Never Stop Exploring

Are you an explorer? 

If you're familiar with the brand Northface, then you probably recognized their tagline as the title of today's blog. Northface is a self-proclaimed "out-of-bounds" brand, with no foul lines. They want people to get out there, and explore.

In the age of Google, nearly anyone can look up any topic they choose. The ease with which we can answer questions that stump us is mind boggling. 

"Just Google it," we say. 

And sure enough, Googling helps us either find the answer or can help set us on the path to discovering the answer. 

But is Googling a hard question, or simply looking up facts, actually the same as exploration? 

Historians refer to the time between the later half of the fifteenth century through the eighteenth centuries as the Age of Exploration. Probably most famous to Americans was the explorer Christopher Columbus, who set out for The New World under the Spanish monarchs. 

What spurred such interest in new lands and new discoveries in other fields, like science for example? Some say it was the emergence and early spread of capitalism. That may be so, but I like to think that the human spirit of exploration had something to do with it. 

I think there's a difference between searching online for answers to an immediate question and a person who nurtures their heart toward real discovery. 

In a world where it seems like the frontiers have vanished, our thinking and dreaming can get lazy. It takes more than Googling answers to encounter true discovery. 

It takes imagination, outside the box thinking, creative synergies, a collaborative spirit, and a will to push into new places--or even a determination to discover new places to explore. 

I think Steve Jobs was an explorer. He thought part of his job was to stay aware of good ideas, grab them when they emerge, and push on them. Move things around. Discuss it with people. Even argue about it with people. Discover where it would go. Explore it. Get things moving. 

When you explore a new place you've never visited before, you naturally want to look around, see the landscape, discover it for yourself. So much of exploration as a leader is looking around and trying your best to see things afresh, to look at something--like examining a problem in a new way. 

But there's also an element of mystery involved in exploration. Before you arrive at your destination, you can't see it. Only the road ahead, but only so far. 

Sometimes in exploration, as a leader, there's no tangible goal in sight, just an idea, a dream. A line of sight for the road ahead, and that's it. 

I believe it's the leaders who can find ways to cultivate an environment of exploration who move the dial of innovation in their particular industries. The best way to fight professional complacency lies in our ability to move into unknown waters, and explore. 

What kind of leader are you? One that explores? Do you invite the voyage into the unknown with your team? 

Let's cast our sails this week, and find some new lands to explore. 

Photo credit