Where things are going

# Chapter 146

All of the innovation happens at the edges. This is true of your life, your relationships, technology, culture, music, politics, education, etc etc. This is where things start to get interesting and exciting. This is where the status quo is no longer going to function adequately in your life and you are ready for the change that is coming, where you are ready to really start living. This is what we are referring to when we say, “living on the edge”. And this is a good thing, even though we act like “the edge” is a gangplank and you are on the precipice of being forced off the end and drowning in the deep blue sea of the unknown. Think of “the edge” as the cutting edge, the most innovative edge of development and change and style and culture and fashion and those things that may or may not be important to you.

I like to be on the cutting edge of leadership and development and change in culture, but I couldn’t care less about TV or ripped jeans, movies or movements, social media or games. Yet you have to recognize that these categories have overlap and your can’t avoid them completely. Social media for instance, impacts some leadership and development and culture change elements. And leadership and development impact social media as well, there is crossover for better or worse and you just have to live with that fact.

But back to the primary point, innovation happens at the edges, not in the middle, not in the mainstream, not in the core. You have to pay attention to what is going on in the margins and perceive where that will go and take us next. I am not suggesting we follow the fads that endlessly sweep the world, but rather that we anticipate the seismic shifts that are coming our way, and participate accordingly.