Before you continue reading this post, we have to establish some
necessary assumptions-
Now the assumptions-
So, with the start of the semester, I analyzed like a great manager the
dangerous situation developing around me, popping up every now and then in my
little underused brain. I decided my plan of action. It was very smart and
doable. ‘Start studying this subject since the very start.’ As
you have guessed already, I lost my Plan of Action notebook, so I ‘forgot’ what
the plan was until the week before the exam when I recovered that book in my
college bag. Stop asking me why I didn’t look for it in the bag, no one does
that. Whenever I tried checking the bag, my ever so dumb ‘heart’ said, ‘Are you
an idiot? You have already searched it. It’s the first choice.’ So apparently I
never checked my bag, assuming I had already done that in the past. Anyway, I
am a good manager and under no circumstances I could afford to fail. After
finding the Plan of Action, which clearly and only stated that
I had to study this subject, I started studying, I looked at online videos and
notes and lessons and lectures and studied the damn subject. Day in, day out; I
was studying O.R. I understood some of it as well. But, that’s not the point. I
had faith in The Alchemist-
“And, when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
v First,
I cannot afford to fail in these college exams under any circumstances. I have to pass even if the
world ends.
v Second,
I am not a nerd. I am an average student at best.
v Third,
I forget things, like this point itself.
Now, I am doing-as I have said sometimes before but giving you
the benefit of doubt now- I am doing Bachelors of Business Administration from
a reputed college and we had this subject in the last semester, Operations Research. Wait…
v Third,
I really sucked at Operations Research since the start. The subject for me was
like the hot girl, who you’ll never get, no matter what you do, how much you
try. To be honest, every subject for me is like a hot girl.
But I would be a future manager,
who would work in one of the Fortune 500000000000 companies, so I had to do something about this hot
girl, this subject OR. [Enough with the comparison now; it’s not even funny]
“And, when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
Finally, the day I was waiting for, came, O.R. exam. I was super
confident. The teacher passed me the question paper, and the first thing that
came over my face was a smile. ‘The Universe had helped, I will pass!’ I said
to myself. Constant efforts and hard work finally paid off handsomely. I knew
then and there, I was going to be a successful manager. I had it in me. I was
overjoyed. The subject I dreaded the most, was my girl now. Wait, I said no
more comparison between the subject and the hot girl. I lied; one more trait of
a good successful manager. Yay.
The big lesson here?
Wait for it. The story is incomplete. Due to overjoyed brain and
lack of proper attention to other subjects, my other exams went horribly bad
and I failed in three other subjects; Economics included, which is like
SO easy. I COULD NOT AFFORD TO FAIL.
And then it really hit the philosophical region of my brain; I
was confident I don’t have a managerial expertise region. I realized we have
only limited resources with us, and more than one problem to deal with at any
given time. On the surface, we might not see them properly, but they are there,
and as managers and persons, we have to deal with each one of them, failing to
any has its undesirable consequences. If
we employ all our resources to one single problem, the others, however, trivial
ones will create great problems. Analyzing the whole situation and reaching
an optimal solution is the best way to go, in management and in life. As a
simple example; the times when we fight with our love, our boy or girl, we
assume it’s the end of the world. I once didn’t eat for a whole day because I
had a silly fight with my girlfriend. [This is only way you understand]
Think
about it. We all do it. We all allocate every resource and piece of attention
we have in our arsenal, which are limited by the way, to one problem, singling
it out, overlooking everything else. And then, we fail in the other departments
miserably. What is the lesson here? I don’t know. At least we know there’s
a problem here often ignored and that’s like half of the solution right here.
Rest half, you figure out yourself. Remember,
everything has a relative importance in your life; the guy you pass saying hello
who lives in the other building was once your best friend, the girl you love
and can do anything right now was unknown to you few years ago. Same goes for
every other thing in life. The things that are really constant in your life are
the associated problems, the minute you solve this present one, another pops
up. There’s no end to them; all you can do is accept the fact that there will
always be problems no matter how cautious you’re. Now, it’s on you how you
tackle all of them.
