Raise your hand if you've ever been asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Podignite ruku ako su vas ikad upitali pitanje "Što želiš biti kad odrasteš?"
Now if you had to guess, how old would you say you were when you were first asked this question? You can just hold up fingers. Three. Five. Three. Five. Five. OK. Now, raise your hand if the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" has ever caused you any anxiety.
Kad bi morali pogađati, koliko mislite da ste imali godina kad su vas prvi puta to pitali? Možete podići samo dva prsta. Tri. Pet. Tri. Pet. Pet. OK. Sada, podignite ruku ako vam je pitanje "Što želiš biti kad odrasteš?" ikad stvaralo tjeskobu.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Any anxiety at all.
Bilo kakvu tjeskobu.
I'm someone who's never been able to answer the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Ja sam osoba koja nikad nije uspjela odgovoriti na pitanje "Što želiš biti kad odrasteš?"
See, the problem wasn't that I didn't have any interests -- it's that I had too many. In high school, I liked English and math and art and I built websites and I played guitar in a punk band called Frustrated Telephone Operator. Maybe you've heard of us.
Vidite, problem nije bio što nemam nikakvih interesa -- nego što sam ih imala previše. U srednjoj školi sam voljela engleski jezik i matematiku i umjetnost i radila sam web stranice i svirala gitaru u punk bendu pod imenom Frustrirani telefonski operater. Možda ste čuli za nas.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
This continued after high school, and at a certain point, I began to notice this pattern in myself where I would become interested in an area and I would dive in, become all-consumed, and I'd get to be pretty good at whatever it was, and then I would hit this point where I'd start to get bored. And usually I would try and persist anyway, because I had already devoted so much time and energy and sometimes money into this field. But eventually this sense of boredom, this feeling of, like, yeah, I got this, this isn't challenging anymore -- it would get to be too much. And I would have to let it go.
Ovo se nastavilo poslije srednje škole, i u određenom trenutku, sam počela primjećivati obrasce kod sebe gdje bih se zainteresirala za neko područje i bacila bih se na to, postala obuzeta, i postala bih prilično dobra u bilo čemu, i onda bih došla do točke gdje je postalo dosadno. Ali bih svejedno pokušala ustrajati, zato što sam već posvetila toliko vremena i energije i ponekad i novca u to područje. No, naposlijetku taj osjećaj dosade, taj osjećaj, kao, da, shvatila sam to, ovo više nije izazov -- taj osjećaj bi postao previše. I morala bih napustiti sve.
But then I would become interested in something else, something totally unrelated, and I would dive into that, and become all-consumed, and I'd be like, "Yes! I found my thing," and then I would hit this point again where I'd start to get bored. And eventually, I would let it go. But then I would discover something new and totally different, and I would dive into that.
Onda bih postala obuzeta nečim drugim, nečim totalno nepovezanim, i bacila bih se na to. i postala obuzeta s tim, i bilo bi, "To! Našla sam svoju stvar!" i onda bih opet došla do te točke gdje počinje dosada, i naposlijetku, opet bih sve napustila. No, onda bih otkrila nešto novo i potpuno drukčije, i opet bih se bacila na to.
This pattern caused me a lot of anxiety, for two reasons. The first was that I wasn't sure how I was going to turn any of this into a career. I thought that I would eventually have to pick one thing, deny all of my other passions, and just resign myself to being bored. The other reason it caused me so much anxiety was a little bit more personal. I worried that there was something wrong with this, and something wrong with me for being unable to stick with anything. I worried that I was afraid of commitment, or that I was scattered, or that I was self-sabotaging, afraid of my own success.
Ovaj obrazac mi je donio jako veliku tjeskobu, iz dva razloga. Prvi, nisam bila sigurna kako ću išta od tog pretvoriti u karijeru. Mislila sam da ću konačno morati izabrati jednu stvar, zanemariti sve ostale strasti, i pomiriti se da će mi biti dosadno. Drugi razlog, koji mi je donio toliku tjeskobu je bio malo više osobniji. Brinula sam da je nešto pogrešno sa tim, i da je nešto pogrešno sa mnom zato što se ne mogu posvetiti ničemu, brinula sam da bojim opredjeljenja, ili da sam razbacana, ili da samu sebe sabotiram, da se bojim vlastitog uspjeha.
If you can relate to my story and to these feelings, I'd like you to ask yourself a question that I wish I had asked myself back then. Ask yourself where you learned to assign the meaning of wrong or abnormal to doing many things. I'll tell you where you learned it: you learned it from the culture.
