You Cannot Discover New Land Unless You Have The Courage To Lose Sight of The Shore

Editorial by Robert Kirwan

   One of my favourite authors is Tom Peters. He wrote the following observation, “I’ve spent a good part of my life studying economic successes and failures…above all, I’ve learned that everything takes a back seat to innovation.”
 
   Unfortunately, most of our busy lives are so focused on solving day-to-day problems that we seldom have any time to even consider opportunities which may lay right on our doorstep. Sadly, many of the people currently occupying leadership roles in business and government spend so much of their time trying to maintain control that they actually discourage employees and colleagues from “thinking outside the box”. It doesn’t take long for young, ambitious persons starting out in a new career to learn that if they want to keep their job, they better do what they are told and put a lid on things such as innovation, risk-taking and creativity.
 
   I came across a great story recently called, Paper Airplane. It was written by a man named Michael McMillan. The story is about a Grade six teacher who spent an entire week teaching her class about aerodynamics. To finish off the unit she organized a paper airplane contest. Each student was given a sheet of construction paper and 15 minutes to build the “winning” plane that would fly the furthest and win a prize.
 
   The students went to work immediately, carefully folding their paper, hoping to create the perfect plane that would travel farther than all of the others. Before long, everyone was ready to go outside to start the contest. Everyone that is, except for Jeff. He was a unique child and was known for traveling to a “different drummer” if you know what I mean. He usually had his own view of life that was not always the same as the others in the class. Jeff hadn’t made even one fold in his paper. He just sat there staring out the window – thinking.
 
   To give him more time, the teacher told Jeff he could go last. As the contest went on there were some very interesting results. Some of the planes barely flew two meters while others did surprisingly well. As the students in the class each stepped forward to test their creations, Jeff stood there at the back of the line, still holding on to that piece of construction paper.
 
   Before long, Jeff was the only remaining contestant. With great anticipation, the class watched as Jeff approached with his “craft” well hidden behind his back. Then he stepped to the line and exposed his masterpiece…a flat sheet of paper. But just as the class began to snicker, Jeff confidently wadded up the piece of paper into a tight ball, and then drew his hand back and threw it higher and farther than the leading plane had landed.
 
   The rest of the class stood there in amazement. The silence was broken when the teacher began to clap her hands and stepped forward to present Jeff with the first-place prize. The rest of the students then joined in applause and cheered the champion.
 
   Jeff demonstrated a new way of interpreting a problem. More importantly, he had the courage to act on his vision. 
 
   I’ve met a lot of people in my life like Jeff. Most of them, however, have grown tired of trying to “fight the system” and eventually settled down into a relatively secure life of compliance and conformity. They learned early that “rocking the boat” and “making waves” makes most other people uncomfortable. Your life is a lot less stressful if you just “go with the flow” and do what you are told.
 
   Others have gone on to “think outside the box” and have become very successful through innovations that other people soon came to like once they got over their initial “fears”.
 
   T.S. Elliot once said, “Only those who are willing to go too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
 
   The next time you come up with an idea that seems “outside the box”, have the courage to act on your vision. If you fail, you fail. At least then you will know how far you can go or at the very least, what you must do to go further the next time. T.S. Elliot’s message is true. If you never fail, you never really know just how far or how successful you could become. You have to fail in order to know when you’ve gone too far.
 
   Remember, in order for Christopher Columbus to discover America , he had to have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

   Have a good week!