Real genius is not stuck in one domain. Real genius means that you are free to create in any medium you fancy. Realize that every pioneer in every field didn’t have a school to learn their discipline. That’s right, they sort of just made it up as they went. That should tell you something about what people learn in school.

The types of geniuses I’m referring to are Beethoven, Michelangelo, Steve Jobs, and Yo Yo Ma. Leonardo Davinci rightfully labeled them renaissance men. They would be right at home sawing away at a cello, riding a dirt bike, or inventing a new way to listen to music. When you understand the subtle nuance of something you can apply that obsession to any field.

Steve Jobs for example does not need to know a thing about industrial design to have a well educated opinion on the matter. He’s not a business man but he can understand the forces at work that make something like the itunes music store a success. I think that there is this baby boomer belief that you do well in high-school to get into a good college. You do well in college to get a career and then you do that trade for the rest of your life. How droll.

This in my view is simply too myopic. In the creative fields we find that the best advertisers for instance aren’t the ones that studied advertising. If you went to school for computer graphics animation you aren’t guaranteed a job in a Disney animation house. In fact, they have a policy of taking traditional animators and teaching them how to use computer tools. They already have a better grasp on animation than any focused student would.

The key is finding inspiration in those whom are the best in each domain. If you want to get good at visual design you ought to aspire to be as good as James Jean, Scott Hansen, Feric, Syd Meade, Doug Chiang, or Feng Zhu. Choose your poison. There’s nothing magical about any of these guys. They are just more driven than you in their hobby. You can be just as driven and hungry to get that good it just takes patience and time.

I don’t prescribe to the belief that you have to spend years getting good at something to master it. I think that you simply must get good at critical thinking. Don’t focus on learning how to draw with a pencil. Instead, focus your attention on what makes people who love drawing with pencils do what they do. What is the subtle nuance to the art that makes them come back time and time again. Understand theory.

You don’t need to be an architect to understand what drives Frank Gehry, Daniel Liebskind, or the Foreign Office Architects. You can however study their theories and what went through their minds to create the genius that they have constructed. This is a gold mine that can be applied to anything and everything.

In closing I’d like to use an analogy. In the NBA there are about four hundred and thirty two players. Of the millions of athletes worldwide that aspire to be good enough to play professional basketball those are the ones that made it. They are the best because they have good drive or natural talent. But within the NBA there are about twenty players who stand out. The Dennis Rodmans, Magic Johnsons, and Charles Barkleys. These twenty players are the best of the best, because they have exceptional drive or exceptional natural talent . There is only one Michael Jordan. He’s at the very top because he has both exceptional drive and exceptional talent. That’s what it takes to be the best - Passion.

You want to be that guy.

Extra Credit Reading: Richard Feynman, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out