I was out walking on an island last week when I found a wooden path along the beach which made it possible to venture out into nature.

As i walked on this wooden path I realized that there were names of people written on the boards. Sometimes I might take 10 steps and then there was a new name, sometimes only two. The names represented the people that had been part of carrying the cost of building this wooden path, for me and thousands of others to walk upon. Some paid for a meter, some paid for many. But all names were painted with the same proud blue color.

That made me think, what if organizations exist to make space?

To make it possible for people to take another safe step, to venture out into places they have not yet been, or wouldn’t have been able to go unless the path was there. The names are all the people in the organization who put their effort into building the path along the years. The people walking the path might be clients, members, citizens (depending of what type of organization it is), the community, subcontractors and employees. A new employee gets to walk on the path that others have built and then gets to add a part of her own.

From this safe path some people might get the courage to venture out and start creating an entirely new path.

Who are you in the business of making space for?