And you know, along the way in this journey of discovery, I learned a lot. I learned a lot about science. But I also learned a lot about leadership. Now you think director has got to be a leader, leader of, captain of the ship, and all that sort of thing.

I didn't really learn about leadership until I did these expeditions. Because I had to, at a certain point, say, "What am I doing out here? Why am I doing this? What do I get out of it?" We don't make money at these damn shows. We barely break even. There is no fame in it. People sort of think I went away between "Titanic" and "Avatar" and was buffing my nails someplace, sitting at the beach. Made all these films, made all these documentary films for a very limited audience.

No fame, no glory, no money. What are you doing? You're doing it for the task itself, for the challenge -- and the ocean is the most challenging environment there is, for the thrill of discovery, and for that strange bond that happens when a small group of people form a tightly knit team. Because we would do these things with 10-12 people working for years at a time. Sometimes at sea for 2-3 months at a time.

And in that bond, you realize that the most important thing is the respect that you have for them and that they have for you, that you've done a task that you can't explain to someone else. When you come back to the shore and you say, "We had to do this, and the fiber optic, and the attentuation, and the this and that, all the technology of it, and the difficulty, the human performance aspects of working at sea, you can't explain it to people. It's that thing that maybe cops have, or people in combat that have gone through something together and they know they can never explain it. Creates a bond, creates a bond of respect.

So, when I came back to make my next movie, which was "Avatar," I tried to apply that same principle of leadership which is that you respect your team, and you earn their respect in return. And it really changed the dynamic. So, here I was again with a small team, in uncharted territory doing "Avatar," coming up with new technology that didn't exist before. Tremendously exciting. Tremendously challenging. And we became a family, over a four and half year period. And it completely changed how I do movies. So, people have commented on how, well, you know, you brought back the ocean organisms and put them on the planet of Pandora. To me it was more of a fundamental way of doing business, the process itself, that changed as a result of that.

So, what can we synthesize out of all this? You know, what are the lessons learned? Well, I think number one is curiosity. It's the most powerful thing you own. Imagination is a force that can actually manifest a reality. And the respect of your team is more important than all the laurels in the world. I have young film makers come up to me and say, "Give me some advice for doing this." And I say, "Don't put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you, don't do it to yourself, don't bet against yourself. And take risks."

NASA has this phrase that they like: "Failure is not an option." But failure has to be an option in art and in exploration, because it's a leap of faith. And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. So, that's the thought I would leave you with, is that in whatever you're doing, failure is an option, but fear is not. Thank you.

文本大意：

在发现的旅途中，我学到了很多。我学到的不仅仅是科学知识，还有领导力。很多人以为作为导演，就一定具有很高的领导力。但我却是从这些探险中学到如何带领团队。在探险时，有时候我会问自己，我为什么会在这里？为什么要做这些纪录片？我从中得到了什么？ 我们并没有从这些纪录片中赚钱，还差点亏了本。我也没有赚到名声。很多人以为我在《泰坦尼克号》之后就一直躺在沙滩边享受。

那我在做什么呢？我做这些其实只是为了这件任务本身。为了挑战--海洋是现存最危险的环境；为了发现；也为了一种奇怪的关系--一个由很少人组成的紧密团队。我们这10到12个人在一起工作了很多年。有时要在海里一起工作2到3个月。在这种关系中，我发现最重要的东西就是尊重。我在这里为了你，你在这里为了我。每个人做的工作都无法向其他人解释。我们必须建立起一种关系，建立尊重。

当我开始拍摄《阿凡达》时，我试着将这种互相尊重的领导力原则应用在电影拍摄中。很快情况就改变了。在《阿凡达》拍摄过程中，我的团队也很小，也在未知领地工作，创造新的科技，这非常有意思，非常有挑战。四年半时间，我们成为了一个家庭。这完全改变了我以前拍电影的方式。

有评论文章说，卡梅隆把海底的一些生物放到了潘多拉星球上是其影片成功的原因，而对于我来说，做事的基本法则以及过程本身改变了事情的结果。

最后，总结一下。我学到了什么？第一：好奇心，这是你拥有的最重要的东西；第二：想象力，这是你创造现实最重要的力量；第三：对团队的尊重，这是比世界上其他定律更重要的定律。

有不少年轻电影导演向我讨教成功经验，我对他们说："不要给自己划定界限。别人会为你去划边界，但你自己千万别去。你要去冒险。失败是你其中一个选项，但畏惧不是。从来没有一次探险是在有完全安全保障的情况下完成的。你必须愿意承担这些风险。"

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