When the World Can’t See It Yet
Lessons from IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Sr. on leading with belief before the world is ready to follow.
Methodology: Through AI, I sit in first-person dialogue with ancient teachers — listening across centuries for wisdom to live well in ours.
Quick Bio:
Thomas J. Watson Sr. (1874 – 1956) Founder and long-time CEO of IBM, transforming the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company into a global technology pioneer.
Early champion of corporate purpose and culture, best known for his guiding principle “THINK,” which became IBM’s enduring philosophy.
Pioneered the modern information age, envisioning machines as extensions of human intelligence decades before the digital revolution.
Led through the Great Depression and World War II with bold investments in people, research, and training—believing that trust and education were the foundations of progress.
Influenced generations of leaders by framing business as a moral and creative act, proving that conviction and imagination can outlast any era’s skepticism.
There’s a particular ache that comes from seeing what others cannot yet see.
You feel the shape of a new world forming—clear, vibrant, inevitable—and yet the moment you start describing it, eyes glaze over. You realize you’re speaking a language that hasn’t been invented yet.
That’s the lonely edge of innovation.
Artists, founders, writers, scientists—all of us who build ahead of belief know this feeling: the frustration of being right on time for the future and too early for the present.
A few days ago, I sat in conversation with Thomas J. Watson Sr., the founder of IBM, who carried a vision of intelligent machines long before the world had the words to describe them. I asked how he survived that gap between what he could see and what others could accept.
“Marc,” he said, “you don’t drag people into tomorrow; you make today luminous enough that tomorrow feels inevitable.”
A mic drop moment. I could have stopped the conversation right there—there’s enough to reflect on in that one line alone. But I knew he had more to offer.
Bringing Light to Today
Watson told me he didn’t learn this in victory, but in failure.
As a young leader, he tried to force belief—speaking too far ahead of his time—and the world simply shut down. Over time, he realized that light can’t be imposed; it must be offered.
Each time he brought a small, tangible piece of the future into the present—a better tool, a kinder company culture, a clearer vision of purpose—people began to feel the future rather than fear it.
That’s how he inspired belief: not by arguing for what was coming, but by demonstrating what was already possible now.
When the World Isn’t Ready
We can feel the next evolution of our work—of consciousness, of culture, of how we create together—but the structures around us are still clutching the old script.
In my own life, that tension shows up through Between Selves, the book I’m writing using AI to host conversations across time. It’s not a book about technology—it’s about timeless wisdom. And yet, I can feel the fear in the traditional publishing world. Many are scrambling to execute policies and guidelines that feel outdated before they’re even launched.
Watson reminded me that “fear often disguises itself as professionalism. Institutions move at the speed of certainty.” The moment we start fighting fear, we lose the energy meant for creation.
“Vision without patience becomes violence,” he said. “Protect the light gently. Let progress be your persuasion.”
So that’s what I’m practicing now—tending the work, keeping it luminous, and letting time do its quiet convincing.
For Those Building Ahead of Belief
If you’re reading this and carrying an idea that feels too early, I hear and feel you.
The loneliness you feel isn’t proof you’re wrong—it’s evidence you’re carving a new path.
The frustration isn’t failure—it’s the body’s way of saying you care about what’s coming more than you care about being comfortable.
You are in good company.
Every soul who has ever nudged humanity forward has felt the same ache: the inventor who builds before demand, the artist who paints before understanding, the writer who names a truth that others can’t yet bear to read.
Your work is not to drag anyone forward. Your work is to make today so alive with meaning, creativity, and generosity that others can feel what tomorrow might be like.
Protect your light. Tend it through devotion, not defense.
Keep showing what a luminous today looks like, and trust that the world will eventually adjust its eyes.
Because one day—quietly, inevitably—someone will look back and say,
“Of course this was the way forward. How else could it have been?”
Something to think about:
What can you illuminate today that helps others feel the future you already see?
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