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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks, Mary Jo! Bret

Could it be that capacity is limited but potential is not?