Ako se suosjećate sa mojom pričom i ovim osjećajima, želim da se upitate pitanje koje bih ja htjela da sam se upitala tada. Upitajte se gdje ste naučili davati značenje pogrešno ili nenormalno svestranosti. Reći ću vam gdje ste naučili: kultura vas je naučila.
We are first asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" when we're about five years old. And the truth is that no one really cares what you say when you're that age.
Prvi puta nas pitaju pitanje "Što želiš biti kad odrasteš?" kad smo otprilike pet godina. Istina je da nitko zaista ne mari što ćete reći u toj dobi.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
It's considered an innocuous question, posed to little kids to elicit cute replies, like, "I want to be an astronaut," or "I want to be a ballerina," or "I want to be a pirate." Insert Halloween costume here.
Pitanje se neškodljivo postavlja, maloj djeci da bi izmamili slatke odgovore, kao, "Želim biti astronaut," ili "Želim biti balerina," ili "Bit ću gusar." Ovdje ubacite kostim za Noć vještica.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
But this question gets asked of us again and again as we get older in various forms -- for instance, high school students might get asked what major they're going to pick in college. And at some point, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" goes from being the cute exercise it once was to the thing that keeps us up at night. Why?
No, ovo pitanje nam postavljaju iznova kako odrastamo u različitim oblacima -- na primjer, učenika srednje škole će pitati koji će predmet izabrati za glavni na fakultetu. I u nekom trenutku, "Što želiš biti kad odrasteš?" prelazi iz nekadašnje slatke upotrebe u stvar koja nas drži budnima noću. Zašto?
See, while this question inspires kids to dream about what they could be, it does not inspire them to dream about all that they could be. In fact, it does just the opposite, because when someone asks you what you want to be, you can't reply with 20 different things, though well-meaning adults will likely chuckle and be like, "Oh, how cute, but you can't be a violin maker and a psychologist. You have to choose."
Vidite, iako ovo pitanje nadahne djecu da sanjaju što žele biti, ne nadahne ih da sanjaju o svemu što mogu biti. U stvari, postiže upravo suprotno, jer kad vas netko upita što želite biti, ne možete odgovoriti na 20 različitih načina, iako će se dobronamjerni odrasli vjerojatno nasmijati i reći, "O, kako slatko, ali ne možeš proizvoditi violine i biti psiholog. Moraš birati."
This is Dr. Bob Childs --
Ovo je Dr. Bob Childs --
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
and he's a luthier and psychotherapist. And this is Amy Ng, a magazine editor turned illustrator, entrepreneur, teacher and creative director. But most kids don't hear about people like this. All they hear is that they're going to have to choose. But it's more than that. The notion of the narrowly focused life is highly romanticized in our culture. It's this idea of destiny or the one true calling, the idea that we each have one great thing we are meant to do during our time on this earth, and you need to figure out what that thing is and devote your life to it.
i on je lutijer i psihoterapeut. A ovo je Amy Ng, urednica časopisa, koja je postala ilustratorica, poduzetnica, učiteljica i kreativna direktorica. Ali većina djece nikad ne čuje za ovakve ljude. Sve što čuju je da će morati izabrati. Ali to je više od toga. Pojam usko usmjerena života je jako romantiziran u našoj kulturi. Ta ideja sudbine ili jednog istinskog poziva, ideja da svatko ima jednu veliku stvar koja mu je suđena da ju napravi tijekom života na zemlji, i da morate otkriti koja je to stvar i posvetiti svoj život tome.
But what if you're someone who isn't wired this way? What if there are a lot of different subjects that you're curious about, and many different things you want to do? Well, there is no room for someone like you in this framework. And so you might feel alone. You might feel like you don't have a purpose. And you might feel like there's something wrong with you. There's nothing wrong with you. What you are is a multipotentialite.
No, što ako ste netko tko ne funkcionira na taj način? Što ako postoji mnoštvo različitih tema koje vas zanimaju, i mnoštvo stvari koje želite raditi? Dakle, u ovom okviru nema mjesta za nekoga poput vas. Pa se možda osjećate usamljeno. Kao da nemate svrhu. Kao da nešto nije u redu s vama. Sve je u redu s vama. Ono što ste vi, to je multipotencijalit.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits. It's a mouthful to say. It might help if you break it up into three parts: multi, potential, and ite. You can also use one of the other terms that connote the same idea, such as polymath, the Renaissance person. Actually, during the Renaissance period, it was considered the ideal to be well-versed in multiple disciplines. Barbara Sher refers to us as "scanners." Use whichever term you like, or invent your own. I have to say I find it sort of fitting that as a community, we cannot agree on a single identity.
