Recently I read "Why the Best Solutions Are Always Temporary Ones" by Peter Bregman on Harvard Business Review. The article did brought up some interesting points. These points I must add are worth sharing with you.
The article's central theme is (and I quote) because nothing is perfect, and nothing lasts forever. So we're better off seeing every solution as temporary, every tool as potentially valuable and probably fleeting (unquote). This belief aligns with two areas I love to read about these days: acting and spiritualism.
Let's take acting first. In one of my older posts I wrote about actress Hilary Swank talking about forgiving ourselves when things don't seem to work. In these moments we tend to exert ourselves to make things work which is most of the times counterproductive. These are the moments which destroy our psychological and emotional construct. Actress Julia Roberts talks about not burying ourselves within heaps of self-doubts, expectations and denials during her interview on Inside the Actors Studio. All these words point to the same emotion; always be ready for a change and be prepared to retrace the steps that lead you into conundrum in the first place. Agility is the key!
The article's central theme is (and I quote) because nothing is perfect, and nothing lasts forever. So we're better off seeing every solution as temporary, every tool as potentially valuable and probably fleeting (unquote). This belief aligns with two areas I love to read about these days: acting and spiritualism.
Let's take acting first. In one of my older posts I wrote about actress Hilary Swank talking about forgiving ourselves when things don't seem to work. In these moments we tend to exert ourselves to make things work which is most of the times counterproductive. These are the moments which destroy our psychological and emotional construct. Actress Julia Roberts talks about not burying ourselves within heaps of self-doubts, expectations and denials during her interview on Inside the Actors Studio. All these words point to the same emotion; always be ready for a change and be prepared to retrace the steps that lead you into conundrum in the first place. Agility is the key!
Later in the article Mr. Bregman equates temporary solutions with a "coping mechanism" which lets him feel less overwhelmed in the rest of his life. I especially like the part about "when I'm feeling overwhelmed and out of control, I do things that help me feel back in control." A similar thought was expressed by George Burns (playing God) to John Denver's character in the movie Oh, God!; when God reveals Himself for the first time to Mr. Denver, The Almighty says "Sometimes when you don't feel normal, doing a normal thing makes you feel normal. Here... start shaving." Doing a normal thing is a combination of forgiving yourself for a problem and simultaneously preparing yourself for a change.
Now comes the spiritualistic part of my post, whew! While still a freshman in this area I have read about the ephemeralness of human life in our religious scriptures. Our scriptures always remind us about short-lived nature of happiness in the world. They also warn against indulging in spitefulness; which is nothing but an even more harmful form of attachment. So if we are where our mind is then spite is not a nice place to be. So the theme is same; realize the temporary nature of a solution and be ready to release it for a newer & more effective solution.
Now comes the spiritualistic part of my post, whew! While still a freshman in this area I have read about the ephemeralness of human life in our religious scriptures. Our scriptures always remind us about short-lived nature of happiness in the world. They also warn against indulging in spitefulness; which is nothing but an even more harmful form of attachment. So if we are where our mind is then spite is not a nice place to be. So the theme is same; realize the temporary nature of a solution and be ready to release it for a newer & more effective solution.
In conclusion we must realize the temporary nature of things around us. It doesn't imply everything is just a fad. But it does imply for a long term goal there could be multiple temporary solutions effective during various times until the goal is achieved.
"Why the Best Solutions Are Always Temporary Ones" I have not read this article, but I honestly feel temporary/eternal nature of the problem varies from person to person depending on which phase of life he/she may be in. What is temporary for me may be eternal for someone else. I would say a temporary solution is something that is preferred only in urgent situations. Even something minuscule that is received exactly at the time of necessity is more valuable than the most apt solution that might take too much time. But this does not apply to problems/situations where the urgency factor is less pronounced and there is scope/time for a robust solution.
ReplyDeleteHi Aravind, I do have to agree with you that solutions are situational as well as depends on the person. The reason I liked this article was most of the times temporary solutions are viewed debasingly. Temporary solutions are solutions of need for the moment. So instead of pushing for something robust when nothing seems to be working it is good to do a quick fix and move on. That's how I interpreted the article.
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