Purpose & Partnership

Putting down into writing “what it is we want” is a difficult exercise. Life generally does not require such precision.

How we live, succeed, and fail is, to a large degree, dictated by the random collisions of people and circumstance. We do not know who or what will influence us next. Often we fill in the narrative as we go. We take what life has dealt us, or what we have half-consciously taken on and we build the best story around it that we can.

Human beings excel at this skill. We can convince others, and more importantly ourselves, that each step we take is the right one and fits into some master plan. Given our mastery of such a skill, it may seem unnecessary to plot the dots in advance; to etch out in rigid form where we seek to go. A person can get away with a lot when going at things alone. He can stumble through life. But when partnerships are struck, be they in love, friendship, or business a heightened sense of responsibility must emerge.

This is the power in partnership. It forces us to form and articulate a sense of purpose. Put two wanderers together and the first serious question that undoubtedly arises is: “Where to?”

Written in 2011. Finding it very relevant as the team forms for the new company I’m building.