DrContrarian

Google is dying. Right now it seems invincible. But like all good things, it too must end. Competitors can't see the weakness in their their game plan (just yet) - but it is there; trust me. And sooner or later, it will fail to see the NBT - and then the next Google arrives. Such is the cycle of life - and business.

I thought I would shut this down. But since my official blog is pretty dry affair with lots of tips and hints on business/ retail productivity - I find that I miss the opportunity for the occasional rant. I think I will come back here from time to time. For no, this insight: Ignorance + Arrogance = Toxic workplace culture.

The biggest killer of success is success. (The fear of failure grows in direct proportion to what you have got to lose.) This Contrarian principle has a number of corollaries: Bigger is always worse Innovation leads to less innovation Growth leads to death If you think you disagree, just add (ultimately) to the end of each of the above. Such is Life.

It would be disingenuous of me to state that I am (want to) debunk this as a myth, because I am not going to completely go the opposite way and say that you should NOT believe in yourself. But I would like to put it into perspective. Self-doubt is a good thing. Roger Federer continues to play tournament after tournament and cherishes every win exactly because he has a little of doubt as to whether he will succeed. If he had no doubt, he would stop playing because there was no joy in winning and no challenge to conquer. It is exactly because there is a risk of losing that people go out and play. No sane adult will go to Little Athletics meetings and race against the toddlers. If it was only about the importance of winning, that is what we could do. But winning is made desirable and special exactly because it is about overcoming the fear of losing and conquering the self-doubt. If you find yourself in a state of complete and utter confidence (and you are being truthful) then you are n...

It would be disingenuous of me to state that I am (want to) debunk this as a myth, because I am not going to completely go the opposite way and say that you should NOT believe in yourself. But I would like to put it into perspective. Self-doubt is a good thing. Roger Federer continues to play tournament after tournament and cherishes every win exactly because he has a little of doubt as to whether he will succeed. If he had no doubt, he would stop playing because there was no joy in winning and no challenge to conquer. It is exactly because there is a risk of losing that people go out and play. No sane adult will go to Little Athletics meetings and race against the toddlers. If it was only about the importance of winning, that is what we could do. But winning is made desirable and special exactly because it is about overcoming the fear of losing and conquering the self-doubt. If you find yourself in a state of complete and utter confidence (and you are being truthful) then you are n...

For reasons that are best left unexplained, I was watching The Biggest Loser on TV ( reality show about weight loss) tonight. The series is nearing the end with only 4 contestants remaining. All the talk is about how important the next elimination is and one contestants articulates what a pressure situation it is. It simply amazes me how people 'create' pressure simply because of irrational thinking processes. And it is not only average Joes on reality TV. You have the tennis player that is talking about the semi-finals, the crunch match, the most important day because if (s)he can win that match - (s)he will be in the finals. And the media, the managers the sponsors all get into the act, so you can't just say it is a dumb sports person. [As aside, my other little pet hate is commentators who always bemoan the fact that some team always makes a mistake on the last ball; e.g.: the 'the winger never gets the ball because the team seems to be dropping the ball on the last...

Evolution dictates that one 'species' eventually emerges as the 'winner': the one that adapted the best I suppose. Does this notion also apply to more metaphysical concepts/ formats/ ideas in the world? Can't see why not, even if the real winner can't be known until the end of the world, but it is fun trying to think of what the winning bets in our time frame are. So here goes: 1. English. 1. China (although I think India is a dark horse). 1. Islam. 1. Capitalism. 1. An e-Virus. 1. A Virus (or possibly a bacterium). 1. Women. 1. Co-habitation.