Mindless Meanderings!

 Its been a while! More than 9 Years to be precise!!

I went from a clueless adult, trying to retrace my steps in the corporate ladder to a middle aged man trying to retrace my steps.

Yes, retrace my steps, not on the corporate ladder but my life as whole!

I am a dad of a soon-to-be 4 year old (more on him in other posts, too much to talk there!). The wide-eyed curiosity and enthusiasm he has for world in general, seems to be a bit lost on me. I relate to adults talking about incessant questions from kids and us having no answers.

Coming back to why I raised this topic of incessant questions. One of the management rules (among the plethora available), which I find the most interesting and apt in any scenario whether personal or professional is - 5 Whys?

The official definition goes - Five whys (or 5 whys) is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeating the question "Why?". Each answer forms the basis of the next question. (Source - Wikipedia)

For any problem you face, If you can arrive at an answer after 5 whys, you have the root cause of the problem. It works in life in general as well. Vice-versa, If you cannot answer even after 5 whys or seem to be floundering for answer, that "thing or step" is not required in your life.

Although we do things emotionally rather than rationally, Our lives would be infinitely better if we could follow atleast 3 whys, let alone 5 whys. Least of all it would allow us to differentiate between needs and wants (Once an MBA :) ...)

This 18 Month period has thrown a spanner in all of our lives! Being from a privileged class (Stable job, regular Income stream) it is always fascinating to hear people lament the absence of "new and upgraded" job market. There are people who are struggling to put food on table, find a shelter for their family and many of us a lamenting on the inability to travel! The nature, hotels and everything on earth will be here after 2 years, which might not be true for billions (Africa, India and China alone will count to billions!) of people across the globe. We worry about race, caste, creed, religion but not about humanity, earth and our legacy.

Are we going a leave a fractured, dilapidated world behind for our future generations where the futuristic sci-fi movies like Hunger Games and Squid Games might be a reality or are we looking for ways to integrate our small blue planet in to the vast universe (a-la Interstellar).

The choice is ours and maybe just maybe, if we start thinking about our actions using 3-or-5 whys, there might be a long term solution which we can arrive at and give our kids and future generations a better chance of fighting the odds, that seem heavily stacked against them.

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