Capacity
Capacity is the potential each of us has to do more and be more than we are now. Capacity can’t be learned, only expanded and developed. Competence (i.e. skills), which can be learned, is limited and quantifiable, while capacity is unlimited (Daft 2007).
I love the concept of capacity. But why would anyone want to do more and be more?
I don’t have a simple answer to that question. Sorry. But I’d be very interested to hear what you think.
And is our capacity really unlimited? I don’t believe so. But I do believe the primary barriers to success are self-imposed.
I also think that a leader’s over confidence in their own competence can limit the capacity of others.
For others to do more and be more might mean that you have to do less and be less. But as your people do more and become more, it will probably require you to do different things and become a different leader, which I would argue will end up being more than when you started.
About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
I disagree that capacity is unlimited. How can it be? We live in a finite world and we have finite brains. It may be non-PC to say, but there are differences in intellect it is simply not possible for every person’s capacity to be the same, let alone infinite. If capacity were infinite, it would have to be so for every person for every subject. Any child could choose any career and excel but we know that isn’t true. We don’t believe every child has the capacity to grow up to run faster than Usain Bolt because we know the genetics of running don’t work that way. Why do we think the genetics of talent works differently in the brain to the body?
In fact, such an attitude could really be damaging. Teaching someone they have unlimited capacity to do anything could result in them wasting their career doing something they will never be very good at when they could have achieved wonders (and been happier) doing something else.
I also disagree that the primary barriers to reaching our full capacity are self-imposed. Rather, I believe that the current education system teaches us to think in a rather narrow way that limits our ability to seek out and find the thing we will turn out to be best at: it gently but firmly pushes us into a safe and average job.
The tricky part is finding the balance between wasting our time on an unsuitable career and not trying anything new for risk of failing.
It strikes me that the only solution is to try as many new things as possible. To keep our eyes open for every new opportunity and pursue every one to the maximum of it’s potential. The trick is to recognise when that potential has run out and to move onto the next lead. If we can teach every child to think in this way then, even if their capacity is modest, at least they stand a chance of reaching it.
As for why do we feel the need to continually test our limits? Simple, our brains are wired that way! It’s fairly easy to conceive of how the drive to succeed could be evolutionarily favourable.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 7:06 am
Ellie: I really appreciate your thoughtful response! I think we probably agree quite a bit. I too approach the world as if I had unlimited capacity. I know that I have accomplished much, but there is so much more that I can do and could do. But I do believe there is an asymtopic limit to my capacity – a function of all systems. The key is I don’t know where that limit is, so I live as if I am nowhere near it.
When I say that the primary barriers to success are between the ears, that does not account for how we learned those limits. I would not argue with your observations about our current education system. Most of us pick up some sort of mental barriers somewhere along the way – the key is to recognize them and unlearn them. Concur completely that we need to continually test our limits.
Thanks for the time and effort you put into this! You added value here and I really appreciate it. Bret
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Bret,
Could it be that capacity is limited but potential is not?
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Hmmm…. good question, Mary Jo! I think by definition capacity is potential. I think we have no idea where are limits are, so the best course of action is to behave as if there are no limits to our potential. Five years ago I never dreamed that I would run a marathon. Then I never dreamed that I would run eight of them. Then I tried to run four in one year, and I never dreamed that I would end up with a string of injuries that I still can’t recover from. I also know that although I have achieved something most will never do, I might never be able to qualify for Boston. Even so, Boston is the dream and I am unwilling to give it up.
Thanks, Mary Jo! Bret
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Bret,
Well, we may be getting into word-smithing here, but it seems that at the crux of the matter is whether or not the human experience has a limit. “Capacity” has varied meanings. One is the ability to hold or contain something, which connotes limits. The other meaning is the potential or the possibility of doing something (ex: the capacity to love).
I agree with Ellie that it’s not wise to encourage people to be “anything” they want to be. Speaking in absolutes like that simply doesn’t allow for the vagaries of life. But I do believe in encouraging people to push their boundaries to see just how far they can go. That’s called growth…which can have great benefits.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Jennifer: I am an INTP – we love word-smithing
You, Mary Jo, Ellie, and I – we all buy into growth. We don’t have to be convinced because we are growing and we have experienced the benefits – as well as the costs and pains. But I have to be honest, I still struggle to explain in simple terms why I love growth and from where I stand now believe I will always puruse it. I just do. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jennifer! Bret
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Hi Bret,
While it seems that there’s some debate over the meaning of capacity, I’m going to look at how you’ve chosen to define this concept in your first sentence.
There’s no question that the human experience or the abilities that each of us have has a limit. But how many of us can honestly quantify or delineate what that limit is? Have any of us really pushed ourselves to see what the limits of what we’re capable of doing are? Personally, I think many of us have chosen to define our limits more on perception than actual trial and error, perhaps in large part because we’re afraid of failing miserably at some particular task.
Do all of us have limits on what we could do or accomplish? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean that most of us have a realistic boundary for what our limits are since we’ve never really broached the line to see if we could move past it.
Thanks again, Bret, for a thought-provoking discussion.
Tanveer.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Tanveer, I think you nailed it. Concur 100%. Perception is powerful. Once again, the primary limits to success are between the ears.
Thanks for adding clarity to this great discussion! Bret
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I really like the idea of being aware that there is a limit but behaving as though it is far away. My Mum says ‘if you reach for the stars, you’ll make it to the ceiling. If you start out reaching for the ceiling, you won’t get off the ground’.
Various proponents of design thinking have promoted the idea that recognising when to quit is key, but they have also pointed out that there are also examples of people who didn’t and succeeded in the end (James Dyson, for example).
I guess there is no right answer for when you should give up on a dream and find a new one.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Ellie: Thanks for getting us started on a great discussion!! I hope you will return and share your thoughts again in the future. Sincerely appreciate it. Bret
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Why would anyone want to do or be more?
Here are some thoughts (not answers):
Look at nature. Does nature “want to do or be more”? There seems to be an inherent evolutionary drive in life that continually expresses itself in ever more complex and varied forms of doing/being.
If this evolutionary imperative is present in nature – it must be present in us. Can we really choose to ignore it? I don’t really think so.
But, it does seem that having evolved language and self-awareness, we have the ability to focus the evolutionary impulse onto symbolic forms of growth and development: like getting a bigger office, a fancier title, or some other “symbol” of growth.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
August 18th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Eric, thanks for taking a stab at this question! I appreciate your thoughts and perspective. Are we hard wired to need to grow and improve? That is a very compelling thought. Thanks!!! Bret
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