The entrepreneur as The Martian

I saw the movie The Martian last night. Highly recommended.

Its themes hit me on a number of topics.

Today’s blog is on speaking into the abyss.

Matt Damon is left behind, presumed dead, as the mission commander wrestles with the decision to leave Mars and save herself and the others. She has many decisions to make and openly seeks the input of her colleagues, yet takes the initial solitary angst-ridden decisive path.

See the movie; she makes more decisions.

She is fortunate-she has people to talk to.

Matt Damon is alone.

Very alone.

For a long time.

He goes months without human contact then creates an ingenious primitive communication method that is eventually supplemented with social interaction via media with those very far away  (OK, that’s my LinkedIn tie-in for this blog, although it is obtuse, I admit!).

But the point is, he has others, although he cannot “touch”them. He is still tied in with Ground Control and later, his former teammates: socially, conversationally.

Then via communication and the additive effect of team interaction, the plot can progress…

Back on Mars…until he develops the methodology of communication, he is left to rely on himself, learning from his own mistakes and adapting old materials to new processes.

He talks to himself in a video diary, as a vehicle to explain to the viewer (and himself) what is going on in his head.

He perseveres. He explores. He records his progress. He gets angry, self-doubting, yet moves past it. He “colonizes” (again, see the film). He meets the survival challenge and improvises when the intended goal seems impossible. He, of course, wins his redemption and is saved in an ingenious rendezvous.

So, friends, readers, multipreneurs, lend me your minds-do any of Matt Damon’s exploits sound familiar in your personal journey?

I would welcome your personal responses, don’t make me speak into the abyss…