Summary
Mark Zuckerberg is commonly identified as a creative individual who has made a difference in his field. Zuckerberg is the CEO, founder, and chair of Facebook, FB. He was born in 1984 into a well-educated family as his father ran a dental clinic while his mother was a psychiatrist (Mary para 2). The essay presents the life events of Mark Zuckerberg that demonstrate his creativity and success in his career.
Zuckerberg’s Early-Age Computer Program Works
Zuckerberg’s interests in computers developed during his childhood, as at 12 years of age, he established Zucknet, a computer program that was meant for local messaging. Zuckerberg created Zucknet purposely to provide real-time communication and help his father, Andrew in his clinical tasks (Biography.com Editors para 2). With Zucknet, information could be passed easily to Andrew and his staff without necessarily shouting at each other. Besides, Zuckerberg’s family used the program at home to interact within their house. With assistance from his friends, Zuckerberg also developed virtual games that they used to have fun with (Biography.com Editors para 6). These signs of successful creativity at his tender age made his family get him a computer-programming instructor during his education in high school.
Zuckerberg attended prep school in New Hampshire, where he demonstrated exceptional skills in fencing. Due to their exemplary performance in this sport, the school appointed him the team’s captain. Moreover, he outshined in literature and earned a diploma in classics. Although several organizations including, Microsoft and AOL, expressed interest in buying Zuckerberg’s programs and hiring him before graduation, he declined the offers (Mary para 5). Zuckerberg graduated in 2003 from high school after which, he enrolled at Harvard University.
Zuckerberg’s Creativity and Success Story
At Harvard University, it took Zuckerberg a short period before being identified as a computer programmer expert. He developed two programs, namely, CourseMatch and FaceMash, by his sophomore year. The CourseMatch enabled university scholars to select their classes based on their course selections. FaceMash enabled the comparison of students’ pictures and assisted users in voting for their preferred candidates based on their attractiveness. The two programs became widely known at the university but were later shut down after they were thought to be unsuitable.
Later on, Zuckerberg and three of his friends, Divya, Cameron, and Tyler, collaborated to create a social networking site to advance the connection of the Harvard University community. In June 2004, the site went live under the name “The Facebook,” and Zuckerberg managed the site from his dorm room (Biography.com Editors para 2). After sophomore, Zuckerberg dropped out of the university to work on Facebook full-time and by the beginning of the year 2005, the website had one million users (Biography.com Editors para 9).
With the significant number of users on this platform, many organizations showed their interest to trade with Facebook. For instance, in 2005, Accel Partners made a venture capital investment with Facebook, the first venture the company had ever received. Facebook opened up to learners attending other schools making the website attain more than 5.5 million users. Since 2005 the site has received various acquisitions from the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo (Biography.com Editors para 9). In October 2019, the company reported that the daily active users were 1.62 billion on average, which was a rise of 2 percent from the previous quarter of the year (Josh para 2).
Creative Traits Zuckerberg Revealed in Facing Obstacles
Critical thinking is one of the creative traits that Zuckerberg demonstrated whenever he faced a challenge. For instance, when his two programs were considered unsuitable and were shut down, he thought of alternative programs that would improve social life on campus. Zuckerberg created Facebook, one of the most and widely used online social platforms in the world (Amy para 6). He achieved this with the assistance of his friends, with whom he had collaborated. Facebook is believed to have improved the social lives of many people globally. Besides, findings show that Zuckerberg had a great interest in going deeper into an issue to maximize the value or make a difference (Amy para 6). Zuckerberg believes that success comes from thinking critically and not by accepting the first idea that comes to mind when facing challenges.
Zuckerberg also expresses mindfulness and perseverance traits when facing life challenges. He does not allow critics to get to him as he always ignores them. The quality has helped him to devote his efforts to fueling innovation, creativity, and actions that have furthered his business success. For instance, when Zuckerberg was a college student, he faced lots of criticism for getting the blame for stealing the Harvardconnectins.com idea and generating a competing invention (Biography.com Editors para 20). Despite all these allegations, Zuckerberg was always mindful of his work, and this helped him get accurate recognition and respect later from the world.
Moreover, Zuckerberg was a team builder, a character that helped him face obstacles with confidence. Zuckerberg believes that a great team is all that one needs to be successful. After discovering Facebook, Zuckerberg knew that he could not build a great company all by himself. Being a coder and a developer, he knew he needed a businessperson whose vision aligned with his to be successful. Various challenges faced while building his business made him employ Sheryl Sandberg who helped in managing the business (David para 1). Sheryl was made the chief operating officer of Facebook, and their partnership and collaboration have proved to be great for the company.
Zuckerberg Turns His Failures Turn into Strengths
Dropping out of college to manage Facebook was a failure that later turned into a strength. Mark Zuckerberg failed to understand that, apart from business success, his degree was significant as it would have equipped him with skills and knowledge to master complex trials and overcome adversity. Besides, completing his course in college would have fitted him with specific abilities that would help him in his computer programming activities. However, Zuckerberg turned this failure into success after discovering Facebook which has made him famous and rich. He has also proved his exceptional skills in computer programming even without a college certificate.
As well, Zuckerberg learned the importance of living a purposeful life. In his speech to the Harvard University class of 2017, he advised the scholars to live a life of sense (Asma para 5). He further added that instead of selecting a career or a job, one should focus on choosing a purpose (Asma para 5). Apparently, after dropping out of college, he diligently worked hard to build his programs, and this made him receive an honorary degree from the same college he dropped out of.
In summation, Zuckerberg is perceived as a creative person who has made a difference in his life. His creativity is seen in his successful projects, which include Zucknet, CourseMatch, FaceMash and Facebook. Although he faced many obstacles, Zuckerberg demonstrated various traits, including critical thinking, mindfulness, perseverance, and team-building, to overcome challenges and turn his failures into strengths. Throughout his life, Zuckerberg teaches people the need to lead a purposeful life.
References
Amy, Harvey. “Mark Zuckerberg Success Story: Net Worth, Education And Influence – The Entrepreneur Fund”.The Entrepreneur Fund, 2018. Web.
Asma, Khalid. “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard Dropout, Delivers Commencement Speech”. 2017. Web.
Biography.com Editors. “Mark Zuckerberg”.Biography, 2019. Web.
David, Ingram. “Zuckerberg Says He Hopes Sheryl Sandberg Stays On”. NBC News, 2018. Web.
Josh, Constine. “Techcrunch Is Now A Part Of Verizon Media”.Techcrunch.Com, 2019. Web.
Mary, Bellis. “Biography of Mark Zuckerberg, Creator of Facebook”.Thoughtco, 2019. Web.