David Luthman

What is our potential as humans?

Immortality.

Star-faring immortals.

No dream is too big, no goal too far fetched.

These two items above is what my answer became when I asked myself the question of what’s the point with our incessant struggle for progress, for innovation.

Last week I took my team out of our office to a nearby conference facility. We did some workshops, discussed the strategy of Mycronic and how it relates to our group, did some team building activities and ended with a nice dinner.

A lot of this is to find, and enable, our team to realize our potential.

The day after I attended a gala which concluded the ”Female Tech Engineer” program organized by CoGig. The theme for the evening was ”potential” so it’s no coincidence that is what is on my mind in this post.

So first of all, what is potential?

Potential, in physics, generally refers to the energy possessed by an object due to its position or state in a specific field. For example mass in relation to its position in a gravitational field, where potential energy can be released as kinetic energy.

Translating this to speaking about people, then, potential represents some inherent energy and/or attributes of a person yet to be released.

The field, in which the attributes can be released then ought to mean the environment in which that person is able to act and grow and realize that inherent potential.

CoGig, as I see it, then aims to place these brilliant young minds in a field – a network, a company – where they can interact in ways so that their potential can be unleashed. Because an object in isolation, that’s not in a field where it can interact, can’t unleash its potential.

Take a battery as one example: As long as the battery remains isolated it can’t release the electric energy stored within.

(Of course, the energy is there and some batteries will decay over time, sometimes to the dismay of a child whose favorite toy now has been rendered useless. (Speaking of experience.))

Likewise a person may be able to release some of their potential even in less than ideal situations, but it will be just that: Less than ideal. Sometimes downright destructive.

So as a manger I wish to help persons place themselves in fields – in projects, with other people, in roles – where they can interact in ways that help them realize their full potential, where their potential can be fulfilled into something bigger and better than it might have in isolation.

(Yes, this also means enabling them to take their next career step, even if it means they’ll leave my team and I’ll have to find some replacement.)

The same can then be said for my team that I manage, that I want to increase our potential and place it in fields where that potential can be unleashed in a manner that gives greater returns than we would on our own.

This might even be said for each ”level”: From the individual, to the group, society, all the way to us as humanity.

This, then, is where I’m starting to come to some thought about our potential as humanity.

(Note: We can have a discussion on religion as well, about divine potential and more, but for now I’ll leave it at this.)

We live in a world with extreme complexity, where more and more people get out of the basic struggle of survival and enter a way of living that allows focus on higher goals and needs. (Check out Maslow’s hierarchy of needs if you haven’t.)

But we still continue to struggle, somehow, and in some sense I suppose it’s the struggle for self-actualization that I might be facing.

We could very well settle with a lot less, we don’t need to continue pushing for further innovations.

Yet here we are, still pushing.

And I have had a difficult time grasping what it is we want to achieve, what I want to achieve. Other than the obvious of providing for our families, physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem.

Self-actualization.

”When you are on your death bed, what life do you want to look back upon?”

That question, that has been a difficult one to answer for me.

So I tried to extrapolate from where we are, and far beyond my own death. (Again, for the purpose of this post disregarding religious reasoning – even if I do have a personal faith that certainly affects me.)

Where are we headed?

With all the technological prowess, innovative strength, drive for progress, where are we headed?

Immortality.

Interstellar travel.

Now I don’t believe we might even be close to achieving this within my lifetime, but it’s a goal I want to have made a significant contribution to!

There are so many things needed to reach this and I believe I could find a connection to this goal for any work being done.

So when this is done, we can start talking about stopping the heat death of the universe! 😉