In State Of Denial

I was ruminating over the perils for a business entity and figured the thing that can hurt an entity the most is having its management in the state of denial about its health. Heck, this could be true for everything around us - our projects, professional growth, personal relationships etc. Most of us run our businesses/groups with a perception that it is succeeding until we discover that we have landed over on the dark side. It's interesting to see that most of us make believe that it was an overnight phenomenon and it was never meant to happen whereas the reality is that tectonic plates of adversity had started gathering momentum long ago.

Have you ever driven in India? If not, well, first lie in the prostrate position and thank your stars that destiny has chosen you as the lucky one. Well, it's an absolute pandemonium! There are no rules on the road, people cut you off, they are always driving at your tail and the worst, they don't hesitate to unleash an honking avalanche and bury you under the cacophonic sound if you were not to give them way. Crazy, isn’t it? They say one can drive anywhere in the world if one has driven in India. Don't believe me? Wanna try it out? Yeah, I didn't think so :)

Now, the interesting part - One has to look at everyone's animated expression every time there is a fender bender (BTW, which happens every few seconds). People are ALWAYS shocked that they got into such an accident. Well, was it not expected in these driving conditions? One should be thanking the heavenly forces that it didn't happen few days back. But, they don't. Why? They are in the perpetual state of denial about the horrid driving conditions.

In both the above scenarios, there is a state of denial which leads to unpleasant ramifications. The logical choice is to look within and seek bold new initiatives which can challenge the status quo. But, the sad part is that sometimes we are too late in discovering the disconcerting facts about the health of our environment. By that time, the playing field has already changed and one has to work diligently to be part of the race again. Thus, the idea is to observe the business context intently and be nimble enough to make proactive changes.

Thus, always periodically review the progress against the plan, be inquisitive about the plans of your competitors, invest in innovation and nimble enough to adapt to the changing environments.

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