Talking about big names like Gates, Jobs and Zuckerberg, it’s easy to get caught up in the magic behind their innovations. But all the sparkle can make us forget the tag-team partner of each visionary innovation: technical skill. Microsoft’s revolutionary office software wouldn’t have come about if Gates wasn’t fluent with programming language; Apple wouldn’t have been able to keep reinventing their products if Jobs didn’t know how to assemble hardware components; and Zuckerberg wouldn’t have been able to get its 700 million subscribers on Facebook if he didn’t know how to, well, build a website.
Execution is definitely one of the bigger challenges to the innovative mind. While it is the phase when an innovative inspiration comes to life, it is also the phase when reality sets its limits. How well we actualize the innovations in our heads is determined in big part to how well we apply the know-how’s related to its creation and operation. For instance, you might be able to picture your dream house in your head but you can never build it yourself unless you have some knowledge in the field of architecture and construction; you might be able to bake your brand of apple pie but never have it as good as your favorite restaurant’s if you don’t know just what right mix of raw materials to prepare; or you might be able to create some ingenious software but lose it to hackers and viruses if you never versed yourself with these kind of computer problems.
So take a look at how some of the things we have studied as students can actually help bring a vision through to reality:
Physics , Chemistry, and Mathematics
Ok, so admittedly, it’s the higher level branches of these that will always come in handier but some grasp of the basics can help you get the shoe out the door at least. Though science and technology can appear like magic to some of us common folk, there’s some equation or principle or some logical physical/chemical make-up that makes a technological innovation work the way it does. Just understanding the science of things helps us understand how things like technological products in particular work and not just see them as these instant wonders of some technological ‘magic.’
Computer Science and Information Technology
When it comes to innovation, technology has become an inseparable tool to making it happen but unfortunately, technology can sometimes speak a different language – and it doesn’t just go for programming. In an age where you facial expressions are expressed in punctuation marks, where Apple doesn’t also have the instant definition of a fruit anymore, and where searching ironically only connotes a quick-second press of a button, there are a lot of new meanings of things to keep up with. By experience we get familiar with terminology like ‘torrent’ or ‘blue tooth or ‘motherboard’
Multimedia Arts
Presentation. The final touch to any vision before it can become a reality. Today where people have become used to technological skill, one can really make that extra ‘oomph’ is, in simple terms, its prettiness. Whether it be in construction, layout, graphics or modeling, the more aesthetically appealing thing can make even the most impressive piece of technology frump. Presentation is a standard for marketability in itself so don’t take those Adobe lessons for granted; they just might help you get that edge for the creative side of innovation.
So kids, while our idols Gates, Jobs and Zuckerberg are drop-out wonders, don't forget to study hard as it actually does help.
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