It's you that's holding you back

Ever feel like you’re stuck within boundaries you didn’t choose? In this video, I share a powerful thought experiment involving a goose, a bottle, and two constraints that can’t be broken...or can they? This ancient Buddhist story challenges the rules and constraints we impose on ourselves, showing that sometimes the only way to free ourselves is to break the very rules that keep us trapped.

📌 Main Points:

• The "Goose in a Bottle" thought experiment
• Why we need to question the rules and constraints in our lives
• How self-imposed limits hold us back
• Breaking your own mental "bottles" to achieve personal growth

This is part of a series inspired by my upcoming book, The Modern CEO. Join me as we explore unconventional ways of thinking for today’s leaders.

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Videos for all these episodes are on my YouTube channel.

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Transcript

0:02

Okay, let's play a game. Well, actually, this is a thought experiment wrapped into a game. This is an ancient Buddhist thought experiment. And there are two parts of this experiment. There's a baby goose., gosling and there's a glass bottle. Now, what we're going to do is we're going to slowly put that goose into the bottle that we're gonna put it in backwards. So it's the head of the goose is sticking out through the neck of the bottle. And bit by bit over the next few weeks, we're going to feed this goose and this goose gets bigger and bigger, bigger inside this bottle. Now don't worry. This is just a thought experiment. No geese are actually harmed during the making of this. But over time, the goose has grown so big inside the bottle that there's no way of getting that goose out of the bottom. It's firmly stuck inside. Now this thought experiment has one outcome. You need to save that poor little goose you to get that goose out of that bottle. But there were two constraints. The first constraint being: you can't break the bottle. And the second constraint of course, is you can't harm or kill the goose. How do you rescue the goose from the bottom? Now, when I have this conversation with my CEO clients, I hear a couple of ideas that come through right. The first one is, well, maybe you can get some soap or some of the lubricant and slowly squeeze that goose out. Unfortunately, you can't, the rib cage of the goose has grown so much. There's no pulling it out through the neck of the bottle. I hear other things that maybe you could melt the bottle. Well, it's going to harm the goose and it's probably going to destroy the bottle. So I'm afraid that one won't work either. So what we're going to do. This poor goose. How are we going to save it? Right. Now remember the two constraints are sad. You can't harm the goose and you can't break the bottle. How do you rescue that poor goose? Well, here's what you do. You smash and break the bottle. You rescue that poor goose, you get that poor goose out of that bottle by breaking it. Now we know what you're thinking is saying, hold on Joe, you said there were two rules. One of which was don't break the bottle and the solution to this thought experiment is literally breaking the bottle. Of course it is, right? Why are you listening to me about what constraints or rules that are. To save the goose. Why are you listening to me about that? Right? The whole point of this thought experiment is to look beyond the rules that are set upon you. Not only by others, but by yourself. And in smashing and breaking the bottle. You rescue the goose and you solve the experiment literally by breaking the rules. And sometimes that's what we have to do. Now it could be more challenging, obviously. I'm not suggesting you break actual, real legal rules, but you start to look at things differently by breaking the bottle by going outside of well, what's possible outside of the constraints of what we're doing and we're importantly, In moving into the mindset of challenging rules and assumptions that exist around you, you challenge the rules and make some assumptions that are your own, that you've created in your own. World. So literally you are that goose in that bottle. You have to smash that bottle to break the rules. Come through and do something differently. That story came via a wonderful guy in Oakwood, Robert Ellis, who wrote a book called"Coaching from Essence". I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Right. Did you feel cheated? Because I didn't really outline the rules properly for you, there. I broke my own rules. Did you think that you should smash the bottle? Did you go there first? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. And to keep playing this experiment over in your head. Right? Think about this when you're out walking or swimming or in the gym where you've got some free space. Think about this little experiment and think about what are the bottles are there in your life that you need to break. So go on. Break that damn bottle. All right. This is the first part of a number of posts that I'm going to be using and making from my upcoming book called"The Modern CEO", right? Thoughts and ways of working as a CEO in the 2020s. Cause basically let's, let's be honest. Most leadership writing is firmly in the 1990s at best. I would love to hear your thoughts on this and to hit that Subscribe bell up there in LinkedIn and or on YouTube and follow more on me and the modern CEO, thinking that I'm going to be releasing over the next few months. Thanks for your time. Bye bye now.