The Art of Doing | Dr. Ian Chew | TEDxGIIS Youth

Quick Overview

Ian Chew's TEDxGIIS Youth talk focuses on overcoming the fear of failure, illustrating this through his personal journey of developing the "Greenie Web" platform, which he launched in 2021 to digitize and measure the carbon footprint of IT infrastructure, despite initial hesitation and the prevailing negative sentiment surrounding technology's environmental impact.

Key Points: Ian Chew developed a platform called "Project Flux" (later "Greenie Web") starting in 2019/2020 to measure and teach low-carbon computer coding. The fear of failure, specifically the fear of being laughed at or not doing things perfectly, nearly stopped him from presenting his idea. His platform, Greenie Web, was launched in November 2021 and has since helped measure the carbon footprint for over 7,500 individuals across 23 countries. Chew cites a 2009 narrative where mainstream media promoted the idea that technology harms the environment, which held back action. He contrasts the 2009 narrative with the current situation, noting that his teacher, a technophile, claimed technology would solve all environmental problems. The key takeaway is that the greatest regret is often not doing something, emphasizing that the perfect moment to start never arrives, urging action even in imperfection. He references being featured in the Hindu's front page in July 2019 after presenting at the Future Cities Summit in IIT Madras.

Context: This video features a TEDx talk by Ian Chew at TEDxGIIS Youth, dated October 6, 2025, where he discusses the theme of overcoming obstacles to action, primarily focusing on his personal struggle with perfectionism and fear of failure when launching his environmental technology project, Greenie Web.

Detailed Analysis

Ian Chew delivers a motivational talk centered on taking action despite the fear of failure, using his experience creating the "Greenie Web" platform as the primary example. He recounts starting Project Flux in 2019/2020, which evolved into Greenie Web, a platform designed to teach low-carbon computer coding and measure the resulting carbon footprint. He notes that his initial hesitation stemmed from the fear of being laughed at by classmates or not achieving perfection, a fear compounded by the historical narrative (circa 2009) that technology harms the environment. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportune moment for him to launch the platform in November 2021. Chew proudly states that Greenie Web has already impacted over 7,500 individuals across 23 countries. He contrasts the fear of failure with the regret of inaction, concluding that the perfect moment never arrives, and one must act even if imperfectly, citing his own success partly due to taking action when others might have delayed.