Explore the Edges


We have a great backyard, with a huge lawn, deck, and a playground for the kids. But even with all that space to run around and play, where do you think we consistently find our kids playing?

That’s right, on the edges.

In amongst the trees at the back of our yard, where the little hideouts, “camping spots”, pine needles and scraps of wood reside.

Our kids are drawn like magnets to the edges. They love exploring the boundaries, because that’s where things get interesting.

Grown ups are often no different. When you’re fishing from a boat, the entire lake is yours. Chances of finding fish could be as good in the middle of the lake as anywhere else. Yet you’ll find amateur fisherman continually casting to the shore, fishing on the very edges of the lake. You’d never cast into a tree if you stayed in the middle, but things seem more interesting on the edges.

In Free Prize Inside, Seth Godin gives this very advice for creating a remarkable product:

Explore the edges.

Pick an edge, and push it to the extreme. Be the spiciest, the blandest, the quickest, the slowest, the most expensive, the cheapest.

Pick your edge, and see how far you can go. This is how the interesting products are created. The weird ones, the ones we talk about and share with our friends.

Because it’s on the edges that the interesting things happen.

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