Multipotencijalit je osoba sa mnoštvom interesa i kreativnih težnji. Za zapetljati jezik. Pomaže ako razdvojite na tri djela: multi, potencijal, i it. Također, možete koristiti jedan od izraza koji označavaju istu ideju, kao što je polimat, renesansna osoba. Zapravo, tijekom Renesanse, smatralo se idealnim biti dobro upućen u mnoštvo disciplina. Barbara Sher nas naziva "skenerima". Koristite koji god izraz želite, ili izmislite svoj vlastiti. Moram reći da smatram prikladnim što se kao zajednica, ne možemo dogovoriti oko jednog identiteta.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
It's easy to see your multipotentiality as a limitation or an affliction that you need to overcome. But what I've learned through speaking with people and writing about these ideas on my website, is that there are some tremendous strengths to being this way. Here are three multipotentialite super powers.
Lako je vidjeti svoj multipotencijal kao ograničenje ili nesreću koju je potrebno prebroditi. No, ono što sam naučila razgovarajući s ljudima i pišući o ovim idejama na svojoj web stranici, je da postoje neke ogromne prednosti u ovome. Evo tri super moći multipotencijalita.
One: idea synthesis. That is, combining two or more fields and creating something new at the intersection. Sha Hwang and Rachel Binx drew from their shared interests in cartography, data visualization, travel, mathematics and design, when they founded Meshu. Meshu is a company that creates custom geographically-inspired jewelry. Sha and Rachel came up with this unique idea not despite, but because of their eclectic mix of skills and experiences. Innovation happens at the intersections. That's where the new ideas come from. And multipotentialites, with all of their backgrounds, are able to access a lot of these points of intersection.
Jedan: sinteza ideja. To znači, kombinacija dva ili više područja i stvaranje nečeg novog na presjeku. Sha Hwang i Rachel Binx su crtali iz svojih zajedničkih interesa za kartografiju, vizualizaciju podataka, putovanja, matematiku i dizajn, kad su osnovali Meshu. Meshu je tvrtka koja stvara po narudžbi geografski nadahnut nakit. Sha i Rachel su došli na ovu jedinstvenu ideju ne usprkos, nego zbog svoje eklektične mješavine vještina i iskustava. Inovacija se događa na presjecima. Odatle dolaze nove ideje. A multipotencijaliti, sa svim svojim pozadinama, su sposobni pristupiti mnogim od tih točaka presjeka.
The second multipotentialite superpower is rapid learning. When multipotentialites become interested in something, we go hard. We observe everything we can get our hands on. We're also used to being beginners, because we've been beginners so many times in the past, and this means that we're less afraid of trying new things and stepping out of our comfort zones. What's more, many skills are transferable across disciplines, and we bring everything we've learned to every new area we pursue, so we're rarely starting from scratch.
Druga super moć multipotencijalita je rapidno učenje. Kada se multipotencijaliti zainteresiraju za nešto, oni prionu ozbiljno. Promatramo sve čega se možemo dočepati. Također smo navikli biti početnici, jer smo toliko puta u prošlosti bili početnici, a to znači da se manje bojimo probati nove stvari i izlaziti iz zone udobnosti. Čak štoviše, mnoge vještine se mogu prenijeti na druge discipline, a mi donosimo sa sobom sve što smo naučili u svako novo područje, tako da rijetko počinjemo od ničega.
Nora Dunn is a full-time traveler and freelance writer. As a child concert pianist, she honed an incredible ability to develop muscle memory. Now, she's the fastest typist she knows.
Nora Dunn je putnik puno radno vrijeme i honorarni pisac. Kao koncert pijanist tijekom djetinjstva, izbrusila je nevjerojatnu sposobnost da razvija mišićnu memoriju. Sada je najbrži daktilograf kojeg zna.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Before becoming a writer, Nora was a financial planner. She had to learn the finer mechanics of sales when she was starting her practice, and this skill now helps her write compelling pitches to editors. It is rarely a waste of time to pursue something you're drawn to, even if you end up quitting. You might apply that knowledge in a different field entirely, in a way that you couldn't have anticipated.
Prije nego je postala pisac, Nora je bila financijski planer. Morala je naučiti finu mehaniku prodaje kad je pokretala svoju praksu, i ta vještina joj sad pomaže da uvjerljivo ubjedi urednike. Rijetko je gubitak vremena slijediti nešto što vas privlači, iako ćete na kraju odustati. Možda ćete iskoristiti to znanje u potpuno drukčijem području, na način koji niste mogli očekivati.
