Dear friend,
The worst thing we humans do is build walls, and then forget that we are the ones who put them there.
By walls I mean stuck ideas, the ultimate truths we treat as beyond question. We accept our own assessments, and other people’s truths, as undisputed gospel about what is possible and what is not. And we forget that walls can be moved, taken apart, even demolished, when they no longer serve us or what really matters.
These perceptual walls are built and then hardened over time, preserved in the stories, metaphors, and old sayings we never think to challenge. But the world is far more malleable than we perceive it to be, far less rigid and solid than we imagine. We trap our own imagination inside walls that we, or someone before us, once built. And in breaking those walls, we find new possibilities.
Such a moment came for me recently, when I let go of what I had long held to be the right way of delivering my work. In breaking that wall, an idea opened up: to build something with AI that helps people develop the skills to navigate relationship and work in the era now arriving. More on that another time.
So if something is not working for you, take a look. Which wall seems so solid that it must now be moved or torn down to make room for the new? What does it cost you to leave it standing? And what becomes possible if you do not?
With care,Saqib