Randy Pausch

The Leader World has dedicated the Meet The Leader section to those making a lasting difference in others’ lives. How the late Randy Pausch treated the end of his life certainly left an impression on thousands of people, if not millions.

Pausch may not be a worldwide household name. But he became a humble hero in the eyes of many when in September 2007, he wrapped up his final lecture, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” at Carnegie Mellon University’s McConomy Auditorium.

A year beforehand, Pausch had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Rather than adopting a defeatist, miserable attitude towards death (the “easy way out”), Pausch made his final days meaningful to himself, his family and complete strangers.

By getting treatment, although expensive as it may have been, Pausch survived almost two years beyond the original diagnosis. The average life expectancy of someone with the disease is three to nine months. He was very fortunate to have delivered the lecture that made him famous, whether he wanted the celebrity or not.
The lecture itself, which clocks in at a bit over an hour, was full of important messages and anecdotes. Pausch’s legacy may well be more defined by that one hour than some of his academic and computer science industry accomplishments.

A sampling of his thoughts from the lecture:

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted…. I probably got more from that dream [of playing professional football] and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish.”
“Be good at something; it makes you valuable…. Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.”
“The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people.”

But to ignore his achievements in computer science would underestimate the man’s impact. Pausch was instrumental in creating Alice (http://www.alice.org), free computer software that gives students the ability to learn basic skills in computer programming. Alice is a rare feat in itself. The software takes a complicated skill and simplifies it for even beginning learners. According to CMU, Alice is used in 10 percent of American colleges and high schools.
"Like Moses, I get to see the Promised Land, but I don't get to step foot in it. That's OK. I will live on in Alice," he said during the lecture.
From March to May 2008, Pausch was still active even as he continued to fight the disease. In that time, he testified before U.S. Congress for cancer research funding, had a book, “The Last Lecture,” released and delivered this year’s commencement speech at CMU.
There are a few messages that all would-be leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators should take away from Randy Pausch. The knowledge of dying can slow us down, but should not stop us from changing people’s lives. You can do much good in life regardless of how much time you are alive.

As of July 27, 2008, Randy Pausch’s “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” lecture has been viewed over 4.5 million times on YouTube.

It can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo