“Me Do It!”
George Koukis Speaks Personally on
Inherent Greatness in Courageous Initiative
We knew this was a feat that would require a great deal of technical skill at a time when computers were almost unheard of, and an even greater commitment of time and energy at a time when I worked for Qantas during the day, was going to university at night, and then had a second job waiting tables after I left class. (I did my homework after getting home from the restaurant job—usually after 1 in the morning.)
Though I was a relatively low-level accountant in the office with no computer or programming experience—by any stretch of the imagination unequipped for the job—I felt my hand rising higher and higher in the air when the director asked for volunteers. And from my lips came the proclamation—“Me do it!”— in my broken English.
So the real question is how did the project turn out? Well, I was an accountant, so with a math background the syntax of the coding language—in this case Fortran— was logical and made sense to me. I had bought a book to teach myself and I learned the basics of Fortran in a few hours—in 2 days I’d completed my first tiny project.
In 21 days I had a working prototype of what the director wanted. Within 6 months the people I worked with would say “God has arrived” when I’d show up because they were amazed—it was 1973 and they thought what I did was magic. That led to a promotion at Qantas and more money—I was able to quit my second job.
So “Me do it!”—which to me symbolized not being threatened by what was new and unknown—was really the start of many amazing opportunities and became my personal rallying cry when seemingly insurmountable feats were required in my career.
Practical Application for Ethical Leadership
Realizing Unimagined Success—Embracing the 'Me Do It!' Mindset