The Space Between The Vines

Tarzan must have been an entrepreneur. Only an entrepreneur would be so willing to swing from vine to vine without ever looking down.

Big companies that are like big trees.  They are strong, stable and will protect you from the elements.  Every now and then someone will fall or be pushed out of tree, but for the most part they are pretty stable. That's the benefit of living in a tree.  The downside is, trees grow slowly and if you never leave the tree for fear of falling, you'll never see all the amazing life and color in the rest of the forest.  

Entrepreneurs don't much care for big trees.  It's not their fault, they can't help themselves.  They can hear life off in the distance and they want to go explore. But the only way to get there is to grab a vine and swing off the tree.

Opportunities, you see, are like vines. They are everywhere, many of them are in plain sight, just hanging there ready for the grabbing. But most people don't grab the opportunities before them. Most people don't see the vines, they see only the space between the vines.  Most people don't see the opportunity to swing, they see only the risk of falling. And even if they do grab one vine, the odds of them swinging to catch another and another and another are slim; all those spaces between the vines could spell disaster.

Entrepreneurs are different. Whereas most people ignore the opportunities because they can see only danger,  entrepreneurs ignore the danger because they can see only opportunities. They don't see the space between the vines, they see only the vines. And when they leap, they do so looking forward at the opportunity they intend to grab and not at the space they must cross to get there.

This fixation on the vines does not mean they are less likely to fall. Quite the opposite. The vast majority will miss many of the vines for which they are are reaching and will fall some distance as a consequence.  Some will even fall a distance so great they may not be able to get up after they hit the ground.  And every time a vine swinger falls, the tree dwellers will point and scoff and use those incidents to justify staying on the tree. And every time a vine swinger falls, the other vine swingers will see that as a sign that when it is their turn to leap, they will need to leap higher and further to ensure they grab what others missed. The vine swingers, remember, don't see the spaces between the vines, they see only the vines. And vines are the only way to leave the tree and explore the forest.  

Vine swinging is reserved for optimists.  Pessimists stay in the trees.  The pessimists cannot ignore the risk of falling.  The optimists cannot ignore the opportunity to find a better tree. Are you ready to jump?

Thank you to Steve Savad for sharing with me his concept of the space between the vines. I love it.

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Comments

[ruanjingjie]

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[Brett]

EXCELLENT!!!

Thanks for the great illustration.

[snow]

And there are those of us who see that there are some regions w/ trees that are not too well-off, and so to preserve the beauty and health of the whole eco-system, they do their best to help - they find ways to help. The bravest of them takes leaps of faith. They don't always succeed, but when they do, they signal to others that the there is a landing, that the unfamiliar territory is safe. Together, they work to revitalize the darkest parts of the ecosystem, those regions that have been without much opportunity. The work has been hard, but things have been getting much brighter, making the whole journey worth it.

*Relative to the whole population, this group is small, but what they do is important. They're the ones who change the world in a way that matters.

:) This post rocked. Thank you!