posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Apr 27
Have you ever noticed the paths that are worn into the grass from where people walk when they don’t use the sidewalks? Why does that happen? It could be argued that sidewalks are a way to keep people in line and conforming to what someone else wants them to do, and that the fact that there ARE paths worn into the grass means that the entrepreneur mentality is widespread in the human population - this is why people don’t follow the path laid out for them by the sidewalks. Walking in the grass is a way to buck conformity and “blaze your own path.” We’ve all read the following poem a million times:
The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowthThen took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
However, once everyone starts taking “the road less traveled by,” it becomes more like a path cut in a field by cattle… follow the leader. Humans are just as likely to fall into the “herd mentality” as any other animal.
Sidewalks are just convenient borders, not necessarily useful paths. So the fact is that paths get cut into the grass by human nature, which is to take the path of least resistance. The only real “trailblazing” entrepreneur was the first person who walked the path - before it was even a path - and most likely it was done more out of laziness than out of “risky,” trailblazing, entrepreneurial moxie.
So what is one to do? Beyond the obvious environmental and aesthetic reasons to avoid the “beaten” path, I believe that the simple act of walking off the path beaten by so many cattle-minded folks will begin to train your mind to be different than others - which, we all know, is step number one to becoming an entrepreneur.
So do you want to be like the rest of the herd, killing the grass and making lazy trails across your corporate or campus lawns? Or do you want to think about what you do and why you do it, taking care not to destroy something to get where you’re going? Leave a comment telling us how you train yourself to think and act differently than others so you can get what others don’t have!
April 29th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Every day I try to consider what is my own path, meaning what is it that I bring to a day and to my encounters in each day that only I can bring? And I think we all have something unique to offer, even when it looks like we’re following a well-trodden path. I like to think about the kind of world it would be if we all woke up each morning and took a slice of wonder or curiosity into the day. Or what if we had a different goal each day, like maybe one day the goal would be to make the morning commute without speeding or to say hello to 3 strangers or to — well, in my last corporate job, I made it a point to give (and get) 3 hugs a day, the necessary amount, according to some obscure source, for good emotional health.
There are many ways to be an entrepreneur. Maybe we should all consider starting small, with one little thing every day. When I’m able to do it (and it’s harder than it sounds), I always have a much better day I would otherwise.
Interesting topic, Andrew, and lots of side-trips we can take!