Thinking Like a Shrimp

If you’ve ever gone snorkeling, you know the magic of drifting over a coral reef and watching the scene unfold below. You float in a silent, bubbly world, trying to make sense of the underwater bustle.

When you surface, people usually share stories of what they saw: schools of large fish, sea turtles, maybe even small sharks.

Unless you’re a trained marine biologist, you’ll miss the smaller creatures moving between the corals, like cleaner shrimp, which pick parasites from the open mouths of larger fish and even sharks. Without these cleaners, parasites and infections can build up, leading to poor health and even death.

We often view economic development and entrepreneurship like amateur snorkelers. We focus on what’s big, colorful, and obvious while overlooking the smaller, essential players.

In my career, this mindset shows up as a desire to “solve big problems” or “work in climate.” I often judge opportunities by whether or not they’re changing the world in an obvious way. I know I’m not alone in that.

But recently, I’ve started to think more like a shrimp. I’ve begun telling myself a different story about what it means to make a difference, and it’s been liberating.

I’m still inspired by big visions like “electrify everything” and the frontier technologies behind them, but I don’t need to be leading them. Now, I see the value in supporting these big goals by tackling the friction, blockers, and overlooked problems that make it hard to be a big fish.

Around every audacious goal are smaller problems that also need solving. Many are less crowded and wide open for small, creative businesses. To electrify everything, we’ll need more electricians, more training programs, software to coordinate installs, and tools to administer paperwork. It’s not sexy, but it matters.

Let’s keep celebrating the big ideas on the reef, but also look more closely between the coral for the niches where supporting players can thrive. We need sharks and whales, but we also need shrimp and cleaner fish to keep them healthy.