A really fun and smart TEDx talk by Rodney Mullen. Lots of depth between the lines. I highly recommend watching this from start to finish.
“Let your intuition go as you feel these things.” He’s talking about creating and skating, but it reminds me of the magic of converting rough, disparate, and fragile ideas into a polished, cohesive, and solid product.
I especially love the connection he makes at 12:45. It’s spot on.
Watched by Jason Fried on November 20 2012. There are 12 comments.
Mark 20 Nov 12
I’ve taught communication and speech courses for over 12 years… this is truly one of the most genuine, raw and gifted speakers I have ever seen. This is what true communication is about. It simply resonates. Outstanding. This will take its place near the top of my Top 10 Greatest Speeches list.
J 20 Nov 12
I acquired many a bloody and bruised shins trying to imitate Mr. Mullen’s tricks in my teenage years. Who knew he was also such a great speaker. Thanks for sharing!
Walter 20 Nov 12
Where’s the movie? All I see is missing plug-in where the movie should be. All the TED talks are available in HTML5 Video, why do you use Flash to show them here?
Greg 21 Nov 12
I’m so frustrated watching this movie.
I’m 8 minutes into the video and never has he once said WHAT is talk is about.
sodium11 21 Nov 12
I found it striking that his collages of skateboarders and open-source folks were all men.
Mark 21 Nov 12
Thanks for posting this. This video is super inspiring for me. The things he talks about in the second half are totally what drive me to create. “Peer Respect”.
Matt 21 Nov 12
I’m 36 years old and even today when I think back to the 80’s… when life revolved around skating, those truly were some of the most precious and free-spirited days in my life. We memorized The Search For Animal Chin word for word and followed everything the Bones Brigade did….. even back then, you could tell Mullen was extremely intelligent just by listening to him speak.
Ross 21 Nov 12
Thank you very much for posting this! Skateboarding has been an enormous part of my life in addition to design and technology. It’s always great to gain insights from those that you admire ( which, most days consist of ux/front-end bloggers ) but it’s especially great to hear from a figure that has literally defined the modern age of his medium … not to mention the fact that skateboarders rarely share the stage at TED !! Again, thank you for posting this video and many congrats on the new blog redesign—keeping things interesting, as always, and it’s much appreciated.
Howard Stein 23 Nov 12
Wow! Wow. Wow. This “kid” has it down. He is instant, he is brewed, he is flavored and wise beyond his words. Loved it.
Michael 24 Nov 12
I could pass a secret message right in front of Sodium11 if I put in a picture with too many men or white people to distract him. (Note that I said him, so he won’t even know what I am talking about since he is now obsessed with the daydream that I don’t think signal vs noise readers can be women.)
Michael 24 Nov 12
I just finished the video, and I enjoyed it the way I enjoyed a few parts of Kitchen Confidential. Every field has these people who create stories through their unconscious performance and the bonds formed through performing together.
David 26 Nov 12
Trying to win vs protecting your title. Being forced to create. Great stuff!
This discussion is closed.