Surprising Activity Downstream
The media these days has been discussing our favorite topic – water. There is too much of it in some places, too little in others. While some suffer from unprecedented floods, others wait desperately for rain in a drought. Similarly in your career and personal life, there is too much of some things and not enough of others. Why is it so and what can be done?
The Rule of Laws
Remember chemistry and physics in high school? There was the law of conservation of mass where no matter is lost or gained in chemical reactions. All atoms have to be accounted for when there is a chemical reaction. You also learned that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In practice, this means that for every upstream cause, there is a downstream effect. What transpires now impacts the future. What transpired yesterday influences today.
Lastly, energy only transforms – never lost or created, it just changes form. All simple ideas, right?
Harmony
Right now, globally about 88 million barrels of oil are consumed on a daily basis. Using our laws from above, that means oil is part of a chemical reaction daily where none of its atoms are lost, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the energy is transformed. This is a daily phenomenon and has been so for at least 40,000 days. About a quarter of these reactions goes just to transportation – getting you, someone, or something from over here to over there. With 8 billion people on the planet, more than 8 times the number just 250 years ago, copious equal and opposite reactions are happening.
As human activity and consumption has expanded, we have forced nature into a place of imbalance. Given the imbalance we create through consumption and the fact that the laws of chemistry and physics require balance, don’t be surprised that a new form of harmony is coming. To us, it feels like payback time – floods and droughts are making our current lives far more difficult. But to the laws of nature, it is just seeking to restore balance. Historic rivers and lakes around the world are communicating something very clearly. Given the downstream effects of human activity, rivers and lakes can’t keep doing what they do any more. Harmony is in another state somewhere unfamiliar to us.
Mapping It On
Where is your business lacking harmony? Where is there too much of one thing and not enough of another? For me, there is actually too much freedom and not enough discipline and rigor at the moment. There is: too much scattered time but not enough focused time, too many ideas but not enough actions, a flood of routine but a drought of innovation. How does this resonate with you?
It is a curious thing. For your career and business, you must zoom in and zoom out, work in the business and on the business, be data driven and trust your intuition, and accumulate some things while letting go of other things. Balance or harmony with these concepts is what will lead to success. What does it take? It takes committing to creating harmony in your life and continually engaging in that inquiry.
Downstream
For too long, we have only thought about things upstream. There is a downstream too, you know. Actions today impact tomorrow. Past events result in situations in the present. Nature and life seek harmony.
Don’t be surprised by the downstream repercussions, all activities follow logically in your business and life. The good news is you get to create tomorrow today. Right now is the upstream.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers