone else thinks its duller than mud...that disappointment is a hard one to get over. And no matter how many times you tell yourself that this is the initial phase, if I can just stick with it...it will be glorious. It. just. doesn't. stick. Instead, it just stinks.

So I have great respect for the world changers. And am slowly learning the value of failure. When you are growing up, you are taught to excel. You are not taught that you can excel right off the bat only in known things, where there is a benchmark, prior knowledge, and hard work/intelligence will pay off. You are not taught that you cannot excel right off the bat in the unknown. That you will fail again and again. You are not taught to use failure.

And this is my grouse with today's education system. We are so focused on succeeding in a limited set of things, we go through our entire life blinkered to a lane. We are lauded when we do well. We are given extra classes when we do badly. We are never encouraged to try something different. We are never encouraged to use failure. We are only encouraged to avoid the stink.