That feeling when an idea is almost there? Staying with it is what drives real innovation. Those quiet moments of persistence shape our future.
Have you ever had that moment when a word or idea is just out of reach, but you're sure it'll come if you keep going? Those moments of persistence in the face of uncertainty represent far more than mental exercises – they form the fundamental building blocks of innovation. I believe these moments drive human progress far more than we realize, and here's why.
As a kid I wasn't drawn to stories of quick fame or easy fortune. I was captivated by quieter revolutions – the kind that reshaped the world slowly, powerfully, and permanently.
Think about the Transatlantic telegraph cable, the Suez Canal, the printing press, or the Wright brothers. These weren't flashy overnight successes – they were breakthroughs hiding in plain sight.
Often dismissed. Frequently ridiculed. Marked by failure after failure.
The Wright brothers crashed countless prototypes before achieving powered flight. The first Transatlantic cable broke after just three weeks of operation in 1858, requiring eight more years of development before a working version was established. These setbacks weren't just bumps in the road – they were essential parts of the discovery process.
And yet, when these innovations finally broke through, they didn't just change their time – they still shape what's possible today.
What fascinates me most about these world-changing innovations is that they didn't invent fundamentally new elements. The Transatlantic cable didn't invent oceans, electricity, or communication. The Wright brothers didn't invent physics or the concept of flight.
These breakthroughs aligned existing elements – through struggle, experimentation, and relentless persistence – into a chain of events that unlocked the future.
That insight pulled me toward work that doesn't just improve what's already there, but creates space to rearrange the known into something entirely new. Work that turns friction into flow. Noise into clarity. Reaction into intentional direction.
In project management, this means looking beyond incremental improvements to existing workflows. It means asking why we accept constant context-switching between tools, why information gets siloed, and why skilled professionals spend so much time on low-value administrative tasks when their strategic thinking is what truly drives value.
In business, this approach takes time, money, knowledge, and people who won't give up. That's why so many fall back on familiar formulas – polished workarounds wrapped in compelling narratives, sold as the "revolution of the week."
There's safety in being the 25th person to follow Columbus's established route – refining and improving what's already been discovered. But some of us are drawn to more fundamental challenges.
We'd rather take the risk to lay the cable, in the dark, surrounded by waves and guided by stories of land birds spotted far out over open water, where nothing should exist. Clear signs that something worth seeking is out there.
This philosophy drives everything we do at QTalo. We're not interested in creating the 15th project management app that does exactly what the other 14 do. We're focused on solving the fundamental challenges that remain unaddressed – the communication gaps, the context problems, the inefficiencies that have become so normal we barely notice them anymore.
That's why I'm proud of the work we do and the people we do it for – project managers who navigate complexity every day, who deserve tools that match their ambitions and capabilities.
What drives you? Are you building on established routes, or are you searching for birds over open water?
