The adjacent possible — Kelford Labs Daily
Focus on the next best thing.
In Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From, he digs into the concept of the “adjacent possible.”
Basically, why do inventions and innovations and ideas arise when they do? Because they are “adjacent” to, or nearby, other inventions, innovations, or ideas.
Which means, we need to recognize that not everything is possible all at once.
What’s possible in the future is constrained by what exists today.
At any given time, only certain changes, inventions, or ideas are possible within the system in which we operate.
So, it’s the end of the year. Or it’s close, anyway. And we want to end the year strong.
The best way to do that, based on the idea of the “adjacent possible” is to understand that there are limits to what we can accomplish in a little over a month.
So we want to focus on the real possibilities. The real changes. The real opportunities.
Instead of throwing out everything we did this year and starting over—or starting something brand new—we want to look for what’s nearby what we’ve already done.
Who’s similar to our current best clients that we can seek to reach?
What are the opportunities that can grow from our current situation?
What is the direction we can take in 2025 that builds off of everything we did this year?
The end of the year can be a time of big ideas and intense motivation. But we want to remember to direct and focus our efforts on the adjacent possible—the next best things—instead of on a fantasy.
Dreams can come true—we just have to base them in reality.
We have to build toward them, one adjacently possible opportunity at a time.
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