Sir Ray Avery's tips for success

New Zealander of the Year 2010 Sir Ray Avery says observation skills and determination make New Zealand a world leader but a modest one that does not celebrate its successes enough.
"Observation is the key to innovation. It means you see things nobody else sees and enables you to make changes that can change the world."
Avery ought to know. He grew up in English orphanages and foster homes. At 14, he was living on the streets of London, fixing bikes to make money and dreaming of opening his own bike shop.
Fast forward 50 years and he is a successful pharmaceutical scientist, businessman and social entrepreneur. Last year, he was the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year and was awarded a Blake Leadership Medal. Earlier this year, he was voted the most trusted New Zealander.
He is probably best known for his work as a technical adviser to the Fred Hollows Foundation, designing and commissioning two intraocular lens laboratories in Nepal and Eritrea, which now supply 16 per cent of the world market and have made the cost of cataract surgery affordable to people in developing nations. Avery also founded Medicine Mondiale, enlisting the help of other scientists and social entrepreneurs to work with him.
Speaking at a Rotorua Chamber of Commerce lunch on Monday, Avery urged the audience to become better observers and make the most of the opportunities their observations would bring.
"Sometimes the best thing you can do is not do anything but sit and watch. The paper clip came from somebody who looked at a piece of wire and saw the potential."
Knowledge is another vital ingredient for success.
"I dreamed of opening a bike shop and now I head an organisation that changes the lives of millions of people. That came from knowledge. It gives you the ability to dream bigger."
He pointed to New Zealanders who had made internationally groundbreaking advances, such as Richard Pearse and Colin Murdoch, saying Kiwis did not blow their own trumpets enough.
"Richard Pearse knocked up a plane in his shed, flew it, crashed it into a hedge, then just went down the pub and said 'Built a plane, flew it, crashed it into a hedge'. He never really told anybody about it."
Avery said few New Zealanders knew who Murdoch was but his invention of the disposable plastic syringe changed healthcare.
"He was a Kiwi and he changed the world, but no one knows who he is. We need to change that, if we want to take our place on the world stage."
Avery has lived in New Zealand since 1973 and immediately felt at home here.
"Impossible is just a starting point for Kiwis. If someone says we cannot do something, that's just enough reason to do it."