Reflecting on Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, these 5 takeaways left a lasting impression on me:
I remember watching Randy Pausch Last Lecture where he talked about Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. The whole lecture was about Achieving your childhood dreams and the brick walls in between. It might seem like it but it was not. It was not about how to achieve your childhood dreams and anecdotes that Prof. Randy Pausch shared (although beautiful storytelling) But if you have watched it till the end you will know what I am talking about. THE HEAD-FAKES.
“Head fake” here refers to a hidden or unexpected lesson within an experience or activity. Randy used this concept to talk about the real purpose of education, especially in the context of his interaction with his students in the field of computer science and virtual reality.
He shared an anecdote about the “Alice” software he and his team developed for teaching programming to kids. While the students believed they were merely learning to program, the “head fake” was that they were also learning valuable life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. Randy emphasized that the skills the students acquired through programming were far more important than the technical aspects they were ostensibly being taught.
1. “Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.”
As he was quoting an anecdote of Jon Snoddy (Lead at Walt Disney Imagineering)
“Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you. If you’re pissed off at somebody and you’re angry at them, you just haven’t given them enough time.” Just give them a little more time, and they’ll almost always impress you.
– Randy Pausch quoting Jon Snoddy
Well if it is still not obvious, he was talking about the most important quality of human beings. Patience.
“I’ve noticed a tendency within myself—I get irritated quite easily. When something goes haywire, it’s almost instinctual for me to react. It could be in the chaos of traffic, the confines of a classroom, or the structured environment of the workplace. In these situations, we often tread carefully because we understand the stakes involved. We don’t express our frustrations to our bosses; we maintain a professional demeanor. Yet, oddly, we might lose our cool if the food isn’t up to our liking at home.
The underlying point here is that our environment significantly influences our reactions. We learn to remain composed amidst turmoil, perhaps even growing in the process. It doesn’t imply we should remain silent in dire situations—like when our house is on fire. It’s not about seeing everything through rose-tinted glasses; that would be foolish.
Now, the next time I find myself stuck in traffic, I won’t reflexively honk my horn at others, understanding how annoying it can be. It’s a small step, but a necessary one.
2. “They are both ways of saying ‘I don’t know’ but, boy, there is a good way and a bad way.”
When Prof. Randy Pausch had to talk to his Dean about taking a sabbatical to work on a Secretive project with Walt Disney Imagineering, he first approached Dean Wormer and later realized it was not actually his call but of the Dean of Sponsored Research, Gene Block
They both said “I don’t know” but Dean Wormer’s way of saying it was rude and extremely rough whereas Gene Block’s way of answering to “Do you think this is a good idea?”
“Well, if you’re asking me if it’s a good idea, I don’t have very much information. All I know is that one of my start faculty members is in my office, and he’s really excited, so tell me more.”
– Gene Block
Ooh! Lot to learn.
3. Brick walls are there for a reason.
“The brick walls are not there to keep us out but to give us a chance to show how badly we want something, because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the ‘other’ people” – Randy Pausch
4. Focus on others, not yourself.
Throughout the lecture it may seem like Randy Pausch was giving advice on how to achieve your childhood dreams or telling you how he achieved his childhood dreams.
The lecture was not about childhood dreams as it was revealed in the end. It was about how to lead your life. And enabling others to achieve their dreams. All the stories and anecdotes were not about Randy Pausch but all the people who helped him enable his dreams and how a collaborative effort can help us achieve that. Love it!
Now I can’t help myself from asking how to lead my life the right way?
There was another head fake revealed in the ending, I will not spoil it for you. You have to see it for yourself.
5. Having Fun!
One last takeaway: (which may give you a fresh perspective)
If you’re going to do something that is pioneering, you will get those arrows in the back, and you just have to put up with it. I mean everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but at the end of the day, a whole lot of people had a whole lot of fun.
– Randy Pausch
If you still haven’t seen the video I strongly recommend you to watch it.