Skip to main content

The Idea Generator

So I was reading “The Magic of Thinking Big” and I came across a very interesting passage. The entire book revolves around the concept of developing our thinking and changing the way we view things. At every step, the book pushes us towards being better and more positive in our outlook. We can achieve anything by just changing the way we think.

But, this one passage that I really liked was when he was with a friend who is the president of a young but rapidly growing manufacturing concern. They were watching a popular quiz programme and the fellow being questioned had been on the show for several weeks. He could answer all sorts of questions on all sorts of subjects, many of which seemed nonsensical.

After this person had answered a particularly odd question related to some mountains in Argentina, the author’s friend asked him how much did he think the friend would pay that participant to work for him. The answer was not a cent above $300 for life. This president friend of the author says he has sized that person up. He can’t think, only memorize. He’s just a human encyclopedia, and he can buy a pretty good set of encyclopedias for $300. He even says that it might be too much and much of what that person ones, he can find in a $2 almanac.

The president of the concern says he wants people around him who can solve problems and who can think up new ideas. People who can develop the dream into a practical application.

That is exactly what everyone needs to be. We don’t want our worth to be $300 for the rest of our life. We want to be worth more. What decides our worth is our thinking. Do we restrict ourselves to facts or should we go forward and have ideas. I believe having an idea that you can pursue and live for and apply practically in the world, that can change the world, that idea becomes a fact for others.

It’s always better to have an idea that becomes a fact. What I want to convey here is that nobody thought man could fly. Everybody knew it for a fact until the Wright brothers had an idea and that revolutionized the world. Nobody that the world was round until Ferdinand Magellan went around the Earth without falling off the edge as people earlier believed. Those ideas, powered by belief and courage to pursue them became facts of today. The ideas never seem to end. When we thought phones that could make calls and texts were the last thing, we got new technology that we could play games and access the internet. When we thought it couldn’t get any better, Boom! Apple comes in with touch phones. Everything starts off just as an idea. If you ever read about Steve Jobs, you’ll know his path wasn’t an easy one. He had to go through hell to get to the paradise he built. But he believed in his idea.

This post was written so I could instill in everyone that facts don’t matter. Any random person can look up in an encyclopedia and, heck, we got Google now and that’s for free. There’s no need to even pay for people to be encyclopedias. What matters is to be the generators of ideas. Today’s age is all about ideas and their pursuit. Generate new ideas everyday, work on them. Even if it’s something as small as making a new chicken recipe. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up becoming the next KFC!!

Take a Stand, Make History!

~Ronit Bose
[The AraDip]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sky is Limitless

As kids we used sky only in geographical terms and limits in maths. Today we know what it exactly means. As I always wonder is sky really the limit?  Or it is our dreams, hopes and aspirations which gaze in the sky. It is these things that bound us where we are and not the external environment. It is the constant restructuring of our dreams which help us do the impossible and achieve the highest growth. Or as Albert Einstein would phrase it as Passionate Curiosity. Yes, dream big. Let your dreams excite you and scare you at the same time. Never fear your own dreams. As fear comes near, face and kill it. Don’t submit to fear. As a person quoted," You begin to fly as you let go self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights." All the boundaries are really in our head. It is all about what you consider yourself and not others or merely numbers. I just don't say this without experiencing it myself, I had my actuarial science ...

Purpose

There was an author who was travelling to Singapore for a guest lecture or as you can say, a consultancy session. When he arrived at the airport he looked out for a taxi to take him to the hotel. The taxi driver was polite and well behaved. When they reached the hotel, the taxi driver circled the block once before dropping the author outside the hotel gate. The meter read $11 and the author had already taken the sum out to pay the fare. However, the taxi driver said that the author needs to pay only $10. The author was surprised. And he asked the taxi driver why he was charging him a dollar less. The taxi driver replied, “Sir, had I not missed the turn from the signal I wouldn’t have to circle the whole block once again to drop you here. And in that case the meter would have read $10. I can legally claim $11 but ethically I deserve only $10.” The author was actually pleased to hear this. And was fascinated to know more on why the taxi driver felt the need to be ethical. Th...

China-1, India-0

Why China and not India? International Business: Why didn't American companies choose India instead of China for manufacturing products? - Haosen Cai, Engineer I’ve come across similar questions from time to time on this very topic and I don’t recall anyone ever pointing out the true reason. The reason as to why India can’t out perform China in manufacturing is NOT because of infrastructure, it’s NOT because of skilled labors, it’s NOT because of corruption, and it’s also NOT because of “superiority of the Chinese mentality”. I’d like to answer this question with this noun:- Unpredictability Now repeat after me. Unpredictability Unpredictability Unpredictability This is the single most powerful noun that’s preventing India from being a manufacturing hub - because doing business in India is so god damn unpredictable, therefore it is impossible to calculate your return on investment when dealing with India. Bad infrastructure? No problem, that ...