The third multipotentialite superpower is adaptability; that is, the ability to morph into whatever you need to be in a given situation. Abe Cajudo is sometimes a video director, sometimes a web designer, sometimes a Kickstarter consultant, sometimes a teacher, and sometimes, apparently, James Bond.
Treća super moć multipotencijalita je prilagodljivost; to znači, sposobnost da se oblikujete u ono što trebate biti u određenoj situaciji. Abe Cajudo je ponekad redatelj spotova, ponekad web dizajner, ponekad savjetnik za Kickstarter, ponekad učitelj, a ponekad, očito, James Bond.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
He's valuable because he does good work. He's even more valuable because he can take on various roles, depending on his clients' needs. Fast Company magazine identified adaptability as the single most important skill to develop in order to thrive in the 21st century. The economic world is changing so quickly and unpredictably that it is the individuals and organizations that can pivot in order to meet the needs of the market that are really going to thrive.
Dragocjen je jer dobro radi posao. Dragocjeniji je jer može poprimiti različite uloge, u zavisnosti od potrebe klijenata. Fast Company časopis je označio prilagodljivost kao najbitniju vještinu koju treba razviti za napredak u 21. stoljeću. Ekonomski svijet se mijenja toliko brzo i nepredvidivo da će napredovati osobe i organizacije koje se mogu okretati prema potražnji tržišta.
Idea synthesis, rapid learning and adaptability: three skills that multipotentialites are very adept at, and three skills that they might lose if pressured to narrow their focus. As a society, we have a vested interest in encouraging multipotentialites to be themselves. We have a lot of complex, multidimensional problems in the world right now, and we need creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to tackle them.
Sinteza ideja, rapidno učenje i prilagodljivost: tri vještine kojima su multipotencijaliti vrlo vični, i tri vještine koje mogu izgubiti sužavanjem fokusa zbog pritiska. Kao društvo možemo steći korist u poticanju multipotencijalita da budu kakvi jesu. Imamo mnogo složenih, multidimenzionalnih problema na svijetu trenutno, i treba nam da ih se late kreativni, mislioci izvan-kutije.
Now, let's say that you are, in your heart, a specialist. You came out of the womb knowing you wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon. Don't worry -- there's nothing wrong with you, either.
Sada, recimo da ste u duši, specijalist. Izašli ste iz utrobe znajući da želite biti pedijatrijski neurokirurg. Ne brinite -- s vama je, također, sve u redu.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
In fact, some of the best teams are comprised of a specialist and multipotentialite paired together. The specialist can dive in deep and implement ideas, while the multipotentialite brings a breadth of knowledge to the project. It's a beautiful partnership. But we should all be designing lives and careers that are aligned with how we're wired. And sadly, multipotentialites are largely being encouraged simply to be more like their specialist peers.
U stvari, neki od najboljih timova su sazdani od specijalista i multipotencijalita zajedno. Specijalist se može udubiti i provesti ideje, dok multipotencijalit donosi dašak znanja u projekt. To je predivno partnerstvo. No, svi bi trebali dizajnirati živote i karijere koje su u skladu sa načinom na koji funkcioniramo. Nažalost, multipotencijaliti se većinom ohrabruju da jednostavno budu više kao njihovi kolege specijalisti.
So with that said, if there is one thing you take away from this talk, I hope that it is this: embrace your inner wiring, whatever that may be. If you're a specialist at heart, then by all means, specialize. That is where you'll do your best work. But to the multipotentialites in the room, including those of you who may have just realized in the last 12 minutes that you are one --
Rekavši to, ako postoji jedna stvar koju možete zapamtiti iz ovog govora, nadam se da je ova: prigrlite svoj način, kakav god on bio. Ako ste specijalist u duši, onda se svakako specijalizirajte. Tamo ćete napraviti najbolji posao. No, multipotencijalitima u prostoriji, uključujući onima koji su to upravo u zadnjih 12 minuta shvatili --
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
to you I say: embrace your many passions. Follow your curiosity down those rabbit holes. Explore your intersections. Embracing our inner wiring leads to a happier, more authentic life. And perhaps more importantly -- multipotentialites, the world needs us.
vama kažem: prigrlite svoje mnoštvo strasti. Pratite svoju znatiželju u te zečje rupe. Istražite svoje presjeke. Prihvaćanje svog načina dovodi do sretnijeg, autentičnijeg života. A možda još i bitnije -- multipotencijaliti, svijet nas treba.
Thank you.
Hvala vam!
(Applause)
(Pljesak)