In short: The familiar Mercator map distorts the true size of India, Africa and South America. It is a useful reminder for leaders to question the mental maps they use when deciding where growth will come from.
India is much bigger than many people think. Africa is about 14 times the size of Greenland, and South America is about 1.75 times the size of Europe. Yet on the familiar Mercator map, these proportions look very different.
More than a cartographic correction
The Mercator projection was designed for navigation, not for comparing the size of countries. It enlarges regions far from the equator and shrinks those near it. The result is a picture of the world many of us carry without questioning.
The business lesson
Leaders carry mental maps too: assumptions about which markets are “big”, which are “early” and which are “too difficult”. Those assumptions are often formed years earlier and rarely revisited. As global growth, innovation and consumption continue to shift, the cost of an outdated map rises.
- Which markets are you overlooking because they have always looked small?
- Which markets are you over-investing in because they have always looked central?
- When did you last test your market priorities against current data and real conversations?
Redrawing the map
At Unicorn Next, we help companies look at market opportunities with fresh eyes, from India to the UK, Europe, North America and beyond, and then build a practical route into the markets that matter through Xpanding Horizons.
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This article expands on a post first shared by Sunil Khosla on LinkedIn. Follow Unicorn Next on LinkedIn for regular perspectives.