KNOWING THE REASONS OF SUCCESS
Just consider this
Scene 1- you appeared in an interview.
Unfortunately you were not selected.
Fortunately (or fortunately) you have got a friend, who happens to be a HR guy.
You asked for his help.
He tells you to analyze the reasons of your failure.
AFTER SIX MONTHS
Scene 2- you appeared in an interview.
This time you were selected.
You conveyed this to your old HR friend.
He congratulates you and tells that your hard work really paid off.
The incidents mentioned above seem quite familiar to us and most of us would have behaved in the same way. But is it the right approach? We pin point 1001 reasons for failures but hardly analyze the reasons of our success. We assume that success is the result of our hard work. When we succeed we pat our back and proceed.
Now consider this
Scene 3- my friend got selected in an interview.
He conveyed this news to this HR guy.
I congratulated him and asked him to analyze the reasons of his success.
My friend was little bit taken aback by this. But I gave him solid reasons for my behavior.
ANALYZE SUCCESS TO REPEAT IT.
A student was seen in a management development programme. He had made hal-a million pounds by his own efforts by the time he was 35. “Why are you coming here as a student”? Asked the trainer. The trainer again stated that with his success record, he could have easily joined as a faculty member. “Not so”, he replied. “I have come here to find out why I was so successful”. No need to mention that he understands that if he could not explain his success he could not repeat it.
NECESSARY VRS SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS
An event takes place when two conditions are satisfied. They are necessary and sufficient conditions. If I consider success as an event, then it is also governed by necessary and sufficient conditions. The so called self help books on success focus only on necessary conditions of success like hard work, smart work, desire, commitment, positive belief, persistence etc. But I firmly believe that it only gives a partial view of success.
MYSELF INDIRA NAGER SACHIN TENDULKAR!
I was considered as Sachin Tendulkar of my colony. But once I started playing cricket at school level and college level I realized where I stand (in fact I used to bat at position 9). I realized that whatever little success I got as a cricketer in my colony was because of lack of strong opponent. If India wins a cricket match against Bangladesh in world cup (Yes they are in same group in world cup), it cannot be solely attributed to hard work. The real reason is lack of strong opponent. My friend used to come first in his class in his village school. His father got transferred to Bhubaneswar and he joined a reputed school. Here his name did not even figure among best ten students in his class. The reason is again the same: Lack of quality opponents in his village school or presence of strong opponent in his present school. In Hindi there is a beautiful proverb that aptly describes above. It is “andho me kana raja”. So next time when you succeed do not forget to ask yourself whether you really faced a quality opponent or not?
OVER CONFIDANT HARE?
In the famous story of tortoise and hare, the tortoise wins the race because its opponent (hare) was overconfident. It was a mistake on the part of hare and tortoise fully utilized it. If you are winning because of mistakes committed by your opponent, then it is a wake up call for you. Agreed that it requires strength to cash in the mistakes of your opponent. But your opponent is also rational person. He will not repeat his mistake again and again. So know the reason of your success. Let us for a moment believe that the tortoise and hare went for a rematch. The tortoise believes that it won the race because of its skills (wrong reason of success). But the hare is aware that it awarded the previous match to hare. This time it does not commit the same mistake and wins the match hands down.
OPENING THE LOCK WITH A KEY PERSON?
Mr Hari Babu decided to manufacture and sale a mango drink in the local market. Fortunately he had a key person called Mr. Ram. Ram was dynamic person. He looked after just everything. Hari babu got best young entrepreneur award in that year. In his speech he stated that his success is the result of hard work (wrong reason of success). After some time Ram decided to quit as he got a very good offer from an M.N.C. Only after one year of his departure, hari babu was forced to shut down his company. The reason is simple. He was winning because of his key employee called Ram. Even Bill Gates of Microsoft recognizes the importance of key employees. He once stated that “take away our 20 best people. Overnight we will be reduced to a mediocre company”. So I ask you to do the introspection and ask yourself “am I winning because of key person”?
If you are winning because of weak opponent or because of overconfident opponent or because of key person any you believe that you are winning because of your hard work, smart work etc, then this is a wake up call for you.
SUCCESS- A CLOSE UP
There is no formula to get success. As I said earlier both necessary and sufficient conditions are required to get it. Here I want to put forward something that I call as PTPO To get success. Here
P- stands for place
T- stands for time
P- stands for person
O- stands for opportunity.
PLACE- Place is an important element in marketing. Similarly the importance of place to get success cannot be underestimated. For example if one wants to make a career in Hindi films, then he/she has to come to Mumbai. Similarly people wanting to make a career in software prefer bangalor, Hyderabad or chennai.
TIME- Time is also an important factor that determines success. As Victor Hugo says “there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come”. Many innovative products failed to succeed because they were introduced ahead of time. Infosys was operating in India even before economic liberalization (1991-192). Only a few people heard about it. It was struggling. Why? Because time was not good for this company. Numbers of restrictions were there to import computers. When all this restrictions were lifted in the free market era Infosys blossomed.
PERSON- Whenever I think about person, the word mentor or guide comes to my mind. A guide or mentor is a must to get success. Think for a moment. You have decided to explore the thick forest of chandaka in orissa. If you go to that place without a guide, then you may got lost in the forest, To get success one has to cross the thick forest of uncertainty. So a guide or mentor is a must.
OPPORTUNITY- It is said that opportunity knocks only once at your door. Making use of it is a must to get success. Look at Sourav Ganguly. Who thought before one year that he would be in the probable list of players to play world cup. But he is in the list. How? Because he made use of the golden opportunity provided to him by selectors. He was the highest run getter in South Africa.
So my dear friends start analyzing the reasons of your success.
