My daughter Anna is a smart kid. Sophomore in high school and a straight ‘A’ student. But brains aren’t enough to be successful. The world is full of smart people and there’s competition at every turn. What she did a couple of weeks back surprised me and gives me hope that she, and her generation, can actually make good things happen in our world.

Sparked by an interest that a friend had, Anna decided to solve the Rubik’s Cube. I remember, as a kid, tackling the ominously confusing block of color. It was a semi-mindless pursuit of twists and turns, where every celebratory alignment of a row was quickly marked by frustration as the next attempt at progress screwed up what I had accomplished. Solving the Rubik’s Cube gave testimony to ‘patient persistence’ — an approach I’ve since learned can help people reach most any goal. The problem for most people is they don’t have patience.

Anna, being the competitive sort that she is — and being blessed with my ingrained sense of impatience, decided that there must be a quicker path. So she went to Youtube where she found tutorials showing a set of algorithms that, when used in the right combinations, can conquer the Cube. From watching the videos and writing down each algorithm to actually solving the puzzle was a process that took about two hours. Much better than the day-after-day-after-day pursuit that I remember from my youth.

What this says are a couple of things. 1. Drive is the critical first step in success. If you have a goal and are determined to get there, you can. 2. Drive is most valuable if you apply it strategically. Yes, you can push your way toward a goal, learning along the way, and getting closer each day. But you can also learn from what others have done and apply it to reach your destination. That’s what Anna did, and I’m guessing what she learned about applying algorithms to problem solving will be more valuable than magically solving the Rubik’s Cube through sheer perseverance, but having no idea how she did it.

If young people like Anna embrace early the fact that there is knowledge out there that can help them reach their goals quicker, we will foster a new generation of success. The tools are there. We just need to encourage the alignment of minds.