The Adjacent Possible is the exploration of how to get there from here, giving existing constraints. I had a consultation this morning with a potential client who expressed some frustration that they ‘want to know how to do what I do’.
I reminded them gently that I don’t know how to do what they do, that we are the culmination of our lifetimes of experience. To do what they do, I would have to learn all they have about interior design along with the thousands of hours of experience they have doing the same. Another thought: I’d have to want to.
My next question was a first principles kind of question: I outlined the process of what I do and asked them, “Is this something you want to do?”
They replied, “No. I want to do what I do.”
The desire to do a thing is itself a constraint in consideration of the adjacent possible.