Describing what an “exponential executive” is exactly is difficult. In fact, it is kind of like that old saw which has been attributed to Louis Brandeis, who when he was asked to define pornography, responded by saying “I’ll know it when I see it.”
I have identified a few “exponential executives” in the past such as George C. Marshall, but I’d now like to introduce you to another: Craig Venter, the man largely responsible for first sequencing the human genome back in 2001 and the founder of the Institute of Genomic Research.
Venter is now the leading pioneer in the promising field of synthetic biology , which as I have explained before, has the ability to bring about paradigm-shifting changes in the fields of agriculture, energy and pharmaceuticals.
The other day, however, the New York Times ran a fascinating article entitled ”Pursuing Synthetic Life, Dazzled by Reality.” In the article there is this wonderful quote from Venter: ”My view is that we know less than 1 percent of what’s out there in the biological universe.”
It is a great quote and it is why I believe Venter is an exponential executive. The wise person knows what he doesn’t know and, in this case, Venter has realized that society has only begun to tap the surface of Mother Nature’s biological secrets. This attitude is likely to take him very far indeed. In fact, it is likely that the field of synthetic biology will experience exponential growth because of this humble attitude.
Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
