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| Genius is 99% Perspiration and 1% Inspiration - Thomas Alva Edison |
Hello, Namashkar and Greetings! Most of us would have heard the title (quote)
of this post at some point or other! The title also makes it abundantly clear
that these were the words of an innovator!
Who is an innovator? An innovator is looked upon as a person who
introduces new methods, ideas or products. To innovate, means to bring in novelties,
make changes.
The action or process of innovating is Innovation. A look at the picture
above reveals that the innovator who is credited with the title quote is Thomas
Alva Edison. Famed worldwide as “The Wizard of Menlo
Park”, Edison can probably be looked upon, as the Innovator of the Millennium.
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| Edison - The Electrical Pioneer |
It is time now to scrutinize the quote! This popular
aphorism is quite commonly used in connection with creativity and novelty, even
today.
From this quote, one may infer that the
gift of high intellect depends very less on being inspired and ninety nine
times more on working really hard and sweating it out. ‘Genius’ is chiefly understood as being the result of hard work, rather than an inspirited vision of
intuition. Have we, in some way, misinterpreted Edison, the coiner of this adage?
Interpreting the 'Genius' Quote:
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Inspiration Versus Perspiration
The 'Genius' quote indicates that Edison was
definitely persistent in his experiments and worked very hard to give the world
some of the greatest innovations that have shaped the modern life. But innovation is driven by inspiration. An
idea may have popped up out of nowhere, may be, by the Will of God or Divinity,
in which case the term used is ‘Divine Inspiration’.
In simple terms, one needs to be inspired
to work on any project in any field. Only when one is motivated or passionate about
the work or job, will he/she start working on it and continue to work on it,
till suitable results are obtained. If one is not motivated from within or not
passionate about the project, then he or she is likely to quit halfway or most
likely, when the going gets tough. The motivation needs to come from within, at
the level of the spirit. It is at the spiritual level, that new ideas and
methods emerge in the human brain. So is the Inspiration part of it just 1%? On
the contrary, it is Inspiration which drives every innovation! Therefore, in my opinion, it could be more than 1%!
The lives of great innovators
indicate that inspiration served as something like a catalyst that kept them going, increasing the rate of innovation, without itself undergoing any permanent change in the process! It is said, 'Necessity is the mother of Invention'. Every necessity of man has inspired him towards working hard (Perspiration) and inventing new products (Innovation). In fact,
Inspiration drove the innovators to Perspiration, resulting in Historical Results! The
Great Innovators put in the long hours on their innovations, because they were
inspired in the first place!
If we were to view the 'Inspiration Versus Perspiration' diagram above as a Venn Diagram, then applying the concepts of a Venn Diagram, we find that in the region where 'Inspiration' and 'Perspiration' intersect each other or overlap each other, that is exactly where the 'Genius' is born! This means that both 'Inspiration' and 'Perspiration' are required for the blossoming of the human potential to what we call 'Genius'. As per the quote, 'Inspiration' and 'Perspiration' are necessary components, which together make a 'Genius'. That is how I interpret the 'Genius' quote! The right blend of the intuitive driving force ('Inspiration') and the external or physical human effort or hard work ('Perspiration') results in a great accomplishment ('Genius') !
Conclusion:
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| The Bulb Moment |
It
is time to draw a conclusion to the 'Inspiration Versus Perspiration' argument. May
we conclude that hard work fed by an earnest motivation at the level of the
spirit drives innovation and creativity or in other words, Inspiration drives
Perspiration? Can this be a Light Bulb Instant on the Inventive Acumen of the
Wizard of Menlo Park? Think about it!
Thanks for reading!
References:
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P.S: The main objective of this post is to interpret the ever popular 'Genius' quote by the great Inventor, Thomas Alva Edison. Any errors, misrepresentations and inaccuracies in any form are genuinely regretted.
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