by Miriam Garvi
In our society, it seems as if the real winners are never those who take the first step. Most money is made by those deft enough to know exactly the right moment to move in and beat others at their own game. Business is for the survival of the fittest - those who have the stamina for playing the ‘gorilla game’.
But who defines winning? And who defines the prize? Chalking up a new sales record is an achievement, but then what? As shown by many a public company these days, it is no longer enough to be profitable - you need to keep exceeding expectations that are fueled by past successes. Expected growth is the curse of success.
It takes courage and conviction not to be drawn into this spiral. But if we are to see other qualities than short-term achievement we need visions that go beyond heeding to the loud demands and expectations of markets and institutions.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Yes, expected growth is exactly what makes people deviate from the original vision and lose track of the intended meaning with what they are doing, but if we don’t know where we are heading, how are we going to move forward in the long run?
April 10th, 2008 at 9:25 am
@Esther: Good point! The original purpose and meaning with something tend to become taken-for-granted by people as soon as something has been created. This means that little by little perspectives are narrowed down. Consider the automobile industry for instance. The opportunity to apply new technology to mobility and transportation led to the automobile being invented. This invention in refined forms has since been diffused on a large scale. However, we know of the detrimental effects of cars in terms of e.g. pollution, accidents and we also know that car commuting is not time efficient e.g. in urban centers. So why not start from needs of mobility and transportation and start thinking creatively about how to effectively fulfill such needs?