The Leading Edge Is the Next Unmade Choice
We often call a person or organization leading edge because their ideas seem ahead of their time. The phrase can become a badge. It can also distract us from the place where a new idea has to do its work.
The edge is the next situation that has not yet been met. A team has a decision no prior rule settles. A relationship asks for a conversation we have avoided. A practice encounters a fact its familiar vocabulary does not explain.
At that point, repeating what once worked is not enough. We can use what we know, ask what is different now, and make a choice that will have to answer to its consequences. The choice may be modest. It may still open a direction that was unavailable before it was made.
A reputation for innovation belongs to the past. The leading edge is wherever we are willing to test an idea against the life directly in front of us.