From this personal pivot, a broader pattern emerges. Biologist Stuart Kauffman’s “adjacent possible” describes how each step opens a next set of reachable states; Steven Johnson popularized this dynamic in Where Good Ideas Come From (2010). Before action, the map looks sparse; after one move, new paths light up. By taking a single honest step, you don’t just advance—you alter the landscape of what can happen next, revealing rooms that literally could not be seen from the previous hallway. [...]
