The Value Of Missed Opportunities

You can't say to a dumb person (i.e someone who can't speak) that speaking is the least valuable faculty in the human body nor can you say to an artist experiencing creativity block that inspiration is not valuable. Value might be subjective but at any given moment, what's needed becomes valuable.

There are generally two school of thoughts when it comes to opportunities. The ones who think they are like stars in the sky (i.e abundant) and those who think they're like a solar eclipse, infrequent and not usually happening every week or month.

When it comes to missed opportunities, the former party are unmoved by them, assured that another one will come soon (which they usually miss too!). While the latter party will bash their heads on the wall for having missed them and will do all they can so that the next one isn't missed.

Since the opportunity has been missed, the dramatic head bashing isn't necessary but the preparation for the next is definitely commendable. Between both camps, which camp do you think understands more the value of missed opportunities?

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Only A Few Mega Opportunities

Correct me if I'm wrong. But I've come to think that in a lifetime, we will generally have a bunch of small opportunities, a couple of medium sized opportunities and a very few mega opportunities. Those opportunities in which it becomes easy and possible to move through level 5 to 20 in our personal or professional endeavours like an express train running at full speed.

Now, missing the express train doesn't mean we won't get to level 20. But imagine hopping into the local train and spending eternity on the way to level 20? To me, the imagination is demoralising to say the least!

It is well known in the tech and business space that Yahoo! had the opportunity to buy Google twice but they didn't. They also had the opportunity to buy Facebook (Now Meta) but they again didn't. These are the notable ones but most likely there are other missed opportunities from that company. In this case, the value of the missed opportunities can be monetarily quantified through the combined monetary value of the companies mentioned above.

However, things are a bit different with Netflix and Blockbuster. Blockbuster was offered to buy Netflix for $50 million a little more than two decades ago and they refused. Unknowningly to them, Netflix's business model became their achilles heels and they went bankrupt in 2010. For Blockbuster, it was a generational change that they refused to accept or didn't see coming, believing that the seemingly strong empire they have built will be around for a long time.

Another Express Train

I believe we're in that moment in history again and twenty years from now, we will be contemplating about the missed opportunities that are happening at these moments. The value will be less quantifiable since things are getting more exponential and multifaceted.

The brewing up of all these new technologies and how they will be accepted or rejected in various aspects of society and the implications that it will bring, makes these times we live in very very interesting. Almost anything is possible.

So are you going to get on that express train and find yourself a seat or are you scared of the speed so you'll prefer the local train?

Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.

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