Space to Grow

We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.

Max de Pree

Speaking of making room to grow, anyone remember the scene from Empire Strikes Back where the Millennium Falcon deftly maneuvers through the asteroid field to escape pursuit while dodging asteroids as they bang into each other like billiard balls? Well, if that asteroid field is anything like the one between Mars and Jupiter in our solar system, and despite there being many millions if not billions of objects in that asteroid belt, the average distance between each of those object is about 600,000 miles, per this EarthSky article . “This means that spacecraft can fly through the asteroid belt without colliding with any asteroids.” To put that distance in perspective, if you put your nemesis on the moon to give them space to grow, that’s only about 239,000 miles from you (Earth).

About the author

Max de Pree (October 28, 1924 – August 8, 2017) was an American businessman and writer. A son of D. J. De Pree, founder of Herman Miller office furniture company, he and his brother Hugh De Pree assumed leadership of the company in the early 1960s, with Hugh becoming CEO and president in 1962. Max succeeded his brother Hugh as CEO in 1980 and served in that capacity till 1987; he was a member of the company’s Board of Directors until 1995. His book Leadership is an Art has sold more than 800,000 copies. In 1992, De Pree was inducted into the Junior Achievement’s U.S. Business Hall of Fame. He was involved with the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary (established in 1996 as the De Pree Center) since its establishment. He died at his home in Holland, Michigan in 2017.