Just Keep Swimming: The Power of Clarity

Clarity has a strange power: it makes a big problem small enough to act on.

When we think of heroes, we usually imagine people who are prepared, capable, strong and trained.

Now consider Austin Appelbee.

Four kilometres of ocean

He was 13 when the wind swept his family out to sea off WA. He swam 4 km for four hours, reached shore, raised the alarm… and all three survived.

Four kilometres of ocean is overwhelming. But perhaps that wasn't the problem Austin was solving.

His world had narrowed to one goal: reach the shore. And one instruction: "Just keep swimming."

That's the power of clarity. It doesn't necessarily give you more capability, more resources or better odds. It removes everything that doesn't matter.

When the path disappeared

I experienced a version of this while leading a fintech.

The dominant bank, with more than 90% market share, saw us as a threat and closed its doors. Our customers could no longer link their accounts.

On paper, we were finished.

But our objective hadn't changed. Customers still needed a way to deposit money. So that became the problem we solved.

We built a new way for customers to deposit without relying on the dominant bank. The result: US$30M a year in throughput and an award-winning solution.

Capability built it. But clarity made the next move obvious.

Know what you're moving towards

Sometimes you don't need to see the whole path. You just need to know, with absolute clarity, what you're moving towards.

Who kept moving when the path disappeared for you… and have you ever told them?