For someone who has scaled a peak, that peak becomes the known world. It becomes hard to remember that there might be another peaks. http://amzn.to/2iuS4FV
Book: Who owns the future
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Peak after peak: success can narrow the view
Jaron Lanier offers a mountain metaphor in Who Owns the Future? For someone who has scaled a peak, that peak becomes the known world. It becomes hard to remember that there might be other peaks. Success, in other words, can limit imagination.
Computer scientists use a similar idea called a local maximum. An algorithm climbs until every step leads downhill, then stops, believing it found the best solution. Yet a higher peak may exist elsewhere, hidden from view.
Why the next summit always calls
Companies fall into this trap often. A winning product becomes the centre of strategy, and leaders stop exploring. Kodak, Nokia and BlackBerry all dominated markets before missing the next shift. Their peaks felt like the whole world.
Individuals face the same risk. An expert who did well with one method may resist new approaches. Therefore, achievement can quietly become a barrier to growth.
To avoid this, build exploration into routines. Spend time on side projects, talk with people outside your field and question assumptions regularly. For example, Google once encouraged engineers to dedicate part of their time to projects of their choice.
Humility helps too. Remember that today’s success depends on today’s conditions. Moreover, conditions always change.
Climbing down a little can be necessary to reach a higher summit. Leaving a comfortable role or rethinking a successful strategy feels risky, yet it opens new paths.
In the end, Lanier’s metaphor invites curiosity after success. Celebrate the summit you reached, then look around. Another mountain may be waiting.
In addition, mentors and peers can help you see other peaks. People with different experiences notice opportunities you overlook. Therefore, regular conversations with them broaden your horizon. As a result, you avoid the comfortable trap of assuming that your current summit is the highest one available to you.
