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DuxNotes is helping me understand and share things learnt along the way. But it’s also an experiment. As I shared in an email with one of you recently:

The goal is impact.
The challenge is to maximise the value delivered for as many people possible.

Architect, engineer and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller has long been the inspiration. After several years of depression following the passing of his young daughter, he famously had an epiphany and determined to undertake “an experiment, to find what a single individual could contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.”

My goal isn’t as lofty, but the possibility is interesting.

Since exploring Bucky’s work in my early twenties, where, with whom, and on what I work is always weighted by the impact potential. I’m a generalist. I’ve figured out that my job is to support and enable the smart and talented scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, leaders and subject matter experts to have impact. DuxNotes is part of that approach, and this is why I started it.

Dux is latin for “leader”

As the years have progressed, I’ve been surprised to see that people on occasion take notice of things I say. There is a leadership responsibility in that: to carefully provide a few well-weighted words, but not too much. And more often than not the job is just to point to the words of other people who already distilled the wisdom just so.

DuxNotes is an idea I’ve been toying with for a while now, as some of you know. It’s about collected wisdom. But I’ve held back starting because of uncertainty and fear of being cliche. Ironically, leadership is about enabling people despite uncertainty, so last week I dusted off an old poem that has pushed me through many barriers, (usually self-imposed and imagined):

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans.
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents
and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Begin it now.

Attributed to Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

Hopefully you’ll find something useful in DuxNotes. And if you do, please share it.

It’s just getting started.

Thanks for coming along.
Ben.

PS. Drop me an email if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. ben.sorensen@gmail.com