Although the challenge of building a "thinking robot" doesn't apply directly to my small business, the spirit of working outside of the box that this movie stimulates is well worth the hour it takes to watch it.
All of these teams, even the ones who didn't make it to the finish line, are inspirations in my eyes. They all dared to believe in a vision that had been thought impossible.
Through teamwork, invention, research, faith in their principals, many long days, and sometimes just plain luck, they made their dreams a reality. In a way, isn't that what we small business owners do every day?
I can only hope that if there is ever a day when I forget to "turn the switch", as Anthony Levandowski did in the first race, that I will pick myself up as gracefully as he did and get right back in the running.
"...this is the culmination of six months of work. And I forget to turn on the stability. And then the second I saw it start to fall and not steer, I said, "Oh, my god! I forgot the switch." That's life you know, bad things happen. But this will never, ever happen to me, ever again. " *
Take some time for yourself and check out The Grand Challenge. You'll be glad you did.
*Mr. Levandowski's quote is taken from the PBS transcript of the Mar. 28, 2006 program.
Comment Preview