Brick Walls: The Ultimate Sorter for Life

Randy Pausch is a computer science and virtual reality professor at Carnegie Mellon and gave one of the most amazing lectures I've ever seen. It's chock full of golden nuggets to remember in our work and personal lives. Randy, who pioneered an experiential Master's program for entertainment technology, delivers a lecture on achieving your childhood dreams - it is also the last lecture he is giving, as he has been diagnosed with 3-6 months to live. It's not sappy at all - this guy is fearless - but it is an amazing collection of stories and lessons told by a very funny and gifted storyteller.

The energy, humor, rock-solid advice for working with and leading people, and poignancy of this lecture is great. One of my many favorite lessons is that brick walls exist in life to separate the people who want something really, really badly from those who will only half-heartedly make an attempt. I love this idea and, as you probably can, can think of 100 different ways this has been true for me.

The lecture video is in 4 parts, each about 18 min long, so you may have to come back to it or run it in the background. Randy also has links to video and transcript on his home page. And there are parts that go into innovative courses he helped create at CMU. But I promise it is worth it since each part has some amazing stories and lessons from which we could all stand to learn. How's this for a little Friday inspiration?!

Thank you Randy - for touching so many people with one speech. I know it was meant for your kids, but if there was ever any doubt to the legacy you will be leaving, which is already full to the brim with contributions to your students and to the world - have no fear. You have made a difference.