• 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

  • Good Weekend feature

    "Good Weekend" magazine (included every Saturday in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers) was interested in what I was up to, so they...

  • Jevaroo’s neck

    Jevaroo’s neck is my favorite part of the robot. Jevaroo’s neck has a movement range of 25cm, allowing Jevaroo to reach for objects up to 170cm high...

  • Speaker in the USA!

    I received my USA visa to do speeches in the USA several months ago.  I’m very excited about spreading my messages and telling my stories all over...

  • 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...

  • Brain-controlled Teleport

    I was invited to demonstrate my robots on a QANTAS flight from Sydney to San Francisco, while we flew over the Pacific Ocean.  I said yes!  My fellow...

  • The unglamourous work you love

    I love the process of getting an idea, making a plan around it, and then bringing it to the world.  It usually involves a lot of emailing, fleshing...

  • Robots for kids missing school

    It’s so exciting seeing our robots make a difference in the lives of others.  Six-year-old Freyja has a suppressed immune system, so coming into...

  • EmTech Singapore

    Spoke at MIT's conference in Singapore, EmTech.  Other speakers in my session spoke about autonomous robotic cargo ships, advances in drones and...

  • Networking effectively

    I meet people all the time. In the past it was at entrepreneurship networking events when I was starting up Nudge.  Then, it was at engineering...

  • The way things go

    You set up a meeting time, ten people email back and say they’re keen, passionate and that they’ll be there.  One person shows up.   So what’s there to...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top