2006 marked a significant turning point of our species. And no, we are not talking about last financial crisis. That year, for the first time in human history, we had more people living in cities than on a country side, worldwide.
And regardless of the fact that we are here on this planet for more than 4 million years, it’s only in last 12.000 that we started to move from ground zero and organize in larger groups. That was the time of first serious cooperation. Until then, we were living in small family groups, probably fighting each other.
And then, some 12.000 years ago, first people decided to stick together. It was a dawn of agriculture. We started to seed the crops which allowed us to become stationary. From that point on, we were on a constant growth trajectory. Not that we could only better defend ourselves but also to exchange the knowledge and progress beyond imaginable. We could show others how to use our individual innovations and learn how to use theirs. It was the first true cooperation.
Back then, there were only a handful of us. But then something happened, something that will change everything.
Up until 1765 and Watt’s steam engine, we haven’t seen any major growth in population. It was still a very slow process. But Watt’s invention changed the way we live and subsequently changed the face of the planet.
Because, steam engine marked the new era, era of industrial revolution.
True, it is due to the efforts of one man, but his engine would be unknown thing and probably buried in his garage if it wasn’t for that will to cooperate, share and receive.
His invention was arguably third most important from the dawn of our species along with fire and agriculture. All three added on a power of collective knowledge and success.
And on the wings of that collective knowledge we started to expand in numbers, building our first capital cities because we started to use the machines. World’s first industrial city, Manchester, saw the growth in population of 140.000 in just 50 years. From starting 20.000 to 160.000 of those who left country sides to start working in novelty of the period – factories.
From 3% living in cities in 1800 to more than 50% in 2006, last 250 years are sum of everything we’ve learned in 4 million years of our existence.
And look at us now. Do you think it would be possible to achieve all of that on individual bases? Of course not. What that tells you?
It tells you that you need to surround yourself with like-minded people if you are determined to seriously succeed and become high roller. You may even invent something new but without collective effort your idea will never see the light of the day – we are dependable on each other.
It all comes down to this: larger the group, more effective we are as a species or a group that is set to reach the heights.
But there is yet another reason why we are moving close together now and it is rooted in our mind for thousands of years.
Progress can be made only if you have time to think and develop. And that can only be done if you feel safe. Safer we felt, more powerful we became. Because, migrations to the cities are also logical from the perspective of our survival instincts. We want to live in tight and secure communities because group is providing more security than life on your own.
Business is no different. If you don’t have a team of people to watch your back, make you feel safe and help you, you will have a hard time concentrating on what really matters for your next move.
So once you set your mind to success, make sure you group with people who share your passions and enthusiasm. Share and receive in a perpetual cycle and you will thrive. In the same time, remove all of those who think negative or otherwise because they will slow you down and expose to unnecessary risk.
