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

Be a fool

Published: Monday, 23 February 2009

When you learn something for the first time, everything is new to you.

So you explore, you try different things, you fall down, you fail, you fail, and you fail some more… But you keep persevering and you get up again and again and give it another go. There are no expectations and there are no critics, there’s only you and the work you are toiling away at. Then, people start to notice your work, comment and compliment you.

And suddenly, people begin to expect a certain style and excellence from your work in that field. You’re recognised and you can no longer be a fool - you’re an expert!

Now that you’ve learnt how to make it in that field, your once steep learning curve plateaus and your learning step increments shrink.

When this happens, find something new. Start something you can be arrogant about for not knowing, something where there is no expectation, where the only person whose curiosity you want to satiate is your own. Be playful, rejoice from and learn so that you grow. Branch out into something new and dare to create genius in what you know not.

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

  • No Electronics Day

    Sometimes I like to take a day to think and reflect. So I get someone else to take away my computer, phone and any electronics in the house - so I...

  • Robogals 10-Year Anniversary Gala

    On 14 July 2008, I founded Robogals. At the Robogals 10-year anniversary gala in Melbourne, I gave a speech alongside Mark Parncutt, co-founder of...

  • Sole founder or co-founders?

    I was starting up my new start-up and I was finding it hard to get my desired co-founder to commit.  So I thought back over my experiences of the...

  • The meaning of no

    No doesn't mean… I hate you. You suck. Your project is stupid. You're not good enough. You're wasting your time on your project. You should be...

  • A co-founder worth fighting for

    My co-founder didn't want to work on my next start-up idea with me because he was too tired. I didn't want to work on his next start-up idea because I...

  • American Australian Association: Next Generation Leadership Award

    I received an award in New York City from the American Australian Association:  the Next Generation Leadership Award.  As a result, they're planting a...

  • Losing focus

    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...

  • The Sandbox Global Summit

    How to create a Sandbox Global Summit Carefully select over 4 years, a group of 650 under-30 year-olds from around the world and cultivate...

  • MBN Y Forum, South Korea

    I’m fortunate to be invited all around the world to deliver speeches. In February, I was invited to the MBN Y Forum in Seoul, South Korea for a...

  • Perfection is an oasis

    Perfection is unattainable.  You're never going to get something that's perfect, done.  Not with your budget.  Not with your timeframe.  Not so that you...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top