Let’s wrap up my thoughts on limits before it gets completely out of control and I start making wild claims about race (wait… oops, never mind).
The start of my recent thinking (and writing) about limits was when I tried to define the difference between a good idea and a great idea. My answer turned out to be pretty simple – a good idea helps people reach their potential, a great idea helps people expand their potential. I couldn’t have come up with this conclusion without studying limits so that’s where I decided to start my writing.
The difference between one and a million is pretty big (for the non-math folks – it’s around a million). A good idea brings one up to a million. A great idea brings one above a million. Limits explained this in a very clear way to my barely-adult brain and limits are helping my now-adult brain apply the conclusion. If something improves today in a way that can repeat itself tomorrow, we’re all going to do a lot better. Simple, simple stuff, but it doesn’t seem like a very popular approach.
I have plenty of conversations these days about a variety of topics – books, basketball, and yes, even race. These conversations are all pretty good. There’s no law that says good isn’t good enough, but I think there’s a lot of unacknowledged potential in these conversations. We can’t just start talking about it without putting in the work, though. It starts with a little bit of thinking and feeling today and continues with more of the same tomorrow. Each day, we invest a little bit, and someday we’ll reap a big reward.
The deception of the limit is that it’s fixed. It isn’t, and learning about it helped me see it. As it is with any good education, it’s now time to apply the lesson. The horizon stays in place as long as you stay in place. When you see the limit around you, find a way to move toward it without wearing yourself down. The results will surprise you.