Regards
sundarjayram
From India, Bhubaneswar
8Just consider this
Scene 1- you appeared in an interview.
Unfortunately you were not selected.
Fortunately (or fortunately) you have got a friend, who happens to be a HR guy.
You asked for his help.
He tells you to analyze the reasons of your failure.
AFTER SIX MONTHS
Scene 2- you appeared in an interview.
This time you were selected.
You conveyed this to your old HR friend.
He congratulates you and tells that your hard work really paid off.
The incidents mentioned above seem quite familiar to us and most of us would have behaved in the same way. But is it the right approach? We pin point 1001 reasons for failures but hardly analyze the reasons of our success. We assume that success is the result of our hard work. When we succeed we pat our back and proceed.
Now consider this
Scene 3- my friend got selected in an interview.
He conveyed this news to this HR guy.
I congratulated him and asked him to analyze the reasons of his success.
My friend was little bit taken aback by this. But I gave him solid reasons for my behavior.
ANALYZE SUCCESS TO REPEAT IT.
A student was seen in a management development programme. He had made hal-a million pounds by his own efforts by the time he was 35. “Why are you coming here as a student”? Asked the trainer. The trainer again stated that with his success record, he could have easily joined as a faculty member. “Not so”, he replied. “I have come here to find out why I was so successful”. No need to mention that he understands that if he could not explain his success he could not repeat it.
NECESSARY VRS SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS
An event takes place when two conditions are satisfied. They are necessary and sufficient conditions. If I consider success as an event, then it is also governed by necessary and sufficient conditions. The so called self help books on success focus only on necessary conditions of success like hard work, smart work, desire, commitment, positive belief, persistence etc. But I firmly believe that it only gives a partial view of success.
MYSELF INDIRA NAGER SACHIN TENDULKAR!
I was considered as Sachin Tendulkar of my colony. But once I started playing cricket at school level and college level I realized where I stand (in fact I used to bat at position 9). I realized that whatever little success I got as a cricketer in my colony was because of lack of strong opponent. If India wins a cricket match against Bangladesh in world cup (Yes they are in same group in world cup), it cannot be solely attributed to hard work. The real reason is lack of strong opponent. My friend used to come first in his class in his village school. His father got transferred to Bhubaneswar and he joined a reputed school. Here his name did not even figure among best ten students in his class. The reason is again the same: Lack of quality opponents in his village school or presence of strong opponent in his present school. In Hindi there is a beautiful proverb that aptly describes above. It is “andho me kana raja”. So next time when you succeed do not forget to ask yourself whether you really faced a quality opponent or not?
OVER CONFIDANT HARE?
In the famous story of tortoise and hare, the tortoise wins the race because its opponent (hare) was overconfident. It was a mistake on the part of hare and tortoise fully utilized it. If you are winning because of mistakes committed by your opponent, then it is a wake up call for you. Agreed that it requires strength to cash in the mistakes of your opponent. But your opponent is also rational person. He will not repeat his mistake again and again. So know the reason of your success. Let us for a moment believe that the tortoise and hare went for a rematch. The tortoise believes that it won the race because of its skills (wrong reason of success). But the hare is aware that it awarded the previous match to hare. This time it does not commit the same mistake and wins the match hands down.
OPENING THE LOCK WITH A KEY PERSON?
Mr Hari Babu decided to manufacture and sale a mango drink in the local market. Fortunately he had a key person called Mr. Ram. Ram was dynamic person. He looked after just everything. Hari babu got best young entrepreneur award in that year. In his speech he stated that his success is the result of hard work (wrong reason of success). After some time Ram decided to quit as he got a very good offer from an M.N.C. Only after one year of his departure, hari babu was forced to shut down his company. The reason is simple. He was winning because of his key employee called Ram. Even Bill Gates of Microsoft recognizes the importance of key employees. He once stated that “take away our 20 best people. Overnight we will be reduced to a mediocre company”. So I ask you to do the introspection and ask yourself “am I winning because of key person”?
If you are winning because of weak opponent or because of overconfident opponent or because of key person any you believe that you are winning because of your hard work, smart work etc, then this is a wake up call for you.
SUCCESS- A CLOSE UP
There is no formula to get success. As I said earlier both necessary and sufficient conditions are required to get it. Here I want to put forward something that I call as PTPO To get success. Here
P- stands for place
T- stands for time
P- stands for person
O- stands for opportunity.
PLACE- Place is an important element in marketing. Similarly the importance of place to get success cannot be underestimated. For example if one wants to make a career in Hindi films, then he/she has to come to Mumbai. Similarly people wanting to make a career in software prefer bangalor, Hyderabad or chennai.
TIME- Time is also an important factor that determines success. As Victor Hugo says “there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come”. Many innovative products failed to succeed because they were introduced ahead of time. Infosys was operating in India even before economic liberalization (1991-192). Only a few people heard about it. It was struggling. Why? Because time was not good for this company. Numbers of restrictions were there to import computers. When all this restrictions were lifted in the free market era Infosys blossomed.
PERSON- Whenever I think about person, the word mentor or guide comes to my mind. A guide or mentor is a must to get success. Think for a moment. You have decided to explore the thick forest of chandaka in orissa. If you go to that place without a guide, then you may got lost in the forest, To get success one has to cross the thick forest of uncertainty. So a guide or mentor is a must.
OPPORTUNITY- It is said that opportunity knocks only once at your door. Making use of it is a must to get success. Look at Sourav Ganguly. Who thought before one year that he would be in the probable list of players to play world cup. But he is in the list. How? Because he made use of the golden opportunity provided to him by selectors. He was the highest run getter in South Africa.
So my dear friends start analyzing the reasons of your success.
Regards
sundarjayram
From India, Bhubaneswar
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