Driving and operating…

I hope I’m using the right words, in Spanish is called “conducir y manejar”, and there is a huge difference between them, for instance, you can learn how to operate a car, how to change gears in a manual transmission, how and when to use the clutch, how each button in the car works and what it does, how to make the car go faster and so on, but after all that you may not know how to drive on a street.

Another way to illustrate the difference between driving and operating is in photography, you can learn all about aperture, shutter speed and ISO, but knowing that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll know how to take great pictures, in this case as in the previous case, is experience and intuition what make you thrive and differentiate.

I have seen lately a trend towards technical stuff, most people are thirsty of knowledge on how to operate new technology, which camera to use, which software, which computer, etc. but they are ignoring other key elements.

I’m not saying that technical skills aren’t that important, they are and they must be always there, but the final goal isn’t to make something that complies with all the technical requirements, the final goal is to make something good that stands over the rest.

So next time you want to do something, try to make balance between a good idea, and technical stuff, don’t let one overlap the other, both need the same priority, at the same time, try to do your best work, then, throw all away and do it again until you achieve something better.

Nobody is born knowing everything, you’ll mess up when you start, but with time comes experience, and with experience comes excellence, so stop learning only technical stuff and start doing something, gain experience, try new things without fear, dare to fail, always review your results and make corrections, be consistent and you’ll know not only how to operate, but how to drive.