Thomas Chang | November 17th, 2010
Dean Kamen, Guest Speaker
Wake Forest University Graduate School of Business
(Written spontaneously without regard for spelling, grammar or structure)
Today was a good day. Dean Kamen came to Wake Forest's Graduate School of Business as a guest speaker. He is best know for being the inventor of the Segway PT but goodness, have I learned he has done much more than that. His one-and-a-half hour talk brought light on world perspectives I still have much to understand. Dean's leadership in the technology and science fields are remarkable, considering alone, what he and his team have accomplished over the last 30 years. He is one of the very few people I have met that is able to say, I have done it. Most often times, I hear wonderful plans from well intentioned individuals about how they are going to do so and so to help the world but very few times do I actually hear they have "done" what they set out to do. It is a matter of execution. Action is the ultimate measure. Even for myself, it's become too easy to say, "I want to help and I will do so and so" but what warrants the real accomplishment is when someone can say, "I have done this."
Even on Ted talks, brilliant people present respectable ideas however, ending with the speech, somewhere along the lines of, "so with this, join me in bringing the change and let's make the world a better place!" Then come the applauding and warmed hearts with the hopes that idea will play through. This is not to say that this is not a great start in spreading change but it's a completely different accomplishment when one can replace the word "hope" to saying "we have done it or doing it." When someone explains a problem and says, "okay, this is what we need to do to make a difference," then finally ends with the statement, "I have accomplished what I set out to do in solving this problem," you have a real hero. Not an empty promise or intangible idea but real tangible success. This is exactly what Dean Kamen was able to claim.
He is able to claim that he has created sophisticated water filters and distributed them to thousands of cities that didn't have the resources to acquire clean water otherwise. He's distributed them through Coca Cola because they had a global reach. He's created the robotic arm for soldiers who have had their limb amputated. He's created the multi-terrain wheelchair that can travel up and down stairs. He's designed and created blood filters for patients with weak hearts. He's developed indefatigable helicopter rotors. His accomplishments have brought him very close relationships with presidents. From the 1700's Department of War, it has changed to the 1940 Department of Defense. He presents a profound idea that we have changed as a country from fighting for freedom to protecting our freedom. Now, he is fighting to again, re-invent the department to the department of peace. Rather than defending the country from war, prevent wars from ever happening in the first place. He knows the best tactic US soldiers in Iraq use to find the 'bad guys' is not showing off their awesome fire power but rather, bringing soccer balls and frisbees to villagers. A way to show them they are on their side and return, the villagers can help them find the real enemies.
One very interesting idea he talked about was that many problems in America's society are not the result of education but rather, the culture. The advances in this country gives most American's the ability to spend time in leisure and entertainment. The reason we have this type of culture is because we can. Most of our survival needs are met so it's much easier than other countries to live in leisure. For example, advertisements, "You deserve a break! Go on vacation! Make money!" A culture obsessed with Hollywood celebrities, singers and sports who in turn influence what we perceive is a good life. How many movie stars can we name? How many Nobel Prize winners can we name? He then said, "Now I'm a practical guy. I don't expect to change this celebrity driven culture so instead... I'm going to use it." And he actually did. He has created a program about 20 years ago called "First" that involves a competition of young minds (mathematics, robotics, engineering, etc) and teamwork. Dean has noticed that in order to influence the youth, they need other youths to shows them that science can be fun. Not just go to school's and say, "hey kids, science is fun!" but instead, expose the youth to other successful, enthusiastic and smart teens. All in which he would structure around how the current culture exists; he's made it a giant competition just like basketball or football where the winners can be role models. He thought, since celebrities like David Beckham, Shaq and Britney Spears or media channels like MTV have a huge influence on how youths grow up so Dean decides, he is going to expose winning young scholars celebrities which will in turn influence youth toward a more powerful and meaningful direction! Year after year, he attracts more and more participants who are also return-bound. Disneyland in Florida has designated their estate to host their event one year. For the rest of the years, the turn out was so large, they had to use football stadiums to hold the event. This showed how active the competition was. Dean has done it. He said he was going to utilize the current culture to find ways to benefit society from it.
Another significant point he explained about business is that he knows, from personal experience, requesting businesses to support his plans, business leaders in this society can be extremely powerful. However, he also knows that without a broader sense of what the world truly needs, the sole pursuit for business is an illusion of real success. Without thorough understanding on the largest scale impact a business has on society, nothing else matters. Accounting, financial plan, net income, market strategics; none of that matters without the fundamental purpose of helping the world rather than hurting it. These beneficial changes also can not come from knowing how to make money alone. The world needs smart and diverse people; engineers, scientists, psychologists, mathematicians, inventors, entrepreneurs and most of all innovator. Because if everything is blindly done the same way, society becomes stagnate. We need innovators and leaders who will seek out what is truly important in creating necessary change to help make the world a better place for everyone.
Near the end of his talk, I was awe-inspired by the powerful anecdotes, lessons and accomplishments. After the talk was over, I went over to shake his hand. I sincerely respected all he has done for this world and all the people who were so fortunate to learn from him. As I shook his hand, I looked him straight in the eye and thanked, "Thank you for all you have done." It seemed a bit strange because the Senator and Director of the Wake Forest Graduate Business school were standing beside us but I wanted to take that few-second opportunity to sincerely thank a true hero.
Here is a short video I took from my laptop webcam during his presentation:
