I saw the film Social Network last night. It is based on the creation of Facebook. I enjoyed it primarily as story about the rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood, the process of entering the complicated realities of the adult world of business and relationships once you emerge from the insularity of youthful innocence are amplified in this story by the huge shadow of money and success.
Cash in or hold out?
However that is not what I write about now. There is a recurring motif in the film as Facebook grew in popularity. The business partner wanted to capitalize on the site by introducing advertising. The creator however was reluctant. His instinct was that it was premature, that it was not yet clear what Facebook would become – just that it was cool and it was happening. His feeling was that to cash in now would stunt the true potential of the creation.
“We don’t yet know what it will become”
This is how I feel about Mystery to Mastery. As I sit in this Budapest bar and consider the birth of this course, Mystery is truly the word. Until the day before I presented the course in St Petersburg I did not know what I was going to do in any detail, a few broad brushstrokes – that is all I had. It flowed so beautifully though, and tonight, 36 hours from the second presentation, with a class twice as big, I feel the same – that, though I do not yet understand the Mystery in this course title, I consider it a place of potential.
My attitude is respect and care in the face of this unknown.
