Lessons from the Past 129: Think Differently – Be Different!

Walter Vieira 30 May 2025

Personal Finance

Whatever you do, wherever you go—you will be a winner if you think differently—and be different! You can begin being different when you are in high school, when you're in college, or when you have begun a working career. Some of us are people born with a 'questioning mind' and may end up with an attitude of 'destructive disobedience'—to the great dismay of our parents, teachers and bosses! Others among us are also born with a questioning mind but with an attitude of 'constructive disobedience.' They are found welcome in the corporate world and are often encouraged by progressive organisations to become 'intrapreneurs'. That is—act as if they are independent entrepreneurs (or businessmen) but work within the boundaries of the organisation—and even with the support of the organisation.

There is never a limit to how and when one can think differently. I was once stuck on the highway because I ran out of fuel. The fuel gauge of the car was not working. Fortunately, I was only 3km (kilometres) away from a petrol station and, more fortunately, I had an empty plastic can in the boot of the car which could be used to bring enough fuel to start the car. The petrol stations were forbidden from selling or lending cans. It was the government's attempt to curb the sales of 'loose fuel'.

My son Samir, then 10, was with me and we managed to get a cab to the petrol station—bought four litres of fuel, paid the attendant and then found the can was leaking. There was a crack at the base of the can. Will the attendant help and loan us a can just for 15 minutes till we bring the car? No way. All our pleading was to no avail. 'But Dad, why don't we just seal the mouth of the can and turn it upside down? An obvious solution, which had not struck the pump attendant or me. That's what we did. We went back to the car and solved our problem! Samir had thought differently. He looked for a solution, rather than just moaning about a problem.

In retrospect, it seemed so obvious and so simple. Always in retrospect! Samir is now an entrepreneur, running an event management company and still thinking on his feet!

When you look around you, there are so many things that could be different, better, perhaps cheaper. I read in the Times of India some weeks ago about a US scientist who had used corn residues to develop a novel packaging film that could destroy Listeria monocytogenes, a rod-shaped bacterium that causes food poisoning in animals and humans. It is a biodegradable polyacid (PLA) film, from a renewable material. What a fantastic idea. Why didn't anyone think of this before? It is because Tony Jin of the US department of agriculture in Pennsylvania thought differently—and thus made a difference to the US and to the world.

And of course, there is a time and place for all new ideas. Many ideas are before their time, and therefore, do not create an impact. These new ideas must find fertile ground, so that the seeds will germinate and sprout and grow into plants. Would Amazon.com or eBay or Naukri.com or Shaadi.com have been a success, 15 or even 10 years ago, who knows—but it is unlikely. It needed a certain population of computers and a certain population with a receptive mindset, to enable them to be a big success. These were great ideas which were delivered to us in palatable packaging just as we were hungry for them.

And there are also some simple ideas that are practiced by street vendors, without the help or advice of marketing experts. There is a vendor with a portable stall or table at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, every morning between 6.30am and 9.30am, selling snacks and chilled drinks to the large crowds that come for a morning run to the park. At the end of the run, they crowd around his stall. He knows most of them by name.

And he is at Shivaji Park again in the evening on the other side of the road, with his portable stall, with before and after drinks and snacks on the pavement outside the 'bar and rest'. Again, he knows most of his clientele by name and their likes and dislikes.

Arun, the street vendor, brings creativity into his job, does things differently and thus brings success to himself. He is way beyond the other vendors in the area.

This is always a 'tipping point'. It pays to think differently—and be different. Going back to the Bible, where it mentions that out of 10 seeds sown, even if eight seeds fall on arable land and only two fall on fertile ground and these ideas succeed, they can help to change the immediate environment, or the community, or country and sometimes even the world!

You may also want to read other articles written by the author. Here is the link https://moneylife.in/author/walter-vieira.html

(Walter Vieira is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of India - FIMC. He was a successful corporate executive for 14 years, capping his career as Head of marketing for a Pharma multinational, for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka- and then pioneered marketing consulting in India in 1975. As a consultant, he has worked across four continents. He was the first Asian elected Chairman of ICMCI, the world apex body of consultants in 45 countries, in 1997. He is the author of 16 books, a business columnist, international conference speaker and has been visiting professor in Marketing in the US, Europe, and Asia for over 40 years. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award for Consulting in 2005, and for Marketing in 2009. He now spends much of his time in NGO work - Consumer Education and Research Centre, IDOBRO, and some others.)

Comments

User

Personal Finance

Lessons from the Past 127: I Must Walk or Run!

Walter Vieira, 02 May 2025

In February 2025, the Bombay Times carried a feature on Simran Shaikh, a young girl who is from Asia's largest slum (in Dharavi, Mumbai), who grew up with four sisters and three brothers and was passionate about cricket.

She had...

Personal Finance

EPFO Simplifies Transfer Claim Process Through Revamped Form 13 Functionality

Moneylife Digital Team 25 April 2025

In a significant move to improve service delivery and reduce member grievances, the employees' provident fund organisation (EPFO) has revamped its provident fund (PF) transfer process and introduced a new facility for employers to...