NASA has released a video of The Earth at Night, which is stunningly beautiful.
I have a desktop screen saver on my Mac that I like of the famous Blue Marble photo of earth taken in daylight. It reminds me that the earth is both bigger and smaller than we can imagine. But the earth at night sequence has been haunting me because of one main difference. In the daytime photo, we can see deserts, and oceans and clouds, but the earth looks devoid of life. In the Earth at Night, we can see lights. And I imagine the billions of people who live on earth who use these lights. And even those that don’t. We are well-populated planet.
What has this got to do with business, marketing, and sales?
I think it has to do with perspective. We all tend to have the limited perspective of the current clients or prospects we serve. We live in our current businesses just like we live in houses, or apartments, or neighborhoods and cities that we know. And while we know there is a whole world out there, in some corner of our minds, the world ends at our front door, our neighborhood, or our current set of clients and prospects. But there are 7 billion of us on the planet.
We are all connected now… by the Internet, and by the limits of the planet. We are connected by our need for food, water, air, light, and our common humanity, as well as by our differences. Our limited perspective often amplifies these differences. Our imaginations end at our neighborhoods, both literal and metaphoric.
If we are going to be great entrepreneurs, business people, marketers and sales people, we are going to need to broaden our perspectives. Because there is huge potential in meeting the needs of 7 billion people. I also believe we don’t have much of a choice.
When I look at The Earth at Night I can’t help but think. All those lights. All those people. They must consume a lot of power. Today most of that power comes from fossil fuels that exhaust into our atmosphere and are warming our earth. That thin glow at the edge of the earth is our atmosphere… the thickness of a coat of shellac on a basketball. Maybe the sky doesn’t go on forever? The problems of climate, food, water, and power represent challenges that require a change in perspective. They will require imagination. They will require business to change perspective.
Peace on earth begins with a broadened perspective. Have a successful and prosperous new year.
Do Great Things!
Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Making Sales Cry With Qualified Leads
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)