Photo credit: Bookstore at Shakespeare’s Globe, London, 2019
“
We at the height are ready to decline.
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
(Julius Caesar, IV.ii.269–276)
“
I read about these lines by Shakespear when listening to a podcast about Bill Gates. It mentions that Paul Allen, Bill’s college buddy and co-founder of Microsoft mentioned these lines when they sensed their destiny when they foresaw the coming of the age of the micro-computers.
These are great insights when applied to businesses. If you are able to ride a wave, you are more likely to succeed. But it takes vision to be the first to see the upcoming wave, and then it takes courage to plunge in and ride the wave. Vision, conviction, and action. That’s it.