Genius And Experimentation

Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting and working with many smart and creative individuals. From tech startups to community open-source projects to member-driven projects at HackLab.TO, it appears to me that the common thread of genius is cultivated by providing an open environment for tinkering and experimentation.

Although pure research certainly has its place in academia and R&D, it sometimes creates an air of universal legitimacy where none was intended. The Gaussian copula is an example of a financial theory from academia which was quickly adopted by risk managers due to its simplicity and research credentials, but is now claimed to be responsible for the greatest financial crisis in recent history (Wired – “The Formula That Killed Wall Street”).

On the other hand, experimentation makes no pretense of viability or legitimacy, and thus provides tinkerers with the freedom to start small, fail quickly, learn from their mistakes, and create better ideas without causing a financial disaster. Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, Mozart, Picasso, and Richard Feynman are some of the more famous genius experimentalists of our age.

Author and journalist Malcom Gladwell provides some fascinating observations about youthful prodigies versus late-blooming genius (The New Yorker – “Late Bloomers”). I would argue that this is not necessarily a function of a person’s age, but rather the number of failures, or learning experiences, they have made before finally making tremendous progress. Young prodigies found their niche early, failed quickly, and achieved early success. Late bloomers, on the other hand, experimented with different fields or careers before eventually finding their niche, then continued to fail and learn quickly in that niche before achieving success. Failure, experimentation, focus, and discipline are vital to uncovering our hidden genius.

The role of organizations in cultivating or destroying genius is not, in my opinion, the result of the organizations themselves or their bureaucracy. Rather, it is a function of how much freedom their employees are given to experiment with their ideas. In the current recessionary environment, the cost-cutting mandates and tight project-management schedules are highly detrimental to the creative employee’s ability to try new ideas that are not included in the budget or project schedule.

I conclude with the following comment I had recently written in response to a blog post (“The best of intentions”) by Unspace founder Pete Forde:
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Pete,

Great advice! A web startup is an excellent environment for cultivating rock star talents and nurturing genius in all of its forms.

Unfortunately, there are many smart individuals who do not have the connections, business knowledge, or financial capacity to leave a full-time job in order to start a new web development company. Instead, they continue to languish in heavily bureaucratic organizations, many of which are controlled by head offices in other countries. The opposing business and technical agendas at these firms can be highly restrictive and quite damaging to the natural talents and creativity of young prodigies. At some point, the light of genius inevitably dims and dies out completely.

I shudder to think what might have happened if one of your partners (mef) had continued working for me at one of these bureaucratic financial firms. Nevertheless, not everyone can work for a startup, and large organizations continue to hire bright people and turn them into mindless droids. What you have accomplished at Unspace should be a shining example not only for startups, but for these larger firms as well. In my opinion, if companies can provide an open environment for tinkering and experimentation by their creative employees, and the proper channels to hear and implement their ideas, we will find that geniuses are truly everywhere.

Regards,
Ray Acayan

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