It's been a long time since I wrote. But now, with my MBA thesis almost done, I am back to penning down my thoughts. Many a times in business, we come across some difficult situations. But, if you take a moment during the day to sit back and think, your System 2 will do some thinking and fetch you some examples that are similar to what those difficult things mean. I was driving to work on Wednesday. It was a normal day, normal traffic, usual route, I mean, nothing special to mention. I was in the middle lane of that part of the expressway, which was a tunnel and which was reduced in width for road works. I was allowed to drive a maximum of 60 km/h, just like the cars on my left and right. I wanted to so badly move to the right lane, which was my comfort zone, but there were cars after cars, not letting me in. At the same time, the cars on my right were pushing to come to the middle lane. So here I was, feeling sandwiched and stressed. I have gone through this a zillion times, but this time, something was different. I remembered a question that I faced in an interview recently. "What will you do to manage a conflict between two colleagues, especially when none of them want to give in?". I also remembered the answer that I gave. "I will stay calm, listen to both sides with open ears, and try to find the best possible solution". Having remembered that, I smiled, took a deep breadth, continued to drive at 60 km/h calm and composed till I found an empty spot on the right lane and shifted to it. Business and life go hand in hand, and sometimes, life is so simple. Why complicate it? See you soon.
** System 2: If you are unaware of System 1 and 2 of the brain, please check out my post on Daniel Kahneman and his "Thinking Fast and Slow". An excellent read, by the way!
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