Warren Cassell Jr., a teenage businessman from the Caribbean, examines aquatic life and shares his findings in his new eBook, Swim or Drown: Business and Life Lessons I’ve Learned From the Ocean.
Inspired by the vast expanse of the ocean, Cassell set out to discover why turtles are born on land, why sharks can’t breathe without swimming, and how all these creatures work together to create a functional ecosystem. His discoveries are structured to lead the reader to a revelation shared by all great human thinkers.
The following is an excerpt from Swim or Drown…
When we look at the ocean, it’s sometimes hard to remember that beneath the beautiful blue surface, there are countless creatures. Each with its own unique strengths and talents. There are fish that can swim as fast as cars, and there are fish that are able to survive in extremely cold or hot waters. Some sea creatures are naturally good at hunting prey, while others have mastered the art of tricking their predators with camouflage. These countless survival abilities that aquatic animals possess make it impossible to name one particular creature the dominant one. Because each creature has its own area of strength and lives in different environments and conditions, it may not need the features and abilities that others may need.
The Possibilities Are Endless
This is a mistake that a lot of us make in our lives: We don’t recognize that there are countless categories to be the best at, and endless worlds for us to choose from to dominate. Being at the top of an area really depends on how broad or narrow you define that area to be.
It’s hard to say what the dominant sea creature is, but crowning each creature for his or her field of strength is easy! The cuttlefish and seahorse may be called the masters of underwater camouflage and mantis shrimp have excellent vision (much better color vision than humans—their eyes have twelve types of color receptors, while humans have only three!).
It’s just like trying to generalize who the top child in the class is. It wouldn’t necessarily be the most well behaved student or the kid with the best grades. It would be more appropriate to narrow it down into specific categories like mathematical intelligence, creativity, determination, etc.
An example in business would be the clothing industry. If we define this area as general clothing (not narrowing it down into different niches) and use profits as the measuring stick, it’s probably chain stores that are at the top. However, if we use brand recognition or prestige as the scale for the best, high-end fashion companies will come out on top. And if we measure by quality, much smaller companies might rise to the top.
Become A Leader
What I realized was, if there are countless areas for one to be the best at, there is no need for you to outsmart your co-workers for your boss to notice you. Instead, you can do what you do best and you’ll be recognized as the leader in your area of strength.
Likewise, you don’t necessarily need to crush every competitor to be on top. When you recognize that there are infinite worlds that you can dominate, you won’t need to pour boiling oil on the competition to succeed; if you offer something unique and different, you are already on top of that category.
The “top player” is merely an illusion and impossible to determine, because we all offer our unique features and strengths. It’s hard to say what factors determine a person or company to be the best. Think of it this way: Even if you don’t believe that humans are the “dominant” species, I’m sure you don’t think that cockroaches are stronger than us…. But scientists have proven that they can actually survive a nuclear bomb attack! Despite this fact, I’m sure I would be called crazy if I said that cockroaches were one of the planet’s top organisms. By developing our own unique strengths and talents, we keep the ecology of the human world diverse and healthy, and there’s no need for anyone to claim a generalized top position. This way, we have to work together to make the system function.
Warren Cassell Jr. is a fourteen-year-old entrepreneur and author from Montserrat, a small Caribbean island. He is the author of The Farm of Wisdom and Swim or Drown and his work is highly focused on the connection between nature and business.
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