• 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

  • Cairns Eye

    Returning to my hometown Cairns is always relaxing.  Returning to Cairns in winter is a luxury - because the weather is lovely, and not cold at all....

  • Remembering my piano teacher Mrs Langtree

    When people ask me abut my influences growing up, I tell them about my piano teacher, Mrs Langtree. I went to my first piano lesson when I was 7...

  • Aipoly launches!

    We launched Aipoly two days before CES 2016, where we were given a booth for free, as one of five winners of the first CEA Foundation "Technology...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Success is in the doing

    Even if I know my chances of success are slim because I've been disorganised, have missed deadlines, have generally not followed my own rules for...

  • Greater than 0.00%

    No matter what choices you make every single day, life is unpredictable - everything is unpredictable. So all you can do is prepare the best you can...

  • Are you a knowledge junkie?

    Knowledge junkies are people who love to learn and accrue knowldge.  They’ve read all the books, registered to all the web communities, heard of all...

  • A Tech Schools Update

    A building collapse warning system, a pancreatic cancer detection kit and a self-inflating shirt to stop young children drowning if they fall into a...

  • The Impostor Syndrome

    I first learnt about the impostor syndrome at the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing in 2011.  A Stanford student asked a question...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top