Bob Metcalfe Comes to Texas State

There was an amazing guest in Old Main 320 on Wednesday evening. That guest was Internet pioneer and inventor of the ethernet, Bob Metcalfe.

Metcalfe had some amazing stories to tell about his past, including tales of alluring potential recruitment to the soon-to-be tech giant Apple by none other than the late Steve Jobs, himself.

Metcalfe left the guests of his event, myself included, with more than one piece of sound advice. He spoke about failing his first doctorate dissertation and how he bounced back and was able to get his Ph.D. on a second try while working a job at the same time. That story in and of itself helped me to realize that being a graduate student and having a job is completely doable, as well as enjoyable.

Metcalfe also spoke of his memories of Steve Jobs, and joked about how Jobs' magnetic and influential personality, which Metcalfe coined a "reality distortion field," left those around him sucked into and acquiescent to whatever idea or theory that he was trying to mobilize.

Metcalfe made it a point to clarify that he believes in innovation (after all, he is a Professor of Innovation at UT Austin), but that innovation can often be seen as a weed by the powerful and established companies of our country, and of the world. When asked how to change the mindset of these companies for the benefit of future innovation, even Metcalfe was stumped. The stifling of innovation is an issue that has to be resolved sooner than later, as the current state of innovation will soon reach its peak and begin to spiral downward if nothing is done about it relatively soon.

As a first-year professor at UT, as I mentioned earlier, Metcalfe has five simple values and skills in mind that he hopes students will adopt and improve by the time they complete his class on innovation:

1. Health - Simply put, because healthier people produce better work.
2. Speaking - Those who are able to effectively speak and communicate are more likely to be successful.
3. Writing - Similarly, those who are able to write in an efficient manner can also find themselves on a faster track to success than those who are not able.
4. Planning - Metcalfe gave a great example of how an associate of the ethernet company emphasized that the company should plan where they would be in the next 20 years. This plan forced the company to plan how it would get there, step-by-step, year-by-year. Planning is essential to creating a successful future.
5. Selling - Whether you are a reporter selling a story to an editor, or an advertising company selling an ad to a newspaper, Metcalfe believes that it is important for an individual to know how to sell their product.

Bob Metcalfe's visit to Texas State was definitely a highlight of my semester, and I hope to be able to use some of his words of wisdom to guide me along my career path in the future.