Megan Smith Quotes

Powerful Megan Smith for Daily Growth

About Megan Smith

Megan Smith, born on June 27, 1964, is an American engineer, entrepreneur, and government official who has made significant contributions to the fields of technology, innovation, and gender equality in STEM. Raised in rural Michigan, her passion for science was sparked during a trip to the University of Michigan's robotics lab in high school, where she witnessed robots performing tasks autonomously. Smith earned her Bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from MIT and Master's degrees from both MIT and the University of Southern California. Her influential career began at Google, where she served as Vice President of New Businesses and Chief Change Evangelist from 2012 to 2014. In 2014, Smith was appointed as the third United States Chief Technology Officer by President Barack Obama. In this role, she led efforts to increase American competitiveness in the global economy through technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. She also played a key role in the White House's "Startup America" initiative. Post-government service, Smith returned to her entrepreneurial roots by co-founding shift7, a studio for design, technology, and culture. She is also a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world's largest venture capital firms. Smith is a firm advocate for gender equality in STEM fields and has been recognized as one of Fast Company's Most Creative People, Fortune's 50 Greatest Leaders, and one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. Her notable works include "The Third Wave: Reimagining Water in the Anthropocene," a book exploring innovative solutions to water challenges. Smith continues to inspire and lead change in technology and innovation, emphasizing the importance of diversity and inclusion in these fields.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"If it's not on the internet, it doesn't exist."

Megan Smith's quote, "If it's not on the internet, it doesn't exist," highlights the increasing significance of digital information in contemporary society. In essence, she suggests that with the vast amount of data available online, anything not accessible via the internet may as well be non-existent to most people due to its limited accessibility or invisibility within the digital sphere. This quote underscores the profound impact and influence that the internet has on our collective knowledge, communication, and understanding of the world around us.


"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

This quote emphasizes that to overcome challenges or issues, we need innovative, creative, and unconventional thinking. The approach that led to the problem's creation may not be effective in finding a solution. It suggests a paradigm shift from traditional methods to more imaginative and unorthodox solutions, which can lead to progress and resolution of complex problems.


"The future is something we can make, and it's up to us now to shape it."

This quote by Megan Smith emphasizes that our collective actions today shape the future. It implies a sense of responsibility and empowerment, suggesting that instead of passively waiting for the future to unfold, we have the power to actively create and mold it according to our values, aspirations, and vision. It encourages proactive participation in shaping society, technology, and the world at large, promoting a mindset of innovation, creativity, and positive change for tomorrow.


"Innovation is the art of making what's possible, practical."

This quote emphasizes that innovation is not just about coming up with new ideas or technologies; it's about translating these ideas into real-world applications. Innovation transforms abstract potential into tangible solutions, making the impossible, possible in a practical sense. It bridges the gap between creativity and utility, encouraging us to turn our brightest thoughts into beneficial realities.


"There's so much good stuff happening that we can't wait for it to be perfect before we share it with the world."

This quote by Megan Smith emphasizes the importance of action over perfection, suggesting that there is merit in sharing innovative ideas or projects even when they are not yet fully polished or perfected. The implication is that progress often stems from immediate application rather than waiting for a concept to reach an ideal state before it's presented to the world. This perspective encourages collaboration, resilience, and a willingness to adapt as feedback and experiences are gained during the development process.


What was so special about the Mac, we all know, was the graphical computer interface.

- Megan Smith

Special, Computer, About, Interface

Flipping our classrooms into active learning spaces really is important and having these convenient spaces where people feel comfortable.

- Megan Smith

Feel, Active, Having, Convenient

I have been able to attend many technology conferences around the world over the years, including some of the largest, like Google I/O, Microsoft's Developer Conference, Apple's WorldWide Developers Conference, Oracle World, Le Web, and more.

- Megan Smith

Some, Been, Largest, Oracle

We are the only country with an operating rover on Mars. We are an amazing country on tech.

- Megan Smith

Amazing, Country, Tech, Only Country

The mandate for the CTO's office is to unleash the power of technology, data, and innovation on behalf of the nation. The CTO's office is really trying to bring best practices, possibilities, pilots, and policy advising.

- Megan Smith

Innovation, Possibilities, Practices

We have two boys, and one of our kids is much more interested in history and stories, so if you want him to do some calculations about lenses, you would start talking to him about Galileo... Then he would be into the lenses, but if you just start talking to him about lenses, he might not stay with you.

- Megan Smith

Talking, Some, About, Galileo

To me, there's so much talent in the world that's locked out for the wrong reasons, whether it's innovators at the highest end where we need to change the regulation systems, or whether it's the talented people who work here who the bureaucracy's holding back, or the amazing American people.

- Megan Smith

Here, Reasons, Innovators, Locked

Across our great nation, we've begun to see an acceleration of the power of data to deliver value.

- Megan Smith

Data, Nation, Begun, Great Nation

It's much easier to fail when you're in the pilot, early stage, when it's less expensive and you're exploring than when you're way out the door and you've spent all this money. Industry is smart: structured to have skunkworks and pilot phases.

- Megan Smith

Smart, Door, Industry, Structured

I think open source is an evolutionary idea for humanity, this idea of transparency. It played out for us in the technology world, but it also played out with the idea of a truth and reconciliation commission and Wikipedia.

- Megan Smith

Think, Idea, I Think, Reconciliation

The more people we can attract to science and technology - men, women, everybody - the more economic opportunity we have as a nation.

- Megan Smith

Everybody, More People, Economic

The things you're passionate about and interested in, get experience with them by going deep on projects. I would encourage science projects, plays. Pursue science, math, writing, history - the 21st century demands a lot of cross-disciplinary thinking.

- Megan Smith

Deep, Passionate, Projects, 21st Century

Code is just a list of instructions. There are countries that are teaching it as part of the core curriculum. Having some experience in those early years is very important.

- Megan Smith

Some, Instructions, Very, Curriculum

We need to have making, including computer science, shop, etc. as part of the core curriculum from the beginning, not just an optional afterschool thing. Things like First Robotics and all of those great programs need to become mainstream.

- Megan Smith

Beginning, Part, Shop, Curriculum

Founded in 1994 by the Anita Borg Institute and growing every year, the Grace Hopper Celebration is bringing needed network connections, skill building, and visibility for women computer scientists who work at all levels of our industry.

- Megan Smith

Year, Needed, Industry, Institute

I'm on the MIT board, and a lot of our buildings now have daycare centers; it's becoming a standard.

- Megan Smith

Becoming, Standard, Lot, Board

Innovation comes out of great human ingenuity and very personal passions.

- Megan Smith

Innovation, Personal, Very, Ingenuity

In the early IBM team, that was a racially diverse team, a gender-diverse team.

- Megan Smith

Team, Early, IBM, Diverse

There are 2 to 3 million women programmers in the world. We need to see them more.

- Megan Smith

World, See, Million, Programmers

People can get into very bad habits of arguing ideas and shutting them down.

- Megan Smith

Habits, Bad, Very, Shutting

There's this fabulous innovation ship called Unreasonable at Sea, where I'm a mentor. One of the companies there was called Protei, and they're an open hardware ocean exploration and monitoring idea.

- Megan Smith

Innovation, Mentor, Idea, Monitoring

I like to work at the beginning of projects. Once they get stable, I'll hand them off.

- Megan Smith

Beginning, Like, Projects, Stable

I went to an inner-city school in Buffalo. We had no money. But our teachers believed in hands-on active learning - there was a mandatory science fair, which was critical.

- Megan Smith

Buffalo, Critical, Which, Believed

It's so interesting that when somebody's pregnant, we are obsessed with knowing the gender of the child so we can figure out what we need to buy that child, what the present would be. Like we're pre-programming the kid before they were born.

- Megan Smith

Gender, Obsessed, Figure, Pregnant

If we're the country that makes Amazon and Facebook and Twitter, why can't the federal government have websites and digital services that are awesome?

- Megan Smith

Digital, Country, Facebook, Websites

Take everything you know. Take your whole selves. Be inclusive. Be open. Make history in the infinite ways that your heart takes you.

- Megan Smith

Inclusive, Infinite, Whole, Selves

There are hundreds of historic and current examples of women and minorities doing groundbreaking work in technology, but so many of these stories are not well known, and in some cases, the stories have been all but lost.

- Megan Smith

Doing, Some, Been, Hundreds

I actually think that working in the federal government, or state or local, is one of the most significant things that a technical person can do.

- Megan Smith

Think, Local, Technical, Federal

It's an incredibly important thing to make sure we preserve net neutrality.

- Megan Smith

Important, Sure, Incredibly, Neutrality

Net neutrality is such an important principle for the Web and for the Internet. It's how the Internet's operated for all this time.

- Megan Smith

How, Principle, Operated, Neutrality

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