the cutting edges of the mind.....

A couple of years back during my stint in college I met a couple of friends working for a NGO in Delhi. As we got talking amongst other things a couple of questions popped up regarding the fascinating work they do – this was more to satisfy my curiosity about the same. They seemed to be working with so many kinds of people from different segments in life - working with the common man, politicians, corrupt politicians, film-makers or even sometimes locals goons. Sounded like a fascinating job – interacting with top directors, thought leaders, and even celebrities at times. The “Narmada Bachao Andolan” episodes she mentioned in detail were vivid and realistic – somehow they had a way with words and I and my friends could visualize everything.

Wonderful!! After the realization the basic human characteristic “maya” took over.

How do you get that kind of career? Most of these guys were BA or B-Coms and just “fell into it” by accident. My mind went racing and it actually took me a long time to decide what to make do with my life.

Well I had gone through a similar advice from Scott Adams from “Dilbert’s Blog”, only recently and that probably struck a chord in me. Maybe someone else had earlier discovered something before me but the entire event was one sweet moment for me.

I second the same emotions that were portrayed in that blog:

If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:

1. Become the best at one specific thing.

2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.

Well I had believed in this theory for the last 10 years or more. I could have opted for medicine or engineering in grad school (almost) – but I took up engineering possibly studying the number of avenues that would open up instead. I realized that with the kind of mindset I had, it would be difficult for me to be the best scholar in medicine in particular batch – and no way could I settle to be the average physician round the street corner.

Then again I took up chemical technology as my engineering major – computer sciences were passé and mechanical or electrical would prove too technical – although I realized in the later part of my stint that reactor design, process technology or thermodynamics though interesting for the top 25% of class, failed to hold my attention for long, although I could fairly understand and comprehend most of it.

Then my MBA – Finance was the buzz of the day with investment banks being the key driver for students choosing the major. But I opted for marketing as majors & IT+ Strategy as minors – a strange choice that was mirrored by some of my colleagues. I was always a decent speaker in school or college and my people skills were really never in question.

What I lacked (which I had identified earlier was the subject matter and the scope to which I could speak on). Well all my career choices seemed to be right to this point as I am chasing targets speaking to tons of people around the world discussing their business, their pain points, and probable solutions on a daily basis. While travel and interaction with people are probable incentive for my job – what I most admire is the knowledge that I gain every time I speak to a customer discussing his business challenges. I get to see parts of the whole business conglomerates just speaking to these people - whether they be in the engineering, R&D or the CEO’s office. It’s always a rewarding experience.

Well I must say at this point there are so many avenues I want to learn more on. As I delve deeper into the life sciences & health care industry I feel there are so many more things I need to know – building knowledge is like natures way with life. It has got to evolve and shape up better with time. This is one more key factor to success I guess.

Well look around for most of the celebrities & famous people around – they seem to be better than 25% of most people in 3 or more things. It’s a simple concept of evolution that nature has followed every time for survival – if you can’t be the biggest be the fastest or the strongest etc etc or the smartest or maybe a combination or three or all of the above.

There might be 1001 ways to fail in life, but only a handful of ways to be successful. Make it worth - make yourself worth it.

Always remember Einstein’s golden words:

Try not to be a man of success, but rather to be a man of value……….

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