Sustainable Ambition Forum - 4.9.2
Part of what I explore with Sustainable Ambition is rethinking traditional beliefs and conventions of success and ambition so we can thrive in life and work.
And one of the conventions I push against is thinking that we must know our path and can’t waiver. That we aren’t supposed to have our ambitions shift or change, or have our level of ambition ebb and flow.
I believe it’s the exact opposite—that we should expect change, that something is likely wrong if our ambitions don’t evolve. Our paths aren’t fixed. We can make it up as we go along.
One of the reasons I believe this is rooted in the concept of the adjacent possible. I first learned of this concept reading one of my favorite books, Where Good Ideas Come From, by Steven Johnson. His Substack newsletter uses this concept as its name, and he writes about it explaining:
"The adjacent possible is a term coined many years ago by one of my intellectual heroes, the complexity scientist Stuart Kauffman… In any system that is evolving over time—whether it’s a biological system or a cultural one—
at any given point in that evolution, there are a finite set of ways that the system can be changed, and a much larger set of changes that can’t be made. Think of the pieces of a chessboard halfway through a game of chess: there are a finite set of moves that are possible at that moment of the game, given the rules of chess, and a much larger set that can’t be made. The set of moves that you can make define the adjacent possible at that moment in the game. If you think of it in terms of technology, there’s simply no way to invent a microwave oven in 1650, however smart you might be. But somehow, in the middle of the 20th century, the idea of a microwave oven became imaginable, became part of the adjacent possible.”
He goes on:
"As I wrote in Good Ideas, ‘The adjacent possible is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself.’ Each moment in our history unlocks new doors of adjacent possibilities. The trick is to figure out what they are exactly, and whether they’re leading us to beneficial places.”
While this is related to science, we are part of biological and cultural systems, too. The way that I apply this concept is to think that we only have a certain set of possible futures that are plausible to us at this moment in time. Even further out futures aren’t possible to foresee until we have more experiences, until we evolve more. From where we stand today, we can’t fully see our path to the end or see all the possibilities we may have in front of us in the future. Similarly, five years ago, we couldn’t have seen what’s possible for us today.
This is one of the reasons why we end up wanting to change or shift or allow ourselves to dial down our level of ambition.
It’s why we shouldn’t kick ourselves thinking we were on the wrong path when we realize we want to step onto another at this time.
We are now just seeing our new adjacent possible.
This is what’s happening when we’re navigating inflection points, moments of change and transition.
It’s what happens when we enter a liminal space. We step into making it up as we go along.
We’re evolving. We’re exploring what is in now our adjacent possible. When framed this way, I find it more exciting and more adventurous. What is our shadow future? What is our map of the ways we can reinvent ourselves?
It's something fun to ponder!
Kathy
Founder of Sustainable Ambition
Conscious Ambition Tips
To help become more consciously ambitious and thrive in life and work
Allow ambitions to take shape over time.
“Slow down you're doing fine... You can't be everything you want to be before your time.” — Billy Joel, lyrics from Vienna
In his lyrics, I think Billy Joel was alluding to the adjacent possible. What might be possible now, because it’s time?
Let curiosity be your guide.
“Curiosity is more important than knowledge.” — Albert Einstein
Following your curiosities can help you make it up as you go along. Where to look? Your curiosity attractors. This is another great piece by Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs on the topic where she explains how curiosity attractors tap into three different aspects of curiosity—wanting to learn, connecting with others, and indulging in novelty. Essentially, what she teaches us is that curiosity attractors are clues to who we are and what we value now.
If you’re wondering what’s next or what might be in your adjacent possible, pay attention to what you’re curious about now.
Cultivate space for curiosity and creativity.
“Inspiration is merely the reward for working every day.” — Charles Baudelaire, poet and art critic Source: Curiosities Esthetiques (1868)
It’s hard for us to notice our curiosities and for ideas to show up when we’re running from thing to thing, living a full life, or when we’re constantly distracted. It takes discipline to carve out space for discovery and exploration. And it takes consistently showing up to do so, even when we don’t feel like it.
When we have space, when we show up consistently over time, ideas flow more easily. Inspiration strikes. We can see threads and experience synchronicity.
“Living in discovery is at all times preferable to living through assumptions.”
— Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being