Trickle to a Force

Come with me, high up into the Andes of Arequipa Peru. Allow me to lead you to this specific spot, covered in snow, near a small trickle of water, marked many years ago with a small white cross. As you ponder the cross and absorb the delicate sounds of melting snow, allow your senses to find peace. Here on this mountain, is a melting snowflake with one of two destinies. If that snowflake melts and its liquid form heads west, it will eventually end up in the Pacific Ocean. If it drips to the East, it will begin a four thousand mile journey to the Atlantic, known as the Amazon River.

I have been there. I have canoed the Amazon. I have let that river take control. It is a raging behemoth of energy that brings power, force, and life (sometimes death) to everything it touches. It is mighty.

It’s an amazing thought that a melting snowflake on the cliff of a mountain named Nevado Mismi eventually becomes the world’s largest river. As the water joins with other waters is steadily grows to become a formidable force. Until—at last—219,000 cubic meters of water per second rush into the Atlantic ocean on the eastern coast of Brazil.

As leaders, we should remember that each little spark of an idea has the potential to become a transformational force in our organizations. We must constantly scan the horizon, asking; “What other ideas can I bring together with this one to create something mightier, something almost uncontrollable.” Truly transformational leaders possess the innate ability to see the bigger picture and assimilate data while on the journey. Just like the Amazon, as you combine, connect, and let thoughts incubate, the sum of those thoughts become something greater than the parts.

The next time you have that small, lateral thought, STOP! Throw it out to your team or your direct reports. See if the streams of thought come together as something larger. Navigate the flow. Let it move you to places you would not otherwise go. Continue to let it take you on its journey. Allow it to turn that Trickle into a Force.