There’s this river.
It’s not a normal river though.
It has 4 directions.
North, south, east, and west.
At each end, delicious fish foods await.
The Early Fish Years
In the early years of the fish the river only had one direction, east.
So all fish went east for their food.
After many fish centuries, a few fish, looking for more than the same fish food to the east they had been consuming for generations, created a new channel to this river.
They created a way to go west.
The food they found at this west end, tasted even more delicious than the east.
The current of the river changed.
It now flowed west.
Some fish still went east for their food, but over time more and more fish realized that it was easier to go west for food.
Eventually it was the standard way to get food, go west.
The Third Direction
Several fish decades later some fish found a third channel to the south.
They took it and found even more amazing food.
Again, this new food was even better than the food to the west.
The river responded a second time.
Flow to the west slowed down.
After a few fish generations, it changed.
The current now went south.
It became easier for the fish to reach the best food in the whole river.
The Fourth Direction
The river began flowing faster and faster to the south, so more and more fish went south.
Eventually though, just as it had before in the east and west, the river hit a flow capacity to the south.
It could not flow any faster.
Some fish noticed this plateau and created a new channel to the north.
They found the most plentiful, delicious smorgasbord of fish food ever imaginable.
The river again responded.
The flow south slowed down.
The majority of fish still went south, but more fish started going north.
Fish decades went by, and the current to the south kept slowing.
Then, several fish years ago, the current changed again.
It went north.
Swim with the Current
Like currents before, the current to the north strengthens with time.
As every fish minute passes, it becomes easier to go north, and harder to go south.
Most of the fish though, still try to go south.
The old fish tell the young, “Yes, go south, you will find food.”
After all, it’s where they found food.
They haven’t noticed the change in current.
Maybe they don’t want to.
It’s an unknown path.
Fish maps haven’t been created to navigate north.
It seems risky, and change is scary.
But the fish going north know, the food is better there.
Tastier, healthier, and all you can eat.
The food to the south is running out.
Fish have to compete harder for it.
Only the biggest fish get food there.
The food will run out.
Some fish have built homes there and won’t have a place to go.
Other fish already, are stuck in the river, swimming against the current, working their fish asses off, only to find very little food in the south.
There’s a solution for these fish.
This post was inspired by Taylor Pearson and his new book The End of Jobs. In his book, he shows why, if you’re a fish, you should go north, how you can do it, and why you should be excited about this new channel in the river.