Qualified to do anything?

This summer I'll be keynoting on the theme "It's not all native wit", about how we can all do extraordinary things when we release our minds (and find out how). I've been wondering how to interpret this Seyi Oyesola TED Talk quote in that light for teachers:

"We the willing have been doing so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing."

Seyi was talking about health provision, and his attitude is that we need the specialist kit and specialist knowledge to do great things well, that settling for good enough when you're doing open heart surgery is not, well, good enough.

Is this quote, which could have come from a teacher anywhere as well as the Nigerian doctors who quote it, a good thing for teachers to have learnt to do, or is it actually the biggest barrier to creating extraordinary opportunities in the future?

Comments

[Rob Spence]

We will the willing? Either that's a typo, or something very profound- too profound for me on a Friday morning anyway...

[Tony Karrer]

Fantastic quote! I would think that it applies to a lot of things - or at least our perception.