Dearest Darling Friends,
Why is it that a child can build a galactic empire out of three cardboard boxes and a roll of cello tape, but a CEO and his team of geniuses struggles to imagine a 30% growth?
It is because they haven’t yet reached their ‘Psychological Boiling Point’.
‘Psychological boiling point’ is when someone permits themselves to dream bigger only when the pain of staying the same outweighs the fear of falling.
The second reason is that they are ‘Honouring the Container’.
Imagine your vision is a Banyan tree. If you plant it in a ceramic pot next to your desk, it will grow to about three feet tall and then stop itself.
It’s not the maximum the tree can do. It’s just honouring the container you gave it to stay.
Most leaders are operating in ceramic pots. They have the DNA for greatness, but their ‘safety zone’ is the ceramic pot.
You permit yourself to dream bigger the moment you smash the pot, take the 3 feet tree and plant it in the soil of your lawn.
* Counter-Intuitive Truth: The bigger the dream, the less competition you have. Everyone is fighting over the “realistic” goals at the bottom. The summit is surprisingly quiet.
* Insight: We don’t dream bigger because we have more resources; we get more resources because we dream bigger.
The Mirror Test
Ask yourself this questions right away:
Q. Is my current 3 year plan actually a 3 year ‘play safe bet’?
Data-driven research from the Harvard Business Review suggests that high-performing leaders (the Banyan Trees in nature) spend up to 20% more time on “breakthrough thinking” – the messy, unquantifiable art of asking “What if?” than their mid-level counterparts (The Banyan Trees in the ceramic pot)
They are not smarter. They are just more permissive with their own imagination.
Bureau of Big Ideas
The world doesn’t give you a permit to expand. There is no ‘Bureau of Big Ideas’ that stamps your application. You are the only authority.
As the late, great Ratan Tata once implied through his actions: Don’t just take the path; build the road so others can follow.
You permit yourself to dream bigger when you realize that your ‘container driven’ dreams aren’t just limiting you, they are depriving the people you lead, of a glorious future.
What is the ‘cardboard box’ idea you have been hiding from your own destiny because it’s not ‘realistic’ enough?
What Now?
I am looking to connect with three amazing people this month who feel their current vision has outgrown its container.
If you are ready to smash the ceramic pot and look at what’s actually possible, comment the phrase “Break The Ceramic Pot.”
I am willing to work with you and help you find the ground for your Banyan Tree.