BOOK REVIEW. Dead man walking

When Tony Stark in his lab fixes the limb of the Iron Man suit and goes on and creates multiple and better versions of the limbs, the audience hardly realises the bionic expert’s potential in the real world. When technology meets humanity, the arena just opens up a million fold and prospects are numerous.

What was a chance invitation to an art gallery turned out to be a roller coaster ride for author Mick Ebeling, changing his career, life and the lives of millions in due course. Not Impossible is a collection of chapters from Ebeling’s life, as he takes us on this adventurous, yet path-breaking ride, at the end of which humanity emerges as winner.

Ebeling is an award-winning TV and film producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His Not Impossible Foundation oversees Not Impossible Labs, which works with state-of-the-art technology to create practical and cheap solutions to some of the most nagging yet interesting problems we face. Ebeling’s inspirational journey and his DIY (Do It Yourself) attitude leads him to create simple gadgets that solve often overlooked, yet much-needed human necessities. 

Tech tech all the way The author recounts his experiences with technology adoption and how it ended up changing many lives. One of the first is the The EyeWriter project, which tracks the development and implementation of a painting tool for a young graffiti artist (named Tempt).

Tempt is stuck down by Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and hence is not unable to use his limbs to express his art. EyeWriter, a device which looks like a pair of glasses developed by Ebeling and team, helps ALS patients to draw just using their eyes. The device is a low-cost eye-tracking system developed using inexpensive cameras and open source software.

Tempt starts communicating again and the emails he sends to Ebeling and the whole dynamics of making the EyeWriter even more functional and powerful is awe-inspiring.

Tempt’s nirvana moment is best portrayed when he says “I felt like I had been held underwater, and someone finally reached down and pulled my head up so I could take a breath”. Ebeling’s thought process and his philosophy of development are best portrayed in this story which sets the right backdrop for the rest of the book.

The philosophy Committing to a problem and then figuring out a solution seems to be his modus operandi. ‘Commit’ (Yes), then figure out the ‘how’, in such a way that the ‘why’ is self-demonstrating — is the mantra Ebeling espouses and is often seen evangelising. 

On the ‘how’, he lays importance on Singularity of Focus, Giving it Away, and Beautiful-Limitless Naivete as driving forces in his creative process (read the book to figure out what they exactly are).

Ebeling lays a lot of emphasis on open sourcing the solution, as this is an extremely potent force for easier collaboration among people who are geographically dispersed and for the easier access, assimilation and implementation of final solutions.

The idea of ‘Help One, Help Many’ is only possible when the solution is given away for free, makes reduction in costs and exploration of alternative schematics and technologies.

The author does not share any recipe or any roadmap or a charter of how to achieve the Impossible, but shares his own hands-on approach and experiences which are true testaments of his thought processes. His first person style makes the book an extremely light read.

Sometimes, the author takes the reader to a fantasy land radiating with so much energy. Ebeling comes off as a guy who is an excellent project manager or a highly energetic motivational coach (aka Kabir Khan in Chak De ).

His ability to spot the problem, commit to it and then collating resources and the constant iterations to better the result is a constant reminder to all the Managers to hone their thought processes.

One of the most intense experiences is his sojourn into the war-torn Sudan for Project Daniel, wherein the author ends up printing 3D prosthetic limb for a young boy (Daniel) who had lost both his hands at age 14.

The author risks his life and takes many important decisions, but is often seen asking the self-prophesying question of: “If not now, when? If not me, who?” And, hence, underlining the importance of each individual’s capacity for betterment of humanity.

The reader is almost transported to the scene of action in Sudan wherein after being fitted with the prosthetic limb, Ebeling narrates the scene: “Daniel had never tasted chocolate before.

And if you think the sight of a kid seeing his own hand wave to him for the first time would warm your heart, imagine the sight of that kid feeding himself, for the first time, a chocolate brownie. Daniel, of course, ate three”.

Joining hands Collaboration is the key in any such kind of a compelling venture that leads to a greater good. When people with different and limitless expertise work in tandem, the opportunities are never-ending.

The author keeps reminding about his team and the volunteers who popped in from various nook and corners of the world during brainstorming, prototyping and made his dreams and the devices a success.

But how to motivate people to spend enormous amounts of their time and energy on a project other than monetary incentives? Ebeling states the beauty of the Not Impossible concept is that they simply put the problem out in the open and wait for motivated people to find it.

People find their passion, their calling, and end up taking the problem and do that it for the forseeable future; thereby making the calling more meaningful for themselves. By bringing in the personal dimension, the author keeps the reader extremely close to the events that are happening, and at times, almost makes the reader an onlooker.

Not Impossible belongs to a genre after reading which you are very much prompted to join the author’s bandwagon and put in the best efforts to change the world one step at a time.

Adrenaline rushes through at some places and the reader cultivates a deep respect for the author for his efforts. The book is an important milestone in the Maker movement.

Chris Anderson’s Makers set the stage a few years ago and Ebeling’s book, takes it one level up. The book does not lay down a charter or rules or commandments for innovation, but sheer story telling from the Maker’s perspective makes it an enjoyable read.

This book is a slap on the face of those sceptics and pessimists who harbour the thought of “Sorry, this ain’t gonna happen” and give up even before the game begins. This is not about winning and losing. This is not about fighting.

This book is about creating experiences for humanity by leveraging technology that makes people rediscover their lost talents and bring their smiles back. Or as Ebelingstates it ‘Technology for the sake of humanity’.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Raised in a family of entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Mick Ebeling is founder of the Not Impossible Foundation, a nonprofit that builds creative solutions to real-world problems, and The Ebeling Group, a production firm and think tank, representing leading design and directing collectives.

The reviewer works with an IT firm in Bangalore

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