Something I Pondered Upon

I was reading this interesting interview yesterday.the interview was of Mahesh Murthy, the founder and CEO of Pinstorm.
Source:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/sep/26inter.htm<

“What are the biggest lessons that you have learnt from your varied experience?
No one knows anything, least of all any supposed management guru or consultant or expert. You can discover your own rules and create your own playing field. It is better to move in business as an innovative naive person than as a cautious experienced person. ”
The above mentioned quote from the interview caught my attention and I couldn’t help but ponder over one question. Should one undergo Training in a particular field and follow the rules taught or should one be one’s own teacher and discover one’s own rules? Past experiences made me choose the latter. Let me describe these experiences.

7 years back, I used to go to a guitar classes (to learn duh!).I had learnt for 9 months and had gained some knowledge and had learnt about the rules of playing and composing songs. Soon, I left the classes and started composing tunes. I had a lot of problems composing. The tunes sounded pretty bland and unoriginal. So why did this happen? I was bounded by the rules and theory that was taught to me. I never went beyond the rules to make my own. Now, when there are no rules to follow anymore and when the theories don’t work (I can’t remember the theory :-D),things seem much better and tunes sound much more original.

Here’s another experience.
I had taken up a graphic design course. I was taught a Graphics software called Photoshop I was taught the basics and these basics pretty much ruled my thought process. I never experimented, never thought beyond the basics and my Photoshop projects left a lot to be desired. Now, as I read and practice different tutorials and experiment more with different images without any boundaries, things seem much better.

So, what’s my conclusion? I would like to advice everyone to discover and make their own rules. One must constantly keep discovering and learning all the time. I don’t suggest one not to take the training which sounds quite absurd. Take the training but don’t be bounded by the rules and norms which act as a deterrent towards one’s creative thinking and potential. Know the rules but have no inhibitions in breaking them and thinking beyond the thinkable. Don’t just look at the window, look beyond it too!