Repost: pushing or redefining boundaries

I was chatting with a client on Friday afternoon. Reminded me of a post I wrote back in September about pushing boundaries:

Children push boundaries: it’s how they learn. Adults live within them: it keeps them safe. Geniuses redefine them: and the world changes.

Anyone can push boundaries. It doesn’t take much effort, requires very little intellectual capital and even less consideration of the other party’s feelings or position. That’s why children do it; it works in the context of their emotional and cognitive development.

Redefining boundaries is another matter entirely. It requires buy-in from another party. In redefining a world view you must consider the view of others. It requires leadership. It is the difference between saying ‘do it my way’ and ‘join me over here’.

Pushing boundaries will always end in either resentment or outright conflict. What type of business are you building?