Lesson From Icarus -Learn to Soar but remember to float

It amazes me how Mythology has a direct and executable correlation to leadership and business. As I earlier elaborated my thoughts on Myth Of Sisyphus - The Three R’s of our life.

Recently I read or shall I say rediscovered the story of Icarus. I remember reading this story as a kid and thought how evil Ra was. At this stage in life, I see how naive Icarus was.?

Story Of Icarus - To What Extent Can You Fly With Your Powers????

Icarus is the son of Daedalus - an accomplished inventor of an ingenious labyrinth (a crossword maze/alley) on the island of Cnossus. Planned for the king of Crete, Daedalus himself couldn't map the way out of his own plot (the labyrinth). Soon after building the maze, Daedalus fell into a conflict with the king and was condemned to live the rest of his life in his own maze. Icarus being his son was confined to a similar fate.?

Daedalus Escape Strategy…?

Brutally trapped in his own maze, Daedalus built wings of feather and wax to escape. Technically, the wings would help Icarus and Daedalus to fly above the labyrinth, of the island… towards a lifetime of freedom. But, here comes the catch….

Daedalus explains his son - flying too low will wet his wings in the ocean thus losing strength. While flying too high will melt the wax in the sun and he will fall straight towards the Earth. Icarus initially took off with the intention to whole-heartedly follow his mentor - his father. After some time, like any adolescent boy, he struggled with the advice of his father. Icarus soon took the pace and flew with the attributes of his adolescence, newborn strength, and power.

Over-whelmed by his newfound power, Icarus soared high - higher than his boundaries (where he was safe). Soon, Daedalus looked back and found the cluster of feathers floating in the water. Icarus soared towards Ra, the god of the sun, his wing of wax began to melt, he could not even keep himself afloat and crashed to death.

Lessons For Corporate?

Many times in our careers we get the power, the strength, the ways to soar high. In fact, it is healthy - denoted as “Growth”. But, unfortunately soaring comes with its own limitations, we need to be aware of these. We need to constantly upgrade and retool because as we stop to retool we can step back and see what we are doing. Is it just a flight of fancy or we are reaching a height that we can ace and continue to float at?

Flying certainly gives us freedom. It not only gives us a weird audacity to soar high but it shows us a height. Just like Icarus, too much height without the right wings might take us down faster than the way up. So, it is great to Soar… But don’t soar so high that you burn yourselves. Because life is not about one flight of freedom it is about continuing to fly and explore the unknown.

Conclusion

Imitating Icarus is the juvenile decision we make sometimes in our professional lives. That excitement, the curiosity, sometimes the restlessness or the newly found power makes us neglect our roots. And the adversity of flying higher. Just like Daedalus's advice to Icarus - balance your flight. It is the lifetime freedom that you are aiming for not a one-time flight to a dead end.