The 3 Needs

Having spent the last couple of posts focusing on self-improvement, I thought I’d transition back to the business side of things for a bit.

The past 2-3 weeks a few of my friends reached out to me regarding concepts that they’re working on, and as is usually the case, it got me thinking: assuming all else is equal (e.g. a great founding team, seed capital, discipline, a bit of luck etc.), what exactly makes for a viable business idea?

If you ask me, all great companies have one essential ingredient in common: they all address three fundamental needs.

Philosophical Need: On a macro level all companies, large and small, must address an overarching “philosophical” need. For Google, it’s ensuring that search is as intuitive as possible, even as content on the web continues to proliferate; for Twitter, it’s enabling people to broadcast what they’re doing whenever they want, wherever they want; for Boeing, it’s making flight as cost-effective, and safe as possible; for Toyota, it’s manufacturing more fuel-efficient automobiles without sacrificing standards; and for Ikea it’s providing consumers with quality furniture at a discount – just to name a few.

Practical Need: Of course, addressing a macro-level need, while powerful, is not nearly enough. There are practical considerations as well.

Take Twitter for example. The social media upstart would have never become a phenomenon, if its value proposition was solely predicated on enabling users to publish status-updates (i.e. answer the question, “What am I doing right now?”); after all, what’s the point in telling people what you are doing, if nobody is there to listen?

Thus, not surprisingly, it wasn’t until Twitter addressed an even more basic need – the need to integrate with existing social media applications (e.g. Facebook, AIM, gchat etc) – that it started to realize its potential as a tool that could empower people to concurrently reach out to an audience with a megaphone while engaging  individuals  in a “coffee-shop.”

Mechanical Need: Finally, no concept can truly succeed unless it addresses the most elemental (and forgotten) need of all:  the need for a simple mechanism that will make the philosophical and practical solutions feasible.

In Twitter’s case, the mechanism is obvious: SMS technology (i.e. text-messaging). However, what about more traditional companies like Ikea or Toyota?

If you think about it, they too have distanced themselves from the competition by addressing mechanical needs. Ikea is able to provide furniture at a discount (“philosophical need”) by using material comparable to its peers (“practical need”) because it transfers the majority of its assembly costs to its consumers by selling ready-to-assemble goods (“mechanical need”).

Toyota on the other hand is able to consistently manufacture top-of-the-line fuel efficient cars (“philosophical need”) by employing some of the automobile industry’s most advanced technology (“practical need”) because of its world famous Toyota Production System (“mechanical need”).

In short, when considering an idea, ask yourself one question: how many needs does it address?

Never Compromise

If you haven’t read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey, I suggest you put it at or near the top of your to-do list (right after enabling world peace and watching 24 consecutive hours of ’24’). If not for the life lessons, then at least so you can put into practice what you have long known in your gut to be true:  “if you want to achieve… [you must] identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek.”

Because, as obvious as those words  may seem, many of us (myself included) are guilty of addressing our most fundamental challenges with short-term, short-sighted fixes consistent with today’s increasingly “on-the-go” society – instead of seeking lasting solutions based upon timeless principles.

To illustrate this dichotomy, here are some examples from Covey’s book that I found particularly relevant:

“What’s in it for me?”: “Our culture teaches us that if we want something in life, we have to ‘look out for number one.’ It says, ‘Life is a game, a race, a competition, and you better win it.’ Schoolmates, work colleagues, even family members are seen as competitors – the more they win, the less there is for you. Of  course we try to appear generous and cheer for others’ successes, but inwardly, privately, so many of us are eating our hearts out when others achieve. Many of the great things in history of our civilization have been achieved by the independent will of a determined soul. But the greatest opportunities and boundless accomplishments …are reserved for those who master the art of ‘we.’ True greatness will be achieved through the abundant mind that works selflessly – with mutual respect, for mutual benefit.”

Blame and Victimism: “Wherever you find a problem, you will usually find the finger-pointing of blame. Society is addicted to playing the victim. ‘If only my boss wasn’t such a controlling idiot…If only I lived in a better place…If only I hadn’t been so poor…If only…If only.’ Blaming everyone and everything else for our problems and challenges may be the norm and may provide temporary relief from the pain, but it also chains us to these very problems. Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances…and I’ll show you the supreme power of choice.”

Lack of life Balance: “Life in our cell phone society is increasingly complex, demanding, stressful, and exhausting. For all our efforts to manage our time, do more, be more, and achieve greater efficiency through the wonders of modern technology, why is it we increasingly find ourselves in the ‘thick of things’ – subordinating our health, family, integrity, and many of the things that matter most to our work? The problem is that our modern culture says, ‘go in earlier, stay later, be more efficient, live with the sacrifice for now – but the truth is that balance and peace of mind are not produced by these things; they follow the person who develops a clear sense of his or her highest priorities and who lives with focus and integrity towards them.”

