Non Linear Life

“Something is wrong with this piece of wood”, he said. “it’s not straight”. 

I looked at it and smiled. “that’s what I love about it. It’s not linear, just like life”. 

Sir Ken Robinson wonderfully said “Life is not linear, it is organic” and this is an interesting contrast to the “massive action” methodology of Tony Robbins. On many occasions, what we need is growth that is less dramatic in nature. Baby steps, that create marginal gains, which are then accumulated over the years into meaningful results. 

This occurred to me when I reviewed the words of Sir Dave Brailsford.

When he became the Head of British Cycling in 2002, the team had almost no record of success: British cycling had only won a single gold medal in its 76-year history. 

However, under Sir Brailsford’s leadership, British cyclists won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and seized 5 Tour de France wins in what is considered by many to be the most fruitful run in cycling history. 

What was Brailsford “big idea”? It was that there is no one single “big idea”. 

He believed that most of us underestimate the value of making tiny, 1%, “trivial” improvements on a daily basis.

We “linearly” believe that massive success requires massive action. Whether we are establishing a new business, losing weight or writing a novel, we tend to force ourselves to make one prime, noticeable development, that will get everybody’s attention.

And this seemingly simple looking, non linear board, is a marvelous reminder of how success is created, and about how life often works.