In a discussion yesterday, we asked ourselves the question (which we've
often done in the past as well) – why do businessmen think about
getting into the business of everything. And very often, in the
process, lose even that which they easily could've had.
I love the song Hungry Eyes from Dirty Dancing.
This could turn out to be a rather winding piece of writing. Stay with me :). Want to accomplish much but not in too many words.
My colleague has been reading a few things off late. He read a piece of research which said, given a choice, people prefer receiving 15Rs now than 20Rs six months hence. This isn't exactly a reflection of the question posed in the first paragraph but there's a common factor. Temptation.
Forget the research bit now. Remember the temptation bit.
Temptation arises from very basic human needs or tendencies. Stomach churning, feel hungry and the instant response is 'eat'. Don't eat? Die. Seems to me that this temptation bit or 'hunger' and the overwhelming urgency to respond to it carries over to the mind also.
But mind is mind because it analyzes, describes, learns, concludes and so on. 'Hunger' is nature at its basic level. When it comes to a need like 'hunger', the mind doesn't have to analyze, learn or conclude that you are hungry. It sort-of comes instantaneously. You know where's your mouth and you know what to put in your mouth to fill the stomach. Indeed, mind has a role in deciding 'what to put'. But 'to put' is a foregone conclusion. Mind doesn't have a role there.
In the last two paragraphs, I've talked about two paradoxical traits of the mind. That, on one hand, it carries the 'overwhelming urgency' and, on the other, it learns, analyzes, describes (which means it takes its time).
One can say 'hunger of the stomach' has been there since the first life-form took shape. But business is a learnt process, a mental skill just recently developed. And mind is a different kind of sense organ. Stomach is limited by its physicality but the same can't be said about mind. You eat a bit and fill the stomach. You think a bit and nothing gets filled in the mind.
Instances of huge businesses gone awry seem like a case of that hunger (of the stomach) like temptation applied to the mind. Business minds gobbling everything at the first sight. But as I said think whatever but the mind just doesn't fill. So business minds gobbling everything and still finding that nothing's left of whatever they gobbled.
Mind takes time. Mind is about skills. It needs to analyze, learn, conclude and only then it becomes a master. Beware of applying hunger-of-the-stomach like temptation to the mind. Then perhaps you'll handle paradox better, take more time to learn a skill/trade, take better decisions, fill less and yet not be hungry.
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