I have an atypically long post
today where I talk about how many businesses operate and how that
compares with how we live as people.
If you have worked in some
business, part-time or full-time in any field, you might have noticed
this interesting phenomenon. The manager or the supervisor in charge
who manages and takes cares of the ins and outs of the business is
driven with profit in his mind. You can't blame him really. If
there's no profit, it's hard to think of a reason to stay in
business! That, of course, is not the interesting observation.
You might also have observed how the
manager works. A typical manager will work hard every day. However,
you should have noticed how the manager will focus mostly on high
profit days or periods of the year. Those high profit days could be
the weekend sales or the holiday sales. As a minion of the corporate
machine, you might not earn any commission (if it was such a field
that you work in) and might really hate those high profit periods. Or
as a commission wielding person (still a minion really but a slightly
higher paid one) you might really love those extra cashish. Also, I
welcome you to this exclusive club of minions (commissioned or
non-commissioned) of which I am also an esteemed member.
Perils involved
Interestingly, if you were to observe more deeply, you will notice that the bulk of the profit in such a
business and in almost any field will be from the low-profit days of
the week/year. That makes sense since you have a much higher number
of low-profit days than high-profit days. Even though you make
hundreds more in profit in the weekend, volume wise the most profit
comes from the weekdays for a typical small business. You would also
notice that the low profit days are taken for granted while the high
profit days are revered as the savior.
This mentality is shared across the
board by the managers, the owners and the workers alike. This
mentality makes the individual look at the high profit periods as
this period that is much more important than the other days. While
this prioritization make sense from the productivity view point
(average higher profit per day), you can easily conclude that this
does not make sense from the volume view point (total profit is
higher on the lower profit days).
So what gives? Is it justified to
focus on the high profit days or the christmas sales while ignoring
the rest of the week or the rest of the year? (I don't know the answer for certain so I ask this question as well.)
Even a 10 year old will be able to tell
you, this strategy is costing the business some money or unneeded stress since the normal days are ignored to focus solely on high profit days. The profit either stays the same or goes up on high-profit days while the profit comes down on low-profit days. How come the
businessmen can't see that flaw?
My closest answer
I was thinking about this and the
closest answer I can come up with is this:
Individuals are
motivated to profit at the highest level at all times. If you see a
day/period with a higher profit than another one, you will be drawn
towards such high-profit days and high-profit periods much more than
other days. While initially you might have been paying attention to
all days equally, this difference in profit draws you in to the
higher profit periods. While that is not necessarily bad, you also
end up ignoring those other days and take them for granted. Some
people might even hate them!
The last point is interesting. The low
profit days have lower profit but still they are not losses. Yet people
ignore them, take them for granted or actually hate them. This
differentiation is important in the lenses of people perhaps. But
there's something wrong with the picture here!
A Small Thought Experiment
Let's now go to our imagination. Let's
take ourselves back ten years ago, let's say in the year
2000. What do you remember?
I remember taking some board exams in
Nepal called the School Leaving Certificate (SLC). Funnily, I went to high
school after that again (everyone does). I remember doing well. I
remember playing in a cricket tournament where we lost because our
players simply left because they had to meet a deadline to get into a
school (long story). I remember the first time I fell head over heels
for a girl that year. I remember learning to play the guitar after
the board exams. All of these events are my cherished memories.
However, all of them share this same theme as the "high-profit"
days or in some cases the "lowest profit days" of a business. They are
memorable because they make me very happy or very sad or very (insert
some emotion). Perhaps you remember similar events if you are my age or completely different events if you are at a different place in life. But that's not the point.
Now let's get back to the present. What
are you thinking about? Perhaps you are thinking "Does Nitish
have a point here?" or "Why the hell am I wasting my time
when I could be doing something else" or "Oh, damn monday"
or "What do I have for lunch today" or "I have to run for a
meeting soon" or "That was a great dessert." All
perfectly valid questions and observations. However, did you think
about this moment too? Or better yet, did you enjoy this moment? How about that breath you just took?
Did you take enough to draw it into your heart into your blood supply
to provide the fuel for your brain and other parts of your body? Do
you feel your heart race as well? If you did any of the latter things, please
teach me how, because you are living in the moment.
Much like the profit oriented business
person, we also own a business. That business is ourselves. And much
like the manager, we focus many times on high profit periods. Our
graduation, our weekends, favorite TV shows, anniversaries, wedding
days. That's excellent. However, when we focus a great deal on these
sorts of items, we lose the enjoyment of the normal days, the plain
dull mondays, the weekdays, the dish washing hour, the cool
wednesday nights. The "low-profit" periods are many more
than the "high-profit" periods. Yet we willingly and
forcefully ignore them. There's something wrong about the picture
here, isn't there?
The Impending Platitude
Here's the impending platitude that draws in as a conclusion to the above observations: Try to
cherish and live each of your moments. Observe that breath, observe
that glass of water trickling down your throat. Pour yourself into
your work of choice. Pour yourself into the steamy hot shower/bath.
Pour yourself into that cup of green tea.
Please share if you like it, comment on
the post or just say namaste or hi.
