By Marian Croak, Senior Vice President, Domain 2.0 Architecture and Advanced Services Development

A lot of people think successful innovators and entrepreneurs rely on some flash of genius to come up with great ideas and turn them into world-changing products and services. But as I’ve learned throughout my career – and as I was reminded a few weeks ago at the Final Four Innovation Summit in Dallas – hard work, perseverance through failure, and a general curiosity are much more critical.

I was lucky enough to participate in a panel discussion with some truly amazing people. These folks included everyone from young student innovators already starting to make a mark in the world to experienced entrepreneurs and business and sports leaders sharing their lessons learned. You can check out some of their insights in the video below.

I was particularly inspired by the three young women on the “Student Innovators” panel, as encouraging more women and girls to go into careers in science and technology is a passion of mine.

Sometimes technology and telecommunications can be intimidating to young students considering careers in those fields. But, as I shared during my panel, the most important thing to have is a child-like sense of wonder and curiosity. When I was a girl, I was always fascinated when a plumber or electrician would come to our house to repair something. It was amazing to see how you could take something apart, fix it, and get it running like new.