Genius

He started by asking a rather unique question to the audience:  “How many geniuses are there in the room, would you stand please?” 

Several years ago I had the privilege of attending a conference in Salt Lake City by bestselling author and thinker Seth Godin. Few are the times an author and public speaker has touched me the way he did then. In his lecture he started by asking a rather unique question to the audience: 

“How many geniuses are there in the room, would you stand please?” 

A handful of people stood up, jokingly. As arrogant as we Americans are, we don’t take ourselves too seriously sometimes (which is awesome). I remained sitting down as I felt vividly I didn’t belong out of that exclusive lot.

I wasn’t the only one, by far. In my case, I was an immigrant from Venezuela who had relocated to Utah from the East Coast in the midst of a recession after working in New York’s financial district. My prospects weren’t looking any good in the finance sector, and I was struggling with negative self-perception.  

As Mr. Godin’s presentation progressed, he reminded us what the origin of the word “Genius” was. I remember he was about to launch a book called “Linchpin”, in which he invited the audience to become “indispensable”. During his remarks he encouraged us to trust our ideas and to take action towards our goals and dreams. He infused so much creativity and inspiration to us in the audience that it helped me see myself in a totally different light.

At the very end of his remarks he asked again the question:

“How many geniuses are there in the room, would you stand?”

This time I was able to confidently stand up with the rest of the audience in a standing ovation…and frankly, in gratitude. After his remarks I had adopted a new perspective about my potential, my Genius potential. 

What Do We Mean by The Word “Genius”?

The Merriam-Webster’s English Dictionary insight on the etymology (origin) of the word Genius is fascinating, as it delves into both the intellectual and spiritual realms:

Quoting from it:

“...the word has its origin in ancient Roman religion, in which the genius (from Latin gignere, “to beget”) was originally a spirit who gave continuity to a family or clan over generations, and later the attendant spirit of a person or place…”. 

The term kept its spirit connotation when it made it to the English language around the XIV century. Interestingly, as the time passed it developed the meaning of “an identifying character of spirit”, because the genius role was to protect one’s moral character. In time, it was developed into a verb that implied “to create” or “to beget” or “to give origin”, and that verb is the word: Generate.

For those of us adepts of science, you’ve probably noticed the root Gen becoming a word in itself and an entire field named after this word (“Genetics”). For those of us with an inclination to read the Old Testament, by now you probably noticed the not-so-coincidence in the first book of it being named, “Genesis”, and the fact that the book delves into the origin of humanity.

To stay in the spiritual vibe, please, allow me to quote one of my favorite religious leaders/speakers (hey, don’t get scared it’s only a few words):

Creating and being compassionate are two objectives that contribute to our Heavenly Father’s perfect happiness. Creating and being compassionate are two activities that we as His spirit children can and should emulate. The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

It’s so easy to forget our potential to create good things, that we need reminders like this to motivate us and muster the courage to accomplish something new and to act on the ideas we might have during the day. 

Acting on It

For some years I’d done research on innovation issues and wanted to communicate what I’d learned to my Latin American community. Seeing how my people, the Latino people, are vastly absent from the local technology scene, I wanted to start an organization that would help create opportunities in the Science and Technology field in the Western United States for Latinos and underserved sectors of society (and maybe among Hispanics around the world). 

The problem is that I wasn’t a programmer, a mathematician, or any sort of scientist. I’m not a venture capitalist, and my story of establishing startups was rather incipient. I knew I had an uphill battle ahead of me, but if I was to believe his remarks I had to believe that I was indeed A GENIUS, and that should’ve counted for something. Maybe creating a tribe of Hispanic Technologists would help the world become a better place.

I reached out to Clint Betts , CEO and Garrett Clark in Silicon Slopes, the local organization focused on the tech sector and pitched the idea to form a Latino Chapter, to which they agreed.

I reached out to my community and surrounded myself with good Latino leaders that believed in the concept of comunidad and its potential to make positive changes. I had to rely on that concept and our cultura to generate attention and establish some sense of cohesion.

Curiously, COVID had hit the world at the time, and our meetings were limited to remote gatherings trough Zoom, but that turned out to be a blessing. It was moving to see different groups participating our virtual meetings, among them:

• Local Latinos in the Tech and startup sector that yearned to connect with other Latinos were like: “You guys exist? Finally!!!”
• People in the Tech sector from the Ibero-American region Chile, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
• People in the US from different ethnicities, mostly Anglo-Saxon who felt a deep affinity for Hispanic culture and wanted to feel that human connection and sabor that we provided (Man, I loooove being a Latino).

Our chapter keeps going strong and despite the challenges we’ve become a voice for our people in the local tech scene, even if it’s a small one. By the way, all of the people involved in this effort are doing this on a volunteer basis.

Yes, You Are a Genius

Going back to Mr. Godin’s remarks that day, he helped me remember how human beings possess the innate potential to make, to create, and to generate. So, Mi Gente, it’s time to believe.

Believe in your dreams.

Believe in your ideas.

Believe you can make your ideas and dreams into reality.

Believe you can do and create something of relevance.

Indeed, believe YOU ARE A GENIUS!

For turning dreams into reality is what genius do.

A Final Invitation

When I was about to organize the Silicon Slopes Latino Chapter, I still felt insecure and self conscious given the task ahead of me, so I reached out to the person that was inviting me to act on my dreams, Mr. Seth Godin himself, for any advice or pointers.

He kindly replied in a brief but powerful manner: 

This is fabulous. A brilliant idea indeed. Thanks Gonzalo. Go, start, make it happen.

And with that, a big GRACIAS to Señor Seth Godin and to y’all I say

GO AHEAD AND DO IT, YOU BUNCH OF GENIUSES!!!!

Love,

Gonzalo