One way to be certain you remain off the road to Abilene is to chart your path in bookstores and make sure you spend equal times in every section, including cooking, science fiction, self-help, and children’s books. It’s all too easy to put a rut in the carpet from the entrance to the business section. In my attempt to keep a certain balance in life, I try to mollify the effects of over-consumption of the latest “business must-read” with a frequent dip into the philosophy section of the actual “bricks and mortar” Barnes and Noble. (I suppose I’m trying to become a two-rut reader.)
Here’s my usual and unenlightened route at B&N:
Recently I came across “Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life: Collected Talks: 1960-1969, by Alan Watts.” In one of his talks, Watts describes the Hindu view in which the fundamental game of the universe is Hide and Seek. “It is as if the Lord God, or Brahman, had said in the beginning, ‘Get lost, man. Disappear. I’ll find you again later.” Something clicked when I read those words, which made me think of the choices business people make (back to my other rut) all along their career. How risks like jumping off the corporate ladder feel suicidal. How following the “obviously” right choices leads to beige outcomes for which no one gets fired, IRA plans are funded, and no one does anything remarkable.
A long time ago, when I was at U.C. Berkeley, I read the “Tao of Pooh,” in which Piglet and Pooh are lost in the fog and cannot find their way home. After many trials of looking for the way home, Pooh declares perhaps they should try to get lost, since trying to find their way home has proved so unsuccessful. Of course, it works.
The notion of getting lost as a means of finding the right path is so foreign to Western thought and the commonly accepted climb to success. Ironically, it is essential to the spirit of adventure shared by successful entrepreneurs. Here’s a list of 11 college drop outs who are not Mark Zuckerburg, who got lost:
- Henry Ford, dropped out at 16
- Bill Gates, dropped out at 19
- Larry Ellison, dropped out at 20
- Larry Page of Google, graduated at 35 (show-off)
- Kirk Kerkorian, dropped out at 12
- Michael Dell, dropped out at 19
- Paul Allen, dropped out at 20
- David Geffen, dropped out at 21
- Steve Jobs, dropped out at 18
- Richard Branson, dropped out at 16
- Ralph Lauren, dropped out at 20
I fully acknowledge that more dropouts fail than succeed, but you do see a certain pattern, don’t you? The combined fortunes of these icons exceeds the GNP of many countries, yet for many of us the “right path” is a straight line from kindergarten through MBA to cubicle to dreams of leaving the rat race that never occur. Somehow we look at these business icons, these great personalities, get inspired, and dig in harder on a path they never took.
As we begin the new year, I’d like to suggest we all add one more resolution. Try to approach our careers and endeavors like someone with all the time in the world to wander through the bookstore. The road to Abilene is perfectly straight with deep ruts from those that travelled before. My advice for a happy new year? Get lost. Here’s a map:
