A couple of weeks back I wrote about how I was a chaser of lost causes, in that I find myself starting things which are impossible to complete. I gave a couple of examples: a challenge to read a book by an author from every country in the world and; an attempt to walk the length of the river Wansbeck from mouth to source.
Looking back on my career I can give other examples, such as: a plan to provide superfast broadband to every home in County Durham and; the liberation of working practices within the council.
Both of these, on reflection, were impossible to achieve. There were always going to be properties that would never receive broadband because of the technology that existed at the time and there were always going to be people who wanted to keep the status quo when working in a very traditional organisation.
The powers of failure are often stronger than those of success yet this doesn’t mean that you should give up, quite the opposite. When people told me things couldn’t be done it made me more determined to try. Doing things which are seemingly, or in fact are impossible moves the dial closer to the objective. Having a moonshot belief can be disspiriting and demotivating yet allows you to achieve things way beyond what you might have reasonably expected. The destination becomes irrelevant and it is the journey that gives you the returns you seek.
Believe me. Reading books from around the world has meant I have enjoyed books that I would never have picked up, let alone read. Walking the Wansbeck has shown me things I never knew existed or had never seen before. Aiming high for Durham’s broadband ended up with the county having the best broadband in the country, at the time. Trying to change the authority’s working practices meant that we were more than ready when Covid arrived and, overnight, working from home became acceptable after years of resistance.
Seeing the region’s cyber security companies working together in partnership is another thing that would never happen, along with the development of a shared cyber security apprenticeship. Yet here we are. As Nelson Mandela said: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
Try the impossible, you will go to new places, you will find out new things and you will get much further than you think.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 