Fractal
in·fi·nite
/ˈinfənət/
adjective
1. limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate.
We all know how to draw a pine tree, right? You’ve likely been drawing them since grade school. It was sort of an elongated green triangle with a couple of ridges down the side and a simple trunk extending from the bottom to attach it to the ground. At a distance, even a photograph of a pine tree would reflect something similar.
And if you outlined that shape, based on a photograph, you could reasonably quickly calculate the surface area of that pine tree. But everything would change if the photographer approached the tree. It is no longer an elongated simple triangle shape, but something of that similar outlined area comprised of hundreds of branches supporting thousands of needles.
And if you were to try and measure the surface area of that pine tree, taking into account every needle and branch, it would require an almost infinite calculation that is increasing over time. That is essentially what “fractal” means. A repeating pattern in nature that increases what appears to be a simple shape into an infinite amount of surface area.
One of my good friends is incredibly bright. He has one of those mathematical/engineering/scientific minds. And while he is every bit of that, he is also very kind, thoughtful, and one of the best business leaders I know. He is also on an aggressive journey to become an even better man. The man that God wants him to be.
He was outside at a large ranch, praying, crying out to God. He wanted God to reveal some things he needed to know about himself. And if he is like the rest of us, maybe a little frightened about what God might show him in those unknown places.
What he sensed that God was saying was unexpected, overwhelming, and very emotional.
“I love you more than you will ever know.”
That is a pretty overwhelming thing to hear. Something that, if you really believed it, could change the course of your life. Even though it was years ago, it was as fresh as yesterday in his retelling. What more would you ever want to hear from God?
But this man is on a journey. He is looking for more. He recently dedicated an hour one morning to “hear” from God. God took him back to that moment on that ranch and told him something that he did not expect. He showed him that what he “understood” at that moment was partially wrong.
While there was this love he had for him that was of greater magnitude than he previously believed, he had in him the capacity to know all that love. It was the ‘more than you will ever know” part that he got wrong.
And then God explained what he meant to this math/science/engineering type of a man by talking about fractals. That idea of repeating patterns that produced an almost infinite amount of surface area. While he is slender and six feet tall and of a seemingly finite dimension and shape, there is an endless surface area of fractal dimension to receive and hold the expanses of God’s love for him.
He needed the courage and vulnerability to ask.
He needed to believe that there was more.
He needed to be still and quiet enough to hear the love of God in a way specially crafted for this man unique in all the world.
What does this have to do with becoming a great leader?
Everything.
We can recognize God at a distance through a primitive felt cut-out from a Sunday school class or deeply understand and know him through study, conversation, and shared experience. It is the same with every employee or person you lead.
Consider
What are the biggest questions you are asking about your life?
Who are you taking those questions to?
Do you have the courage to take those questions to God?
How would that change your life and your relationship with everyone else you lead?