Conflict and Differences: “Society’s competitive approach to resolving the conflict and differences tends to center on ‘winning as much as you can.’ Though much good has come from the skillful art of compromise, where both sides give on their positions until an acceptable middle point is reached, neither side ends up truly pleased. What a waste to have differences drive people to the lowest common denominator between them! What a waste to fail to unleash the principle of constructive  cooperation in developing solutions to problems that are better than either party’s original notion!”

Think about that.

Embrace the Journey

It’s remarkable that three (seemingly) unrelated events can have such a singularly profound impact on the way you think; yet that is exactly what happened this past week.

1) Heart-to-heart chat at work: Last Friday after a couple of incidences wherein (in an effort to make an impression) I inadvertently overstepped my bounds, my manager took me aside, and with the calm assuredness of a big brother told me something that I won’t soon forget: “Akash, though no one questions your passion, if you want to live up to your lofty aspirations, you must learn how and when to use it. Sometimes the best way to [achieve your goals] is to take a step back and play your role – as unglamorous as that may be.”

In other words:  by focusing on the process, you will invariably be able to see the desired result.

2) Trying to make new friends: That night one of my closest buds from college, who happened to be in the Bay Area for the weekend, asked me to spend a couple of days with him and some of his high school friends at a beach house in Monterey. Not having seen him for ages, and not wanting to be a drag, I decided to tag along – even if the prospect of spending two nights with 12 strangers, all of whom had a long history with one another, was somewhat intimidating.

Though the trip ultimately ended up being a blast (I met quite a few genuine folks), I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed on the way home.  Part of me (the part of me that sets unyielding standards) felt as though I had not been as engaging as I could have been; while another part of me (the part that has yet to grow up), felt as though I had not been the kind of focal point I should have been.

So again, instead of being grateful for the weekend that I had (i.e. the process), I found myself brooding over the opportunity I had missed (i.e. the result).

3)  Pixar’s Up (spoiler alert!): Finally a few days ago, I decided to go check out Pixar’s Up in theaters.

In one of the film’s more poignant moments (and there are many), the protagonist, Mr. Fredrickson, having at long last achieved his dream of traveling to “Paradise Falls” slumps into a chair emotionally and physically exhausted. Exhaling, he reluctantly opens his late wife’s  adventure scrapbook and begins flipping through the pages – painfully and acutely aware of the fact that she isn’t there to share (in what was supposed to be) their accomplishment.

Unable to go on, he stops short of the section entitled “Things I want to do” (a section he had long presumed to be reserved for moments like these) and makes to shut the book for good. However as he does, a funny little thing happens: he catches a glimpse of a picture he hadn’t seen before.

Perplexed (and slightly scared of what he might see), Carl takes a deep breath and turns the page.

To his utter astonishment, he discovers that his wife hadn’t left the section blank at all. Rather, picture after picture, page after page, she had filled it with snapshots of their life together. Small, simple memories that together had amounted to the greatest adventure of all: their marriage.

Thus, sentiment aside, if there is anything that I have come to realize in the past week and a half it is that oftentimes the journey is just as, if not more important than the destination itself.

Embrace it. Even if it’s not the one you wished to take, chances are it’s the one you were meant to.

Take Your Time

Long ago,  in a speech inspired by and dedicated to my graduating high school class,  I suggested that:

Everywhere we look, every person we meet, and every second of our life is glorious; however truth be told, only children truly realize that, feel it. For, on the train of actuality only the young look intently outside the window, only the young stare wide-eyed at the trees zipping by them in a blur of green, only the young giggle as birds fly freely alongside, and only the young smile from within as they drift into innocent sleep by their mother’s side… Childhood: it is the essence of our existence and the key to our survival.

Little did I know those words would take on renewed meaning years later, when just a few days ago, jelly-legged from a jog down to the beach, I collapsed on a park bench overlooking the Puget Sound. Panting, hunched over, and head sunk, my eyes glossed over a small bronze plaque resting calmly between my feet, that read simply, “Take your time…”

Too tired to object (and too lazy to argue), I leaned back against the weathered planks, slid down into a groove, stretched my arms out on either side of me, and just sat there taking it all in.

The waves. The breeze. The sun-drenched sky.

For the first time in months, the inescapable burden and suffocating urgency of post-college life (e.g. unemployment, family  obligations, life goals, etc) gave way to a larger, more profound truth: to rush forward is to fall short of one’s potential.

