You be the JUDGE
This rag tag bunch changed the way the world computes. I'm told that this picture shows the original Micro Soft team. You can see some of thousands upon thousands of folks enjoying the fruits of their vision on the Microsoft site.
Would you have hired that 70's team? What kind of judgment or assumption (notorious blocks to creativity and innovation along with habit and fear) might you have reached if you were invited to join them in their adventure. People often ask, what's the matter with young people ... not much given an idea, permission and the opportunity reminds Marian Wright Edelman.
Being a bit of a long hair myself in the 70's, I don't think that the look would have stopped me, BUT I sure would have struggled with the idea of desktop computers, user friendly (?) operating systems and paperless letters.
The success of this band of dreamers reminds me of the Margaret Mead quote, "Never underestimate the ability of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world. Indeed, nothing else ever has." We often think of this quote in terms of social justice and inclusion, as we should.
But that original team believed in a future that included useful personal computing and the whole world is now in debt, some might suggest in bondage, to their efforts AND now their charity.
posted by Charlie Girsch @ 8:14 PM
4 Comments:
Are there people out there like me? When I walk down the street, I take things apart in my head and put them back together. I try to understand how everything works, and how I could make it work better. I come up with 3 or 4 ideas a day. I only write the ones down that have market potential though. I have a folder full of ideas that could all be profitable products or services. I often see an idea I had a year or two ago, make it to the market. Are there others like me? Where are you? What are you doing for a living? How can I learn to really get some of these to market? Are there jobs where I can just be an ideas person?
A hand rises here. I'm like you, recognition of myself from your post was almost one-to-one, although I don't get quite so many ideas, and I don't usually focus on mechanical things like bottle caps, car doors and such, more like software ideas, concepts and so on - more higher level, sort of.
I write the ideas down to my computer or some note paper, then later I get back to them - good ideas often have the most material written down. I often try to follow some ideas through, to make a sort of "feasibility study".
Me, I live in Northern Europe, work in the software industry and pursue my Ph.D. which doesn't really progress because I don't work in an academic institute.
If there's jobs where one could be an ideas person... I don't know of any, but that would be truly awesome :)
Just catching up.
Q.: Are there people out there like me?
A.: You bet! Been there myself many times. Remember one night crying out, "I don't want any more ideas!"
Since then I have been more and more willing to give ideas away. Especially if they might benefit (note I did not say PROFIT) someone. I'm learning to live with the thought that just having the idea is gift enough.
Q.: Are there jobs for idea persons?
A.: Yes, BUT they are few and far between. Sadly, most organizations don't know how to honor and/or compensate them. We worked on the outside and sold into an industry (toys and games)that had its doors open to professional inventors.
Love that photo! What a great reminder that even greats start somewhere, and sometimes with bad hair. I take inspiration from this, knowing that we all have seeds of potential greatness in us. We just have to let it out.
Thanks!
Cynthia
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