Those
of us who have seen the 1997 movie Batman and Robin, will know its main tie-song
"The End is the Beginning is the End" written by Billy Corgan, and
performed by the Smashing Pumpkins. The refrain (chorus) in the song, goes as
follows:
Is it bright where you are?
Have the people changed?
Does it make you happy?
You're so strange.
You
may wonder why I am referring to this song and writing about the End and the
Beginning. Allow me, upfront, to let the cat out of the bag!
Thirteen
years and more than 160 posts after I first started to write and publish a
monthly piece on my random thoughts pertaining to leadership & entrepreneurship, self-introspection as well as feedback from a few readers
(genuine well-wishers) have suggested that the time for change has probably
come and that the change will actually benefit me as well as my loyal readers.
Change,
they say, is the only constant; in fact, some would even argue, that it defines
the infinite continuum of experiences. Most of us though, often regard change
as an end to ‘normal current expectations and a beginning for uncertain
future expectations.’
Conveniently,
we disregard the facts about the actual desirability of either!
Leaders
and Entrepreneurs are no different in this aspect. There is excitement and
euphoria when new initiatives are begun and they progress as planned or as
expected. There is no conscious effort to ‘end the game’ when ‘the
going is good’; no strategic initiative to leverage on ‘the good showing
thus far” and build entirely new initiatives that will excite everyone, and
most of all, themselves!
There
is a need to re-learn, reinvent, and re-write the rules of the game, if one
needs to remain relevant. And for these, the first step is to be bold enough to
pause and review the experiences of the achievements themselves.
The Batman and Robin song can help in such a review.
When there is ambiguity in answering the questions
in the song’s refrain, or when the answers do not excite with new visions of
infinite possibilities (read ideas!), it is the time for changing the
storyline.
Is it bright
where you are?
Have the people
changed?
Does it make you
happy?
You're so
strange.
And so it happens, I have decided that the time has indeed come to change
the storyline of the monthly articles on this blog.
This
will be the last one on the theme of leadership and entrepreneurship. In that
sense this is an End.
Starting
with the New Year, I will endeavor to entertain you with a new series on an
entirely new theme. What it is, will hopefully be a pleasant New Year Surprise
to all of you. That will be the Beginning.
The
End is the Beginning is the End!
