Conscious

CHAPTER 11A 280-Character Universe

Put a goldfish in a fishbowl and it is unable to grow. Put a goldfish in a water garden and it can thrive as a beautiful koi for generations. Put a goldfish in a river and it will grow like mad and become an environmental pest. Put a goldfish in the ocean and it will quickly become someone else's dinner. The context of your life matters.

We are shaped by powerful forces that influence us every day. They can either blind and narrow us, like the tiny world of the fishbowl, or awaken and broaden us, like the healthy koi pond. Being aware of your environment is critical. Without a clear view of the context in which we live and work, we can easily be held hostage by its invisible forces and pressures. These forces present us with our greatest opportunities and our fiercest challenges.

Let us give you an example. In 1997, Reed Hastings was on his way to work out at the gym. He was distracted by a notice from Blockbuster saying he owed a $40 late fee. He was especially annoyed by the fact that he needed to hide the fee from his wife. That gnawing annoyance was the catalyst for a huge opportunity called Netflix.

In a few short years, Hastings's company morphed into a media powerhouse. “My greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming,” recalls Hastings. That fear was unfounded, but it gave him a broader perspective about his business. Ironically, one of his biggest failures along the ...