Evolution at the edge

If you think about it, change normally happens at the edge. At the centre – whether that’s a group of people, organisation or body of knowledge – is where things are the most stable. The existing way of doing and being are self-reinforcing. That’s how it is.

It’s only as you get toward the edge that the possibilities of doing it differently becomes more evident. Or needed. Seeing across the boundary sparks questions and ideas. Why are we doing it like this? What if we tried… ?

Yet somehow we expect change to come from the centre, with an official stamp of approval. And likewise, we are looking for successful disruption to alter the core, first.

Evolution happens most frequently at the edge. So let’s not be surprised that we’re going to make the most difference on the fringes. That’s where it starts. Always.