HAT GRADUATION REMARKS - 2011
When we started Tribeca Flashpoint a few years ago, one of the most frequently asked questions we heard was “Why Chicago?” This year with our national job fair and our increased presence in LA and in New York, and especially this week with our new Mayor (who, as I imagine most of you know, feels quite at “home” at Tribeca Flashpoint), I think we finally put that question to rest. Where else would you see David Broza, Ed Burns, Michael Bay and Tyra Banks all walking around the place? And that’s just some of the “B’s” – we’ve got Derrick Rose and Dick Durbin, Zynga and Zack Snyder, and most of the rest of the industry alphabets covered as well.
If there’s a better, more exciting and more vibrant city in the country than Chicago, I don’t know what it would be and that’s the environment – of massive change, unlimited possibilities and big dreams – that we’re launching all of you into with the best tools, the most extensive training and a work ethic that’s second to none. And, even more importantly, with an attitude of consistent support, cooperation, and collaboration that is the heart of our college. In a word, “teamwork is what makes the dream work”.
Yesterday, from our stage at the Merchandise Mart, Governor Quinn announced Start-Up Illinois, our part of a national program to encourage entrepreneurs to build the new types of products, services and businesses that will determine the economic future of our state and our country. And it wasn’t lost on a single person at that event that EVERY single one of these new enterprises will be driven by the digital skills and technologies that you have mastered here and that they will eventually be run by the cyber-athletes and the digital marines that we create at Tribeca Flashpoint.
So, as you head out into the real world, I want to give you a few important pieces of advice.
(1) Don’t mistake a clear view for short distance. It’s great to know exactly what you want (of course that will change a million times in your career) and it’s great to strive aggressively every day toward that goal, but it’s equally important to understand that good things don’t happen overnight. They are the product of a process. Try, fail, pick yourself up, try again. So, by all means, dream big, but start small and scale.
(2) Focus is everything. You can do anything you want, but you can’t do everything. And here’s what I have learned after half a century of doing this: “Saying “no” is much harder than saying “yes”, and it’s the things that you chose not to do that will make you a success.” Saying “yes” is a very popular thing to do, but good management and strong leadership isn’t a popularity contest. All the easy questions can be answered and all the simple choices can be made by others, the hard choices always end up on your desk or in your lap.
(3) And remember, as you have all heard me say many times: “you get what you work for, not what you wish for.” Hope is not a strategy for success. The really good news about that is that you’re better prepared to outsmart AND outwork 99% of all the people out there who are just sitting around waiting for the world to make a place for them. We’re not good waiters here at Flashpoint – we’re great workers and in the end what always matters is the work.
(4) Finally, our fondest hope for all of you is that you find something that you love to do and that you get to do it every day (just as we do) with a vengeance.
So that’s it. We have great confidence in you; we believe you’ll each make your mark; you’ll make some history; and you’ll make us all proud.
God bless you all.