#1439 - Impact
Please, bear with me while I use this writing corner of my day to reflect on a word: impact.
What do I mean when I talk about impact?
Our book, Subtraction, states that innovation must have an impact. We write, "If something is created new - deliberately and with the foresight that it can change something - but it fails to do so though, then it cannot be attributed to the title of innovation. It must create a measurable impact and value. Without impact, it is simply a dream."
So, to have an impact means to change something.
We implied for that change to be a positive one that improves the reality of someone. But what if it makes things worst? And how wide and far in time do we measure such change?
Early this morning, before my morning rituals, I went out with the dog and could not clearly define "impact" in my mind. That's why I needed to use this space to reflect. Usually, writing helped me find clarity.
The dictionary says that impact is a marked effect or influence. No concept of good or bad, then. It's just a perceivable effect on something or someone. The definition also says nothing about scale or duration. How big is this marked effect? For how long will it last? How will it evolve?
In the end, a negligible impact today can become massive in the future. Think about the domino effect or the power of habits.
What if we do something imperceptible at the moment, but then it compounds in mysterious ways and changes the world?
My time for this practice is gone, but even if now I have more questions than answers, I may also have found a new definition that I'll let simmer for a while and see where it will take me.
To have an impact means to make a new reality possible.