Trowel Spin – September 2026

“When you see a bird land on a branch that it’s never been on before, is the bird trusting the branch or its own wings?”

Recently a good friend of mine sent me an article that quoted the CEO of Cal Tire. I don’t know his name. But he runs a billion-dollar company if that means anything to you.

When asked what one piece of advice would be that he would offer to the current generation, he posed this question.

“When you see a bird land on a branch that it’s never been on before, is the bird trusting the branch or its own wings?”

It’s a good question. Of course, it’s also a question that can be taken out of context. Whether the bird is trusting the branch or its wings, there is a limit to both.

It can trust its wings, but eventually it will be exhausted and need a branch. It can trust the branch, but eventually it will need to fly for food, or fly to avoid being food for some tree climbing rodent.

The same applies to us. To always simply trust our own immediate intuition and judgment might be a little naïve.

But to solely place your confidence in the economy, data, or familiar perimeters may keep you frozen on a branch that could snap anyway.

And that really brings us to original intent of his question. What is our default in the face of opportunity?

Over the course of the last decades, we have moved from a mindset of pioneering to an addiction to data.

We are afraid to try a new idea or opportunity without exhaustive data. Of course, not every idea flourishes. Part of the problem is that when they don’t, we have succumbed to calling them failures, instead of a trial.

We have it all wrong. A trial isn’t a failure. A failure is when we have failed to make use of an existing proven system. A mistake in other words. And furthermore, a failure is an event, not a person.

A trial is testing something new to prove its potential merit.

But because we are afraid to “fail” we resort to data, so we have somewhere to place the responsibility.

20 years ago, when I wanted to date the young lady who is now my wife, I didn’t pull a lot of data on her. I just saw a girl that I thought would be very exciting to get to know better and possibly marry. It worked out well. But if I had wanted to know everything there was to learn about her beforehand, I would probably still be pulling data.

Sometimes I think back on those same 20 years to the time I was sitting on the brand-new branch of my little concrete business. I am always confounded and a little embarrassed when I think of how remarkably little, I knew about anything. I had nothing to lose, so I trusted my wings.

But today, when agonizing over the data of a new venture or idea, I wonder if the branch under me has become more than it should be.

When I contemplate this question from the CEO of Cal Tire, I probably land somewhere in the middle.

As a person of faith, I don’t entirely trust my wings, and I don’t trust the branch. But I do trust in the God that has given me both to use.

There is the sensation of safety on the branch, and there is adventure in your wings. But I don’t believe we were created to only huddle in safety or endlessly roam.

But there is wisdom in data, and discovery in trial. And we were created for both.

We just need the courage to decide when to use the potential of each.