--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's true that the original idea was…" description: "\"It's true that the original idea was mine, but what you see today is the work of probably tens of thousands of the world's best engineers, all concentr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg" --- # It's true that the original idea was mine, but what you… ![“It's true that the original idea was mine, but what you see today is the work of probably tens of thousands of the world's best engineers, all concentrating on improving the product, reducing the cost, things of that sort.” quote by Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg) > “It's true that the original idea was mine, but what you see today is the work of probably tens of thousands of the world's best engineers, all concentrating on improving the product, reducing the cost, things of that sort.” [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Innovation is a collective effort; the original concept is just a seed, refined by many experts. **In simple terms:** Ideas grow through teamwork and engineering. Key Takeaway Value collaboration over sole ownership. Themes innovation collaboration engineering Mood appreciative proud Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - product development - tech startups - R&D projects Key Concepts systems thinking collective intelligence Questions to Reflect On - Who contributed to your latest success? - How can you acknowledge team effort? A Different Perspective Individual credit can be overstated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [Engineers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineers/) [Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea/) [Original](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original/) [Original idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original-idea/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“In my experience, the best engineers are those who excel at these fundamentals and are able to break down complex problems into very simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ladbrooke/in-my-experience-the-best-engineers-are-those-who-excel-at-these-2/) Richard Ladbrooke > [“In my experience, the best engineers are those who excel at these fundamentals and are able to break down complex problems into very simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ladbrooke/in-my-experience-the-best-engineers-are-those-who-excel-at-these/) Richard Ladbrooke > [Israel has the best engineers in the world... 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And to be sure, they have a sizable audience which numbers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/conservative-talkers-love-to-throw-numbers-around-their-ratings-and/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [One of the big first computers was called SAGE, which was a missile defense, the first missile-defense computer, which was, like, one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-andreessen/one-of-the-big-first-computers-was-called-sage-which-was-a-missile/) [Marc Andreessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-andreessen/) ## More by Jack Kilby > [Somewhere in that 20-year period, I would assume that there will be some basically new approach that will begin to cut into it, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/somewhere-in-that-20-year-period-i-would-assume-that-there-will-be/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [Five years ago, people were crying and feeling the Japanese were about to take over the Earth. I don't hear that kind of talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/five-years-ago-people-were-crying-and-feeling-the-japanese-were-about/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [Well, the thought that everybody might have a personal computer at their desk or their home was certainly not on the mainstream of anybody's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/well-the-thought-that-everybody-might-have-a-personal-computer-at/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [Today, people tend to credit me with having the original idea and made the first circuits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/today-people-tend-to-credit-me-with-having-the-original-idea-and-made/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [I feel my story has been exercised very thoroughly and very frequently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/i-feel-my-story-has-been-exercised-very-thoroughly-and-very-frequently/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [It was really a very small company when I started and it changed very rapidly during those first periods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/it-was-really-a-very-small-company-when-i-started-and-it-changed-very/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [There was a space program before there was integrated circuits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/there-was-a-space-program-before-there-was-integrated-circuits/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [Well, the big products in electronics in the '50s were radio and television. 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Not much money was involved in tooling so that basic changes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/this-could-be-done-in-part-because-the-equipment-was-very-inexpensive/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [Well, it's very dangerous to project, but it's clear that the existing technology has some more years to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/well-it-s-very-dangerous-to-project-but-it-s-clear-that-the-existing/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [I think I thought it would be important for electronics as we knew it then, but that was a much simpler business and electronics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/i-think-i-thought-it-would-be-important-for-electronics-as-we-knew-it/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [I'm sure there will continue to be exciting new products and major changes, but it looks as if the existing technology has a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/i-m-sure-there-will-continue-to-be-exciting-new-products-and-major/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [The first calculators tended to sell for $400 or $500. 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I always do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bledsoe/any-position-i-was-going-to-be-in-i-was-going-to-make-the-best-of-it/) [Eric Bledsoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bledsoe/) Browse all 21,674 Best quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's true that the original idea was mine, but what you see today is the work of probably tens of thousands of the world's best engineers, all concentrating on improving the product, reducing the cost, things of that sort.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Kilby" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-mine-but-what-you-see-today-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Best" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-mine-but-what-you-see-today-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66d/jack-kilby-24760_best_it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-min_2502844.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's true that the original idea was mine, but what you see today is the work of probably tens of thousands…” — Jack Kilby", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jack Kilby", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's true that the original idea...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-mine-but-what-you-see-today-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/it-s-true-that-the-original-idea-was-mine-but-what-you-see-today-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```