Two roads diverged in a wood

You might be familiar with the poem The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. The last lines read:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The words that capture me are “I took the one less traveled by”.
In business terms, Frost’s reasoning might be sound. If you manage a company, you will choose your road into the wood many times each day.
If you take the “road well travelled” you might very well benefit from the experiences of others, from doing things the traditional way. But taking that route might stop you innovating. It might even damage your business.
After all, if you’re going the same direction as everyone else, you could get stuck in the middle of a crowd.
Having chosen a “road less travelled” you might be the one talking about the road and your experiences during that journey. And reporting on something, which not many have achieved, is in itself in most cases a success story.
Alison Balsom stands out. She’s an English trumpet soloist, winner of the Classical Brit Award for Female Artist of the Year in 2013. She certainly took the road less travelled. It is not easy to be praised as “an astonishing virtuosa” (The Times) and a “true poet of the trumpet…” (BBC Music Magazine) and be just 36 years old.

If you want to listen to Ms. Balsom, please click here.

Song of the week: James Blunt – You’re Beautiful (2004)