There are many factors that go into making the decision to “tack away”; one being a poor start that leaves the boat at the rear of the “pack” and, perhaps, out of contention. In this case the “gamble” of the tacking away maneuver is as much a disengagement from the race in the hope of a miraculous set of circumstances that may exonerate the whole performance. Other considerations are intuitive or local knowledge based that relate to local wind anomalies, set, drift and current behavior and navigational obstacles. Another reason is simply to be free from the pack and its restriction to one’s creativity and maneuverability. Or maybe one discovers something radical and compelling that causes them to put over the helm and divert.
Life is not really a sailboat race but we can make it one. Business is not a sailboat race but we can make it one. Fleet racing is, after all, a relative thing. That’s why each race is followed by a results sheet and perhaps even an award ceremony with trophies for first second and third place. Margins for victory can be seconds apart. Boats are rated and even handicapped to keep it all interesting. We leave the yacht club and go our separate ways …
Life and business do not begin at a common starting line. All
boats are not of the same class. All crews differ. In business, seeking and
winning by fine margins is unwise and unsustainable. Who wants to do that day
in and day out? Unless one is the clear leader and “walking away” from the
“fleet” as it were, the pack may burn you out and hold you back with its
relativistic friction – the rat race.
A comment that sparked a thought that led to this blog piece
came from the CEO of a renewable energy startup aimed at harnessing ocean wave
energy. Competing with scores of other emerging innovators around the world he and
his “crew” recognized that the cost to produce power from this type of
technology would probably remain prohibitively expensive for some time relative
to traditional fossil fuel sources and emerging solar and wind alternatives
that had a head start. This gentleman remarked that he and his “crew” had
decided to “tack away from the fleet”. The course that they decided to tack
onto with their precious ideas and resources was to harness wave energy to
convert salt water into fresh water in remote coastal regions of the planet
where pristine seacoasts, time and need endure cost. This meant integrating
their wave energy equipment with power transmission and reverse osmosis
desalination technology as a package. In other words – creating their own race,
a new race outside of the race – a race they can win. This sort of thing takes
smarts, a creative and open mind, innovation, willingness to learn new things
and courage. The new course also introduces opportunities to innovate at the technology
intersection
points (read The Medici Effect, by Frans Johansson for more on that). The
new course now becomes less linear and more intersectional! Myriad outcomes are
now possible. I love it. I’m also drawn to the altruistic element of it - fresh
water for those in need. I think that destiny has good things in store for this company - they will have their up-side.
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost, 1920
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
In life I believe we run a race not against one another but a
race to explore, discover and express a uniquely created purpose that is in each
of us and draws us to the backdrop of eternity - uncharted water indeed. The
trophy for victory is surprising joy, contentment and a return to the eternity
from whence we came.
“For
we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend
themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing
themselves among themselves, are not wise.” ~ 2 Corinthians 10:12
All the best!
Bill