Growth: How Big a Fish, How Big a Pond?
Big fish in a small pond? Small fish in a big pond? Or is something else even better?
Stillness works for the satisfied person, but an ambitious person may find stillness turning to stagnation. Being a big fish in a small pond means that the pond will eventually limit the growth of the fish, such that the fish needs to find a new pond if they want to grow more. Being a small fish in a big pond means that the big pond may be overwhelming, and the small fish may go unnoticed and unappreciated until growing to a substantial size. I realized that for an ambitious innovator, perhaps the best path is to be a growing fish in a growing pond.
How to be a growing fish in a growing pond
The start of something new is often the situation most open to innovation. You can create new things through new systems, as through entrepreneurship. You can create new things through older systems, as through intrapreneurship. In any system where you are innovating, you can take credit for its success, but it is also important to consider asymmetries in risk and ways to stack the cards for favorable outcomes.
One way to be a growing fish in a growing pond is to catch an up-and-coming wave. New technologies and new situations are constantly emerging. Regulations change over time. Trends change over time. The zeitgeist gives momentum to a compatible pond’s growth. Predictions may be imperfect, but noticing when the wave is coming and taking initiative can increase your chances of success.
Another way is to create the growing pond yourself. This can happen through starting a new organization and growing its membership. If your skills are in speaking, writing, and relationship-building, it becomes easier to start a pond yourself. As your pond grows, it is important to loosen your grip on the reigns and delegate well so that the tasks important for the continued growth of your pond continue to be accomplished.
A third way is to find a growing pond and help it grow. If you see a new field that is expanding where you have a lot of potential to play to your strengths, but you do not have everything it takes to do it yourself, see if you can collaborate with others who have complimentary skills. You can grow the pond together in an interdependent way.
If you are in competition, it helps if the pond you jump into is different from other peoples’ ponds. Other ponds may have a different focus or combine different elements. If your pond has a unique combination of strengths, use your unique talents to help your pond to have a strong fit in the problems it tries to solve.
How I became a growing fish in a growing pond
Growing in the Neuroscience Lab Pond
Before starting my graduate studies in neuroscience, I considered what I wanted to gain from the experience. I wanted to work on up-and-coming research. Knowing that University of Michigan is renowned for its behavioral neuroscience, I decided to learn from the strengths of my institution. When I first met up with Omar Ahmed to discuss rotating in the neural circuits and brain rhythm lab he was starting, he showed me empty rooms. Omar told me about his visions for the lab’s future. I knew this was the right pond for me.
From my behavioral experiments, we found that our lab’s newly-discovered brain wave called “splines” exist in mice. I learned to use computers to analyze electrical activity in the brain, did surgeries to trace neural circuits, and pivoted yet again to study molecules in an Alzheimer’s model rat. I gained broad training through a variety of projects and more versatility for neuroscience research than I originally anticipated. I will publish papers where I have employed the techniques I learned for a range of experiments.
Growing in Ponds of Home Life
I have lived with twenty-seven different people during graduate school. For the first two years, I had one roommate at a time. In my third and fourth years, I lived in the intentional community of Ann Arbor’s Zen Buddhist Temple.
During my temple residency, the temple expanded through having a second large building built on its property. The temple scaled from seven residents under one roof all the way up to a dozen under two roofs. Then, when the pandemic hit, the temple population dialed down to five people under two roofs. From month to month, the temple had changing scenes in its landscape and casts of characters. Temple residents had generational diversity: the youngest was a 19-year-old music major, and the oldest was the head priest in her mid-70’s. We woke up at 5:30 AM to the sound of the Great Compassion Dharani, did 108 prostrations, meditated, chanted in Sino-Korean and Siddham, and had deep life conversations over breakfast each day.
“Impermanance surrounds us!” was an admonition shouted most mornings during prostrations. Impermanence, indeed. I participated in an intensive Yeomaeng Jeongjin retreat and trained as a Dharma Worker. In the temple, discipline was half the story. Shenanigans were the other half. One morning, we decided to howl at the full moon together. Another morning, I stumbled into the kitchen for some bread and found the dining room converted by the teen program into a dance party! I collected the bread, joined the limbo line, cleared the broomstick, and scurried back to my room to continue writing a grant.
The temple community called me “Johwa”, my Buddhist name, meaning “harmony and reconciliation.” Autocorrect often transformed “Johwa” into “Hogwash.” I am still growing to reconcile all of it.
After nearly two years of temple residency, I sensed that I had become a more integrated person over time. I was ready to shift gears and focus more on my career in technology development. I moved out, first to a summer sublet, then to an apartment by myself. Living in a variety of homes, even within the same city, allowed me to try living with more different kinds of situations and people, some of which I chose, some of which were chosen by the temple’s leadership as residents, some which were less predictable. Sharing spaces with people from many walks of life allowed me to experiment with different lifestyles and expand my perspective, growing as a fish in changing home ponds. In living alone, I enjoyed the peace of solitude. I knew I was surrounded by many circles of love, a few clicks away, a few blocks away, a few minutes biking away.
Growing in the Startup Pond
I dreamed of starting a company since I was a teenager, but was too hesitant to actually do it. Until one day, when Assam Alzookery and I decided to work together on Intvo: a startup dedicated to artificial intelligence systems for pedestrian behavior prediction, which could enhance road safety. We were located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of Mcity, a dedicated autonomous vehicle testing site. Furthermore, many large players in the automotive industry have their roots in nearby Detroit. I recognized that this was a great fit and I would regret letting this opportunity pass me by. I joined the growing pond of Intvo in its very early stages.
At Intvo, there were so many niches to be filled that I had the flexibility to find where I could best help my startup grow. When it was time for Intvo to file our first provisional patent, this created an opportunity for me to learn. I borrowed a pile of books from the library and immediately applied this newfound knowledge. I learned to talk with venture capitalists and customers. I was happy to apply the philosophy background that I gained as an undergraduate to read legal documentation. Intvo continues to gain traction through our customers, through creating products, and through hiring more people. As Intvo’s Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, I have been embracing the challenges of strategizing to bring the company to new heights while plowing forth in my dissertation project. I connected with many people in the startup community, created job opportunities for others, and learned along the way.
My general experience of growing through growing ponds
Through the ponds of growth, I found opportunities to demonstrate initiative and to push what was possible. The changing situations kept me pushing the bounds of my comfort zone. I saw what did and did not work in the transitions, where communications bridged the chasm, and where systems temporarily collapsed. I saw how small, centralized communities differ from larger sparse communities. This challenged me to disrupt myself and to be creative in working with systems.
Conclusion: Pondering Growth
Evolve through constant change. Find ways to make a positive difference — fending off stagnation and expanding your mind. If you are an ambitious innovator, place yourself in the situation of a growing pond, catch a wave if you see one on the rise. May your own scaling go swimmingly to the finish.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the OmarLab, University of Michigan, the Zen Buddhist Temple, or Intvo. All pictures in this article were created by the author.
