Instapundit linked to this farewell (literally, sadly) lecture by Carnegie Mellon videogame and 3-D presentation professor Randy Pausch (creator of Alice, which I think is a really cool tool). He has terminal pancreatic cancer, and gave a farewell lecture which was stupendously moving - go read the whole thing.
But he said one thing that kind of riveted me.
Flashing his rejection letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his career, repeating: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things."
As someone who's experienced more than his share of setbacks, let me tell you the truth of that message. I'd hate to have lived a life with no walls for me to push against.
The best teachers, as always, teach us as much about life as anything else.
The second URL is giving me a Baghdad Bob 404, Marc.
D'OOOH. Fixed.
A.L.
(link) Kim Beazley has told how Australia cracked top-secret American combat aircraft codes while he was defence minister in the 1980s.
"We spied on them and we extracted the codes," Mr Beazley told parliament during his valedictory speech.
...
Mr Beazley, who was Labor Party defence minister from 1984 to 1990 [and I would add, as solidly pro-American as they come - kind of our own, old-school "Armed Liberal"] , said that when he took over the job he soon learned that the radar on Australia's Hornets could not identify most potentially hostile aircraft in the region.
...
"I went to the US and for five years, up hill and down vale, with one knock-down, drag-out after another, with Cap Weinberger, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, I tried to get the codes of that blasted radar out of them.
"In the end we spied on them and we extracted the codes ourselves and we got another radar that could identify (enemy planes).
Mr Beazley said the Americans were Australia's most important ally.
"But they are a bunch of people you have to have a fight with every now and then to get what you actually need out of them," he said.
...
He said the problem was that the old codes related to Warsaw Pact aircraft, rather than ones in Australia's region.
The Americans kept saying they'd provide the codes, but never did.
"So we tried to crack the codes so we could enhance them," Mr Beazley said.
...
Mr Beazley said the Americans knew what the Australians were doing and were intrigued by the progress they made.
-
I guess we showed them not only what we could do (and by implication what other people might be able to do) but how badly we wanted to do it.
It could even have been a good thing in the end - that we were urgently and persistently interested to be able to get the job done if need be, that we did not think "just jog though it by the numbers" or "never mind, we'll just blame the Americans if need be" were adequate substitutes for effectiveness.
-
But if so, this probably only works "within the family" - between national cultures that are deeply compatible and inclined to get on, where elbows can be used if necessary without causing dangerous offense.
Looking at my own career, I agree totally.
The two events that most strongly influenced my career (and very much for the better) were both deeply disappointing rejections.
As I sometimes describe it to friends, "When the Lord wants you to walk through a door, He may not only slam the other door in your face, but He may well boot you in the pants as well."
Other bits from the Journeys talk, which is highly recommended...
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."
(from high school football)
"When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody is telling you any more, that's a very bad place to be. It means they've given up."
1. Importance of parents, mentors, and students - nobody does it alone.
2. Get a feedback loop, and listen to it
3. Show gratitude
4. Don't complain, just work harder
5. Be good at something, it makes you valuable enough to bring something to the table
6. Work hard
7. Find the best in everybody. If you wait, people will impress and surprise you
8. Be prepared
Joe Katzman thanks for your comment.