I love bridges. Especially big ones that span a mile or more of open water or canyon. There’s just something majestic and freeing about them.
I remember as a kid going to Ocean City, Maryland a few times with my family (it was a rare treat). To get there we had to cross the old Chesapeake Bay Bridge (now there are two spans). It was a huge thrill. A little scary of course…all kinds of crazy things go through a kids mind the first few times on a big bridge…what if we fly off? What if the bridge falls down?
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is roughly 4 miles and it creates access for people to go from one side to the other (eastern and western shores of Maryland) of course, but without it, three to four additional hours of driving would be required, as this is how long it would take to drive up and around the top of the bay.
This post is not really about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, but about the concept of the bridge itself. Can you get across the Chesapeake without the bridge? Yes. You can fly in a plane, you can take a boat, you can swim (don’t wrinkle your brow, I know plenty of people who have made this swim), you can drive around, heck, if you are creative enough you might catapult:-)
Bridges help you get from one place to another in an efficient manner.
Lots of things can serve as bridges. Physical structures, processes, ideas, communication, tools, activities…its endless…anything that helps you get from where you are now to where you want to go can be perceived as a bridge.
The Process that I teach in building a business is in essence, a bridge of sorts. It is a clearly defined set of steps that take someone from whatever point they currently reside, to the success they want to achieve. The bigger the goal, the longer they work in the process, hence, the longer the bridge.
In the process, tools and actions are bridges within the bridge. They serve to help you get from point A to point B inside of the process. Life is full of bridges…its rarely “can we do something?” It’s usually how can we do it? And the answer is always a bridge of actions and tools and steps that will get us there over time.
