Writing insights on all things business, life, philosophy, and entrepreneurship.
I came across this @brutedeforce post on twitter that instantly clicked a concept / observation in my mind to write about. "The guy with the map is the one to get lost. The philosopher is the one to be most confused. The one who looks closely is the one to miss." This cuts straight to something I've been wrestling with. Walking through Central Park the other day, I noticed tourists with their faces buried in Google Maps walking in circles, while New Yorkers with no phones were cutting straight through to their destinations. Same park, completely different levels of clarity. The more I dig into this idea, the more layers I find. Take investing. The quants with the most sophisticated models often miss market moves that "unsophisticated" investors catch instinctively. They're so deep in their maps of reality that they miss reality itself. Or look at martial arts. A beginner learns every move, every technique, every possible combination. But a master knows that in a real fight, all that complexity disappears. They've transcended the map to grasp something more fundamental. What's wild is how this mirrors evolution in any domain. You start simple, with no map. Then you gather information, build complexity, create detailed maps of understanding. But true mastery? That's when you return to simplicity - but this time by choice, not ignorance. I saw this play out last month in Miami. Was at dinner with some heavy hitters in tech. The ones doing the most interesting things weren't talking about complex strategies or detailed analyses. They were focused on fundamental patterns, basic truths that others overcomplicate. It's not that maps aren't useful. They are. It's not that analysis isn't valuable. It is. But there's this crucial moment where you have to be willing to set them aside. To trust what you see rather than what you think you should be seeing. The best creators I know don't start with market research. The best fighters don't start with strategy. The best entrepreneurs don't start with business plans. They start with clear vision, uncluttered by how things "should" work. This isn't about willful ignorance. It's about understanding that sometimes your sophisticated tools become sophisticated crutches. Your detailed maps become elaborate blindfolds. The greatest irony? The more expertise you gain, the harder it becomes to see simply. Every field has its maps, its conventional wisdom, its accepted complexities. Breaking free from these isn't just about knowing less - it's about having the confidence to see directly, without the safety net of established frameworks. What fascinates me most is how rare this ability is. In a world obsessed with more - more data, more analysis, more complexity - the ability to see clearly through all that noise might be the ultimate edge. I'm learning this myself right now. Building something new, and catching myself reaching for maps when what I really need is clear vision. Finding myself wanting complex answers when the simple ones are staring me in the face. Some of my best moves have come from moments of radical simplicity. Times when I set aside everything I thought I knew and just looked at what was actually happening. No maps. No frameworks. No filters. The truth is, maps comfort us because they make us feel in control. They give us the illusion of understanding. But some territories can't be mapped. Some opportunities can't be analyzed. Some truths can only be seen when we dare to look without our usual tools. Maybe that's what @brutedeforce was really getting at. The clearest vision isn't about building better maps. It's about developing the courage to navigate without them. In a world drowning in information, the real edge might just be the ability to see simply. To dare to see less. To risk being direct. To trust what's right in front of us. No map required. |
Writing insights on all things business, life, philosophy, and entrepreneurship.