Don't Be A Barnacle

John W. Gardner, a Stanford professor, shared a message with a group of McKinsey consultants in 1990 that may be more true now than it was then.

He said, “most men and women out there in the world of work are more stale than they know, more bored than they would care to admit.” 

Instead of learning, growing, and changing, basically being human, most live their lives stuck in a self-created prison.

Professor Gardner used an unexpected illustration to make this point clear:

Barnacles.

A barnacle must answer this question at the beginning of its life: “Where will I live?”

Once it decides, it lives the rest of its life with its head cemented to the same rock.

What a miserable existence. Yet, aren’t we humans prone to a similar outcome? Look around you. Consider what you see. How many people in your life are vibrantly curious, seeking discovery, and intentionally learning? Or are those closest to you apathetic, checking the boxes of life, while stuck in the same place? Years pass, and everything remains the same.

I’m guessing most fall into the latter category.

Who around you lives with a profound sense of awe and wonder?

You should spend more time with them. Curiosity is contagious.

Curiosity is the vehicle of learning and the greatest ability is the capacity to learn.

So, don’t live your whole life with your head stuck to the same rock.