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Momentum and Success By William Kunz Google, Inc. Conroe TX ISD Academy of Science and Technology, Class of 1996 P = MV - momentum equals mass times velocity. Business School. The discussion topic was “Are My physics teacher Scott Rippetoe taught that to stars made or are they born?” and we debated me while I was attending the Academy of Science amongst ourselves as to whether people are born and Technology, and it has remained with me ever with the characteristics they need for success or since. These days I think about momentum whether people are groomed for success. The frequently, but not in the sense that I learned discussion was lively, the arguments were well originally. The equation has taken on a new reasoned, but the answer was elusive. dimension for me. In life, one’s momentum is propor- tional to one’s velocity. Ironically, I am normally Prior to this discussion, I believed that stars were staunchly opposed to subsuming physics principles born; they were the product of hard working into philosophy. For instance, I imagine Newton individuals in a culture of meritocracy where their turning in his grave every time someone pronounces, talents allowed them to bubble to the top. “For every action there is an equal and opposite However, after this eye-opening discussion, the reaction” as a metaphor for the concept of karma answer was no longer quite so simple. I started rather than simply saying “serves you right.” believing that talent and hard work are necessary, However, the more experience I gain, the more I but not sufficient, elements found in stars. No have come to believe and promote the idea one’s matter how talented or hard working someone success in life is a result of one’s momentum. might be, unless other people recognize that talent and hard work, that person will not become a star. What does this mean? Simply, success begets Unfortunately, it is not humanly possible to success and opportunity begets opportunity. This accurately measure and judge the true talents and principle is something that I see at work in my efforts of every person in any sizable organization. own life. Currently, I have a job that I love with Because of this, people often rely on shortcuts for responsibilities that challenge and excite me. I estimating a person’s talents and efforts. Things work as product manager in a sales organization like education, awards, job titles, etc. serve as at Google. It is my dream job. However, I had crude proxies for determining one’s talents and applied to work for Google six years ago and they efforts. Other, supposedly better, measures of a would not even give me the time of day. It was person’s talents and efforts such as peer not until after I had attended Harvard Business feedback, performance metrics, and self- School that I was able to convince Google that I evaluations, are still inaccurate shortcuts to would be a good candidate for employment. What ascertaining someone’s true talents, abilities, and changed? While I may now have more experience, efforts. In other words, in order to be recognized my raw intelligence and talent has remained as a star, one must also excel at the artificial roughly the same these several years. I have measures by which stars are assessed. wondered why I was “acceptable” this time but deemed “unacceptable” previously. Anyone who has taken an SAT understands this principle. The SAT is not a true measure of a The answer to this perplexing question was person’s intelligence; rather, it is a proxy for intelli- something I learned in one of those epiphany gence used by colleges to sift through the myriad moments during a class discussion at Harvard of applications they receive. By extension, if a Fall 2008 13 good SAT score gets a person into a good college, that necessary differentiation. Moreover, my and a good college gets that person into a good experiences at the Academy of Science and job, then the ability to get a good job depends on Technology enabled me to not only survive but one’s ability to perform well on a test that is also thrive in the subsequent years, and provided merely a crude approximation of one’s intelligence. the necessary first successes and first opportuni- In other words, success (a good test score) begets ties I needed to get started on the fast track. success (entrance into a good college) begets success (attaining a job at a good company). One example of opportunities begetting opportunities is the experience I had at the Academy to The phrase “on the fast-track” is another manifesta- practice my programming skills. The Academy tion of this principle. Organizations have long served as a great training ground for what would recognized the difficulty and expense required to eventually become my major area of study and groom a person for succession. As such, rather than employment. At the Academy, I was provided with spreading this training across all employees, organi- a sound foundational education in computer zations focus their training on a few handpicked programming, and then I was allowed the freedom individuals. This training consists of giving these to explore programming. I remember fondly the selected individuals successively larger responsibili- time when we learned in class about a certain ties, which provides the rising star the necessary programming technique that allowed me to write a training ground for acquiring the skills needed for program that I installed on a friend’s school even greater responsibilities. In other words, machine. This program would drop key presses if opportunity (getting on the fast track) begets typed too quickly. This would annoy my friend, as opportunity (getting a large responsibility) begets it would seem that the keyboard was broken when opportunity (getting an even larger responsibility). he typed normally, but would work fine when he was trying to demonstrate the problem to other So how does one get started on the fast track? people due to his slower typing speed during his How does one acquire the first precipitating demonstrations. My laughing quickly gave me success? As I reflect back to my own experiences, away as the culprit. I undid my nefarious test, and I can see that my initial opportunities and I was spared any stern rebuke for I had creatively successes are things that I acquired over fifteen implemented a principle taught in class. years ago even while I was still attending the Academy of Science and Technology. As I The encouragement to try new things can only be mentioned earlier, I currently have a dream job done in an environment like the Academy where that I was unable to attain without first attending the teachers know their students well. Having the Harvard Business School. Harvard Business School opportunity to hone my programming skills during took a chance on me because they saw a list of my high school years enabled me to be one of the jobs and job titles at well-recognized organizations, most proficient programmers during college. My like Oracle and Goldman Sachs, on my resume. My experience and abilities in programming was opportunities at those organizations were not immediately recognized by my classmates, and I possible without my education from an excellent was able to be selective on whom I would select Computer Science program at Carnegie Mellon as lab partners. Being able to work with the best University. Getting into Carnegie Mellon’s peers provided me with the opportunity to learn Computer Science program was enabled by my from and network with other top programmers. experiences at the Academy of Science and Having the opportunity to work with the best Technology. Since admittance into top colleges meant my homework scores were always at the requires that applicants differentiate themselves top of the class. Having the best grades at school with something unique from the rest of the crowd, opened up even more opportunities to work with spending four years at an accelerated program the best people as well as a wide variety of that focused on science and technology provided research and job opportunities. 14 NCSSSMSTJournal One example of success begetting success comes Momentum is a powerful force. Once one’s from my experience at the International Science velocity has been established, the momentum and Engineering Fair, where I took first place in behind that person will continue to push him or her the Biotechnology division. I could never have along to greater and better opportunities and succeeded here had it not been for the training and successes. I am so grateful for the Academy of mentoring I received at the Academy. Not only did Science and Technology for making sure that I left the Academy teach me the underlying science my high school experience at maximum velocity. upon which the project was based, but also the soft skills associated with presenting the research that are necessary for selling the importance of the research. Winning the science fair enabled me to work on an impressive research project team during my undergraduate years, which led to several research co-publications. These publications, in turn, provided me with several exciting job offers. Connecting Consortium Professionals The new Connecting Consortium Professionals (CCP) section of the NCSSSMST Website is designed for teachers, counselors, administrators, and other professionals at memberinstitutions to share and collaborate. Professional Conferences.We have archived our annual Professional Conferences, starting with 2006 - title, abstract, presenter(s), contact information – under the Professional Conferences tab. Starting with 2008, we have many presentations archived and available for downloading as well. Curriculum Center. The Curriculum Center is the place where teachers submit and share unique and interesting projects, lab experiences and lessons. Your contributions are vital to its success. Forums.In Forums you can connect with each other to post information and discuss topics of interest and concern. Use Forums to collaborate with colleagues across the Consortium. Check CCP out! We hope these features, and the additional ones we are planning, enhance your life and work as a Consortium professional. Note: you need to have a ncsssmst.org password to access CCP. Contact [email protected] for further information. Thanks to affiliate member Neumont University for continued development and hosting support for CCP. Fall 2008 15