In this world, we face an acute problem of saturation. Just
about anything has intense competition. Scarcity (natural or artificial) is
rampant and it is not uncommon to see people fight desperately over stakes that
are trivial when compared...
And hence, about 15 years ago, when I started my career here
I USA, I adopted a personal philosophy: expand the pie; don't fight for a share
of it.
It was evident (to me) that unless we make the available pie
bigger, any amount of competitiveness is eventually going to hit a barrier. And
being literally resourceless and broke, the only option available to me for
helping in expanding the pie, is to take up a career that is less traveled.
Several years down the line, looking back at a very
turbulent journey so far, it is time to reflect. Firstly, do I regret anything? Absolutely not! It has been
an absolutely invigorating journey and even successful in bits and pieces. Second, do I think that "expand the pie" philosophy was untrue? Absolutely not, again! Time and again we keep seeing news stories of us getting
into saturation mode (fuel, power, garbage, jobs, traffic, etc.) and unless we
build a vast culture of pie expanding enthusiasts, we only stand to face huge
crises in the future.
But then, expanding the pie is easier said than done. We
cannot start looking at ways of expanding the pie after we are hit by a crisis. We should be well prepared long before. The best times to prepare for war are
in times of peace, as the saying goes.
I would like to share a couple of my experiences and lessons
learned in trying to expand the pie:
Beware of the fear of the unknown:
Expanding the pie necessarily means venturing into the
unknown. We may think we are adults, but we don't realize that we are adults
only when we are in familiar mental territory. The moment we are in the
unknown, our primal fears surface in ways that we cannot even fathom.
The way people react to the unknown is very unpredictable. They may suddenly become unusually defensive or offensive, get into a closet
and refuse to communicate, take big decisive actions rather on an impulse, and
so on.
Your intentions will be misinterpreted:
Come to think of it -- the herd is moving in one direction
and fiercely fighting over that little piece of bread, and here you are walking
away in a different direction...
Of course, your intentions will be misinterpreted. You will
be seen with suspicion, your integrity will be questioned, people will put up
safety nets against you, call you weird, will secretly want to see you isolated,
and what not.
Expect it. At least then, you will not be hurt too much when
you encounter it.
Remember the Gandhi quote, particularly the last line?
First they laugh at you
Then they ignore you
Then they fight you
Then you win..!
When you expand the pie, you will not necessarily get a
share of it.
When you develop good ideas that successfully question
status quo -- it will eventually get adopted. But you will most likely not be
in the picture there (even if you are alive and kicking..)
Expect to be muscled around, one-sided & vicious
attacks, being told that your ideas are obvious and trivial, being sweet-talked
while you are getting poached, the list goes on...
Be aware. Don't compromise. Be ready to lose what you have
and always remember that your real wealth is within you -- your ability to
think and develop ideas. Keep working on that ability and see to it that it
never gets sidelined in all such worldly nonsense.
I hope this helps.
