There were many times, almost all of us heard “I/We Don’t Want You To Fail” from a person. It might be your parent, manager, friend or leader. Definitely they care for you. However, what matters is their instinct. In which direction their instinct is? This story has a perspective to this instinct.
Here is the story regarding a person and his television.
25 Years ago, there was a person, who bought a television having long projected back. This kind of television was the latest tech during that time period. This kind of television has some vents in the both sides of the back projection. This was the first Television in their home; hence he was very careful about the television. He kept the television on a very nice table.
After two days he saw there were dust on the television. Then he thought, if this kind of dust entered through the side vents into the television, then it might disrupt the functioning of the TV. And if happens, then he has fix this by spending more money. To prevent this, he put thick towel over the television and those side vents were completely covered by the thick towel.
After a few weeks, perhaps 2 weeks later, the television had stopped functioning. Now, he is wondering he did everything right to take care of the television but still it stopped working. Then, he thought the sales guy had cheated him by selling defected piece. Then, he called the sales person and the sales guy showed the latest manufacturing and quality checks. After that, he thought the company had produced defected piece and quality assurance team might have failed checking the appropriate quality.
The TV was within the warranty period. He approached the distributor and requested a service to fix the issue. In the meantime, all the care of the TV owner went to heaven as the TV broke down after taking so much care by him. He removed the thick towel from the TV as well. The very next day the service guy visited the house to check the issue. While service guy was checking the issue, asked one question to the TV owner and the following conversation happened between them.
Service Guy: When did you buy this TV?
TV Owner: 3 weeks back
Service Guy: Had you put cloths to cover the TV?
TV Owner: Why were you asking this? If I had covered the TV, what would have gone wrong? By the way I had not covered. I put a cloth for some time then removed.
Service Guy: No, you should not have covered. Because, the side vents are there for the TV to breath. The extra heat gets release through the vents and keep the TV moisture free.
TV Owner (Thinking in his mind): Thank God, I hadn’t said that I covered. I wouldn’t be blamed.
TV Owner (Speaking with a shattered voice): I said, I had not covered.
Service Guy: No Problem, Sir, I am here to fix the issue. I just shared a good practice with you. Please don’t take personally.
Service Guy (Thinking): This is the person who covered the TV with thick towel.
The Service guy fixed the TV and the TV owner followed the advice of the technician. And, it’s been 19 years the TV is working fine.
Now, what is the point of this story (We Don’t Want You To Fail)?
At Data Management School, we believe “Leadership is all about the instinct to lead, nothing more and nothing less.” Can you guess the instinct of the TV owner after reading the above story?
Let me tell you, the instinct is cost cutting and assumption. He didn’t try to understand the TV and its functioning. He didn’t ask “How can I take care of the TV?” He just thought, if he did this or that then the TV will work fine.
The instinct of seeking to understand something is a leadership instinct.
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