To succeed then, I realized we must invariably:

1) Take Interest – Taking interest, particularly when you yourself are trying desperately to get noticed, seems like a waste of time (and a surefire way to be left feeling vulnerable). However I assure you, it was only when I started focusing on select companies, reaching out to specific individuals, and offering my services for free that I began to forge the kind of lasting reciprocal relationships that are synonymous with long-term success.

2) Engage in Dialogue – Real (wo)men are not afraid to ask for directions! If only someone had told me that 5 months ago, I wouldn’t have spent countless hours applying to jobs that had little intrinsic value, and more time talking to and learning from individuals that I admired. But hey, better late than never right?

3) Act Consistently – A senior executive at Hewlett Packard, and a fellow Wharton alum, told me something I will not soon forget. He said, “[Akash] remember that you should manage yourself like you manage a brand. First identify your unique selling proposition (e.g. hard worker, attention to detail etc). Then ensure that everything you do reinforces that brand. Even if it gets frustrating  you [must] keep that energy up.”

Like it or not you see, there is only one certainty on the train of actuality: you cannot choose where we get off,  but you can always choose how you spend your time on board.

Beyond Full

If there is anything I’ve learned in the last few years it’s that when life drops a hint (or in this case ten) you listen.

Luckily for me, I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter yesterday. For, every time I was on the verge of succumbing to my frustrations (frustrations that had come to a head after yet another disheartening experience with a prospective employer) I was firmly and serendipitously reminded why I persist.

1) Family – “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life (Abraham Lincoln).” Fifteen years from now, if there is one thing I will undoubtedly remember about yesterday, it is that despite all of her work and all of her obligations, my Mom the OB/GYN decided to come home early just so that she, Dad, and I could walk down to the beach together before sunset.

2) Kindness – Kindness, particularly when unrequited, is one of our greatest and most generous gifts. Late last night Miranda Maney, a fellow Penn Grad and ad copywriter in the Bay Area wrote me a page long email  (though it could very well have been 3!) filled with support, wisdom, and perspective – all despite the fact that we’ve talked on the phone only once, have corresponded back and forth a total of maybe 10-15 times, and have never met in person. Wow.

3) Conviction – Our conviction in ourselves, our family, and in our creed (religious or otherwise) is the only thing that gives us courage to stand strong in the face of gathering clouds. Last night, for the first time (that I can remember) since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s I heard my Dad say, in no uncertain terms, “I will not be defined by a mere disability” – upon finishing an inspirational PBS Frontline special on the disease.

4) Humanity – The older we get the harder and more imperative it is for us to internalize the inherent beauty and humanity of each moment. Few I would argue understand this better than Meera Sinha, whose anecdotal post yesterday about a selfless rickshaw driver epitomizes what it is to be human.

5) Love – “The life and love we create is the life and love we live (Leo Buscaglia).” If ever there was a story that encapsulated the essence of those words, it is the one I came across early yesterday morning chronicling the life and death of Robert and Darlene Moser.

6) Friendship – “I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know (Ralph Waldo Emerson)…” To all my friends who listened, encouraged, and advised me in a moment of weakness (S.D, R.K, D.G, P.W, U.T, D.S, S.A etc): thank you sincerely.

7) Humility – “To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, and to inferiors nobleness (Benjamin Franklin).” Though it would take me an entire post to discuss the merits of serial entrepreneur/professor Rajesh Setty‘s latest book entitled, Beyond Code: 9 Simple Ways to Distinguish Yourself (which I finished mid-afternoon), I suspect all I (or anyone for that matter) needs to know of the man himself, is that in spite of the countless hours he put into the work, and in spite of the many priceless suggestions he bestows, he hasn’t asked for a cent.

8) Inspiration – Inspiration and ultimately self-fulfillment comes from within. Case in point, more than a month ago one of my contacts in the Bay Area, Chris Hutchins, fell victim to the current economic climate when he was unceremoniously laid off from work. However, rather than wallow in his own misery (as I embarrassingly did), I learned yesterday that he decided to take matters into his own hands and start the now wildly acclaimed “LaidoffCamp” for unemployed tech geeks.

9) Music – Life without music would indeed be a mistake (Friedrich Nietzsche). But before yesterday, I would have never imagined that listening to the greatest rags-to-riches song in hip-hop history (“Juicy” by Biggie) for three straight hours could do so much for a person’s psyche.

10) House – Seriously, is there a better show on television (or in my case, Hulu)? Not only was last week’s episode typically brilliant, but it was entitled, “Big Baby” (as if I needed another blatant reminder to remove my diaper and quit whining before going to bed!).

So there you have it: if this is the only life we live – and by all accounts that seems to be the case – then why be ordinary? Why not do the extraordinary? Why not smile?

What 3 things made you smile today?