A Skateboarders angle on Innovation: Rodney Mullen in Wired and at TED

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First of all, this is a very cool photo, and the skill of the man who practises his tricks late into the night within closed spaces.

In his TED talk, "Pop an ollie and innovate", Rodney Mullen provides insight into the emotional drivers of the outsider to create. At a young age, skateboarding was attractive because it was purely about individual expression, with no coach standing over him and no direct opponents to confront.
Looking on his profession now, he understands that individual passion to create, but with the understanding that it is stimulation from his peers that helps him do more. The community respects those who master the trick, then make it their own, add to it and give it back to the community. Thereby achievements are made that could never be done by individuals alone.
Over an 11 year period, he had won 35 out of 36 competitions. But after the first win, he says that it had felt more like one win and 34 defenses. So when his pro-model was taken from the shelf, due to the styles moving on, he says that he was in effect pronounced "publicly dead". But, it was in fact liberating because his freedom and the joy to create in any way was restored.

For him, the intrinsic value of creation is communal, not individual. One of sharing and adding to each other, rather than taking and hoarding. And this is where Brendan Koerner sees Mullen playing his role to awaken silicon valley's tech culture to the dangers of today's trends, while reminding them of the potential that continued uninhibited collaboration can reach.

In his article, Silicon Valley Has Lost Its Way. Can Skateboarding Legend Rodney Mullen Help It? | WIRED, Koerner, posits that "A place where revolutionary companies were started in suburban garages has now been overrun with business majors whose chief aspiration is fabulous wealth….Concerned that the industry has ossified into something monstrous in the course of its boom, many within tech now have a yen for reminders of its more freewheeling past."

His quote from Mullen about some of today's skaters can certainly be applied more broader to many of us in today's social media, instant gratification, age: “Don't frickin' skate in front of the camera, don't practice in front of the camera, don't friggin' publish it on YouTube every time you get a new trick—it's not about that,” he said as he gazed at the setting sun through wraparound shades. “If you do it for the sake of loving it, and you don't care whether you're seen or not, or paid or not, all that stuff will come. But enjoy the process! If you start doing things for the sake of selling up front, for rewards, then it's going to catch up to you. The other guys not chasing money are going to outdo you in the end, because real innovation and grit come from loving the process.”