Foolish and Fearless

There is a fascinating trend happening in our world.  The new turks are the young, restless motivated, and tireless idea makers of Silicon Valley (and other small bastions, including New York and Seattle).  These are the typically young people who really don’t give a second thought to the opinions and limitations of those that went before.

In years past, it took an awful lot of energy to create a brand new idea.  It took an incredible coordination and thousands of iteration to perfect the idea to make it commercially viable.  But starting with the advent of the Internet, small rivulets of power flowed from large corporations with multi-faceted tentacles into bedrooms, garages, dorm rooms, where caffeine-amped young people were coding like mad and making something brand new that had never been done before.  The Apple Garage, the Amazon Desk, Michael Dell’s Dell’s first dorm room are all testament to this foolishness that transformed the technology industry, creating trillions of dollars in value throughout the world.

Today we are in another new balance of power.  Twitter is old – it is figuring out how to grow in profitability and provide a service the world craves, while meeting the expectations of, gasp, investors.  But wasn’t it the foolishness that allowed Twitter’s story to be great?  Or was it the fearlessness that the founders had to poke traditional media in the eye?  Or the fearlessness that the company even exhibits now as it brings Periscope to the masses, turning every smartphone into a broadcast station?   The foolish are transforming the technology world through their fearlessness.

What is missing?  Perhaps that precious commodity that is so rarely exhibited, so earnestly sought, and so eternally transformational.  What is missing perhaps, in this foolish and fearless generation is wisdom.  Failing fast, failing soon, earnestly trying, earnestly learning, and listening wisely to the market opportunities and then tailoring that energy into products and services that transform – now that will be the game changer that this generation is capable of.  Millennials hear me, spend your energy in the fearless direction that matters in our world- wrap your courage with wisdom and deliver your conscious with conviction.  Code on and code well.