Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting.
Commencement speeches are often a source of inspiration, because even the crustiest curmudgeon can't seem to bring himself or herself to rain on the parade of a sea of hopeful 22 year olds on their way into the “real world.” And sometimes, the commencement speaker is a hopeless dreamer anyway, which makes for even more inspiration in that moment of possibility. Here is a little bit of what Google co-founder Larry Page said to this year’s crop of graduates at the University of Michigan (my alma mater)
“When I was here at Michigan, I had actually been taught how to make dreams real! I know it sounds funny, but that is what I learned in a summer camp converted into a training program called Leadershape. Their slogan is to have a 'healthy disregard for the impossible.'
I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. There are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name. They all travel as if they are pack dogs and stick to each other like glue. The best people want to work the big challenges. That is what happened with Google. Our mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. How can that not get you excited? But we almost didn't start Google because my co-founder Sergey and I were too worried about dropping out of our Ph.D. program. You are probably on the right track if you feel like a sidewalk worm during a rainstorm! That is about how we felt after we maxed out three credit cards buying hard disks off the back of a truck. That was the first hardware for Google. Parents and friends: more credit cards always help. What is the one sentence summary of how you change the world? Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting!”
For the full text of this short speech go to http://www.webnewswire.com/node/452291
- judyrodgers's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Raise money for Images and Voices of Hope by searching the web with GoodSearch or shopping online at Goodshop.com!
When taking tests, take your
When taking tests, take your time into pacquiao vs bradley consideration so that you can complete the test to the best of your ability.
Inspiring quote has several elements
Judy, as I search for my next job, Page's words are challenging. He says it isn't enough to find something exciting. It should also be uncomfortable, or even rubbing against the edge of impossible. After a fairly lengthy career, I want to capitalize on what I've learned, the network I've formed, and the mistakes I've made and learned from. And most employers want me for what I have done before, rather than what I can do ahead. Who takes a job to be uncomfortable? Who wants to be measured on goals that seem, well, near impossible? Who hires someone to sustain and inspire discomfort?
Uncomfortably exciting is a tough standard. It means creating something when you don't know, at the start, if you can actually do it... or if anybody can. It means taking on a project that you know you are not qualified for. It means becoming a beginner again in an area where there will be many teachers (often with conflicting views), but no real guides because no one has charted the path. It means not fitting in with an ongoing culture and organization because the old system is geared toward achieving predictable, imaginable goals in ways that are known and comfortable. It means that you will have ardent critics, simply because doing something new and uncomfortable is a challenge to others who are happily comfortable.
Larry's wise words sound so easy to follow - who wouldn't want to do something uncomfortably exciting, when it is the stuff that creates legends, like Google? And perhaps the most open audience for that wisdom is college grads before they head into the job market. Because, at every turn in the path ahead, they will find culture and tradition and colleagues that aim more for comfort than excitement, more for predictability than for possibility.
In the next few weeks, I will have to decide on what's next, or rather, on just how uncomfortable I want to be. It's exciting... and unnerving.
- Michael Skoler