Forward motion, evolution, advancement -- These are rarely precise endeavors. We work with clients moving in to new spaces, courting new customers, or talking to their existing customers in new ways, and we are continually responsible for an answer to the question,
"But what if ..."
When transportation and communication between people was limited, extremely limited, it was important that those people lived in very near proximity to each other. Of course, that proximity lead to a multitude of unintended consequences -- disease and the scarcity of resources were the hardest to overcome. Resources like water. In Rome, the Tiber river and local springs were enough for a while, but as more people crowded around the center of trade and culture, these sources became polluted. People started dying.
When the Romans were trying to overcome not only the lack of water, but the lack of fresh, clean water, they built the aqueducts -- probably the greatest invention or building project of ancient times. But in order to carry the water miles from its source, and to prevent it from seeping back into the ground, they needed a non porous material to line the channels with.
One great thing about lead is that it's incredibly abundant -- if you're mining silver, you're gonna get lead out of the process. Another great thing is that it's incredibly malleable -- it has a low enough melting point that you can even start to mold it in the heat of a campfire. If you heat lead up, pound it flat, and then roll it, you get sturdy pipes. The one bad thing about lead, especially lead pipes, is that it causes lead poisoning. Generally, people start dying.
But they didn't -- at least not because of lead poisoning -- we can tell by looking at their bones, where lead collects in the body. Why weren't they dying from lead poisoning? Unintended consequences. Turns out, the source of water they were drawing from was pretty heavy in calcium. As that water slowly made its way through the aqueducts to the thirsty citizens of ancient Rome, that calcium started to build up in the pipes, creating a thin layer between the water and the lead. Certain death avoided.
Doing anything new carries risk alongside it. The best companies iterate on a massive scale and work to move measurement and action in step with one another. We live in a world of constant blowback and yet there is no way to predict exact action/reaction or cause and effect. But stagnant is not a safe position in this market. We can work to measure risk and we can equip strategies to cope with change, but ultimately the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
We protect our clients from risk by being forward thinking, restlessly curious about your customers, experienced and damn good at what we do.
That's my answer.
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