#KungFuPanda Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Inspiration can strike in the strangest places. Even when you’re watching Po kick some butt in the original the KungFu Panda film. While Oogway’s advice seems perfectly sensible when spoken to the peaceful background music in the film, it makes even more sense in our corporate lives … and in the life of a wanna-be entrepreneur. If you’re just stepping into the world of start-ups, here are some words of wisdom from the great Master Oogway:
- There are no accidents: We spend so much of our time and energy trying to escape a bad situation we find ourselves in. We feel like victims, curse our destiny, god, even our neighbours! Often, finding a way out of the situation or simply finding the strength to deal with it, turns our ‘accidents’ into opportunities! Like Nassim Taleb mentions in his book The Black Swan:
But in truth, most of what people were looking for, they did not find. Most of what they found they were not looking for. Penicillin was just some mold inhibiting the growth of another lab culture; lasers at first had no application but were thought to be useful as a form of radar; the Internet was conceived as a military network; and despite massive National Cancer Institute-funded cancer research, the most potent treatment — chemotherapy — was discovered as a side-effect of mustard gas in warfare (people who were exposed to it had very low white blood cell counts). Look at today’s biggest medical moneymakers: Viagra was devised to treat heart disease and high blood pressure.
2. You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There is a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present: Business is all about numbers, big data, projections. You’re working towards a goal, creating plans and executing them. But you’re also constantly persecuting yourself: will my start-up take off? Is this really going to work? Did I make the right decision by quitting my job to start my own business? By worrying about what will be, we are unable to give our hundred per cent to the job at hand. So while setting goals is imperative, living in the now is essential to be successful.
3. One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it: It is our choices that decide what our future will look like. Decision making is a huge part of our lives — personal and professional. From the moment we wake up, we make a choice to be happy or unhappy, to have a productive day or just take some time off. As business owners, we’re making decisions and taking calls on everything, all day long. For sound decision-making, we need to have great clarity and understanding of the bigger picture.
4. My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control: This is Master Oogway’s clever way of saying “Whatever will be, will be.” This is the essence of Karma Yoga, or the path of action as prescribed in the Hindu scripture Bhagwad Geeta. The lonely entrepreneur must act, perform his duties towards himself and his dreams (known as Swadharma), without worrying about the result of these actions. This also helps us to become more productive as we are in the ‘now’. Without this illusion of control, one is free from the baggage of success and failure. How liberating!
5. Ah, Shifu. There is just news. There is no good or bad. If you’ve just started your own business, you have to be a great leader to make sure your company is a success. one key characteristic of a good leader is the ability to deal with all situations with her head on her shoulders. The captain of the Indian cricket team, Mahender Singh Dhoni is known as Captain Cool. He shows no hint of emotion whent he team is winning or losing. Great leaders don’t get carried away with emotion, they maintain an equilibrium and that’s why they are able to handle all kinds of people and situations well. A deeply emotional person gets so swayed by a challenge that they are unable to plan ahead and their decision-making skills are compromised. Good leaders don’t react, they respond.
Who would have thought an animated movie could contain such wisdom for an entrepreneur! Time to show them some #kungfu moves!
