• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Losing focus

Published: Wednesday, 30 January 2013

From an organisational point of view, it's better to focus on doing a small number of things right, than a large number of things wrong.

In September 2009, I held a Guinness World Record attempt for the Largest Robot Dance.  About 350 people attended.  In September 2010, I held the Robots Are Coming robotics art exhibition in the middle of Wynyard Park.  Over 100,000 people saw the exhibition during the course of that week.

Both these events were followed by 3-day conferences that I organised and ran.  That was tiring.

In October 2010, I was exhausted, and I decided I would not hold an event like that again.  I decided Robogals Global would focus on running robotics workshops very well and to only run large projects that directly achieved our aim of getting girls interested in engineering.  Instead, we would encourage Robogals chapters to hold community events like the Robot Dance and Robotic Art Exhibition if they were interested in doing so in their communities.

By doing that, Robogals is able to develop up a core number of programs, while Robogals chapters around the world are given the freedom and support to do amazing things around the world, such as Robogals Caltech consulting with Disney Pixar on a movie about "Tinkerbell:  the engineer", tea parties held by Robogals Western Australia, Robogals Girls in Robotics Days by Robogals University of Queensland, and Robogals London's collaborations with the London Science Museum holding themed robotics holiday workshops.

Focus on getting a small number of things right, and it will enable you to grow into doing a larger number of things right.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Phoenix, Arizona

    I love exploring new cities! So I was super thrilled to visit Phoenix in Arizona, and speak at ASQ’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference as their opening...

  • Stop the world, I want to get off!

    Uni, business, studies, networking- like clockwork, life never seems to stop moving.  Rushing through breakfast to get to lectures on time, quick...

  • ABC "Can You Hear Me?"

    ABC made this short video, as part of a three-part series, about my Chinese culture and Brett Leary’s (founder of Virtual Songlines) Aboriginal...

  • Teleport V2 Suite Showcases

    In May, we showcased our version 2 Teleport head prototype at ICRA in Brisbane.   In June, we showcased our version 2 Teleport prototype at...

  • Special Visitors

    During our summer working out of the Engineers Australia Victoria office, we had some special visitors. Minister Merlino, the Deputy Premier and...

  • Over-exposure

    Telling people your plans too early doesn't make you less likely to achieve them.  I know when I tell people what I plan to do the response I get...

  • Accolades: Sonya and Harry

    I'm so proud of Sonya Chan and Harry Eakins, who were both recognised by their faculty at Imperial College for Services to the Community. Sonya Chan...

  • Jevaroo - lift capabilities

    We filmed some more videos of our Jevaroo robot arm in action!  Here it is demonstrating its load and lift capabilities. It can lift 2.32kg at the...

  • Obviously successful

    "We would have bought your company." "You just got lucky because it was the right time for that kind of thing." "All the elements in the industry were...

  • Hot Desq

    My company, aubot, was recently invited to go to Queensland for 6 months, as part of Advance Queensland's Hot Desq program, to inspire local...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top