Thoughtful Tips

Ankit Agnihotri
MBA 2006
He can be reached at
ankit.agnihotri@gmail.com

Challenge the
                Challenges

Problems will always be there, but it is the attitude that makes a difference.

In today’s busy life, where everything seems organized and structured, it is, in fact, not so. Internally, we are as disorganized as ever. We are as naïve internally as ever. There is lot of information around but it simply overwhelms us, while, often, a simple and practical, time- tested and tried solution is all we need for the right perspective and easy solutions, as can be seen from this amusing little story.

“The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan did not hold many fishes for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went further and further”.

“The further the fishermen went, the longer it took them to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fishes did not remain fresh. The people did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at the sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go further and stay longer”.

“However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like the frozen fish. The frozen fish fetched a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference because the fish which did not move for five days had lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not that of a sluggish fish”.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How did they bring fresh-tasting fish to Japan?

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks, but now they placed a small shark in to each tank. The shark would eat a few fish, but most of the fish arrived in a very lively state.

The management lesson drawn

Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is invariably simple. It was observed by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950s, “Man thrives oddly enough only in the presence of a challenging environment”.

The Benefits of A Challenge

The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a challenging problem. If you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You constantly think of the challenges in front of you and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. Thereby, you have your fun and get a purpose in life.

Recommendations

Instead of avoiding challenges, face them head on and beat the heck out of them.

Enjoy the game, if your challenges are too large or too many, do not give up. Failure may tire you. But, instead of giving up, reorganize.. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help.

Don’t just rest on your past laurels. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference. Put an imaginary shark in the tank of your life and see how far you can really go! “Make your own way and grow with the organization”.

Life is not about how fast you run. Or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.