Coding a Dream

What would life be like if we had no courage to attempt anything? – Vincent Van Gogh

Coding a Dream

“The great thing is that you’ll never have to make a presentation like that ever again!” Sam Bernards said, as he opened the feedback process during our Cooperative Venturing meeting with Ben Garrett.

Such a comment may lead others to shrink.  Give up.  Yet, that’s not what happened.  It wasn’t what Ben chose to do, because he has courage to dream!

“I started Polity because I had a dream about it one night.”  Ben confided during one of our team meetings.  “It was so vivid!  I could see all of the features.  I knew exactly what the software needed to do and why it needed to do it.  Most importantly, I knew that our society needed it.”

With that explanation, one would assume that Ben already knew how to code, that he would have gotten up the next day to start creating the software that would bring his dream into reality.  And, he did, sort of!  However, Ben didn’t know how to code.  He didn’t even really have any such experience.  Did that stop him?  Did he give up?

Ben didn’t give up his dream because he didn’t know how to code.  He learned to code instead, consulting with a friend to fill in the knowledge gaps he discovered as he was learning the art and science of coding.

“Coding is the easy part!” Ben later explained, as we were grappling with the challenges of crafting a business model that would allow him to raise investment capital in order to create a rapid-growth-business. So, now Ben is immersing himself in the art and science of new venture creation and he messaged me a few hours ago.

“I just finished ‘The Innovation Stack’ yesterday!  Great book!  Really glad you suggested it. It's given me a different perspective.”

His message is a clear indication that Ben’s dream is expanding, as his insight into his unknown, unknowns is growing.

Fear of the unknown can be paralyzing to one without an engrained dream to lead them into the future.  And, Ben has now learned his way around such debilitating fear by implementing and continually following his growing software, business development, and life skills coding design pattern.

It is a pattern that teaches all of us that one doesn’t need to have all of life’s answers to be able to dream.  Coding a dream takes time, in combination with effort and the patience to acquire new skills.  All traits Ben has displayed and presented.

“The great thing is that you’ll never have to make a presentation like that ever again!” Sam Bernards said, as he opened the feedback process during our Cooperative Venturing meeting with Ben Garrett.

Sam was right!  Because Ben has learned how to code a dream!