I Bought The Monk's Ferrari by Ravi Subramanian Page B

could not swim. At least that person would ensure that he stays away from water. But this little devil, would have happily jumped into the deeper end of the pool, without realising the consequences. Dharini did not want to take any chance and pulled her back home.
    The incident clearly shows that you take the first step towards doomsday if you think you are perfect, when you actually are not. Imagine, what would happen if Anusha had jumped into the deep end of the pool! The same thing will happen to you if you take on an activity or a task without enhancing your skills of delivering them. You will never be successful in what you set out to achieve. The worst you can probably do is to perceive the area of your weakness as your biggest strength. People often tend to make this mistake and falter in life. Visualise a scenario, where you think you know how to drive the Ferrari, (but actually you do not). You get into the Ferrari and try driving ... Vroooom ... Vroooom ... Crrrrassshhhhh ... that is what will eventually happen. Your hard-earned and treasured-Ferrari will be a mangled junkyard. Of course, you would not allow this to happen. Would you?
    If you want to continue driving your Ferrari on the road, you must keep pace with the changing traffic conditions. The world today is changing. What is 'in' today is 'out' tomorrow. People are changing, so are their needs and lifestyles. To be successful today, it is necessary to upgrade skills constantly, and also to make an effort at keeping abreast of the rapid changes around the world.
    Sam Pitroda says: Not only have the rules of the game changed, but the game itself has changed. While the rest of the world is playing baseball, developing nations cannot afford to play kabaddi. The statement is thought provoking. When the world has gone ahead, if you do not imbibe in yourself the skills required for being successful in a changing environment, you will soon be extinct.
    Take this simple example from the banking industry (I admit my bias for banking.) A bank branch is a place where the customer comes in to conduct normal banking transactions. A few years back, I was the branch manager of ANZ Grindlays Bank in Chennai. In those days banks were mainly deposit gatherers. The key responsibility of the branch manager was to get deposits from customers, to pursue them for more fixed deposit accounts. This was the scenario in the mid to late nineties.
    And then, the mutual fund wave hit the financial service industry. Banks moved from being deposit gatherers to the sellers of mutual funds and other investment products. Anyone who did not know about mutual funds suddenly found himself unfit to be in the branch environment. Employees were trained and equipped with the respective skill-sets to start the selling of mutual funds. Those who did not make an effort to learn were left behind. In no time, insurance made its presence felt. The branches started selling insurance products, and then came all the loan products. Over a period of time, bank branches were modified from being a deposit gathering unit to a supermarket for all financial products. This posed a challenge for the bank employees in the late nineties. The expectations from them changed. And, to deliver on the changed set of expectations, they had to either acquire new skill-sets, or move out of a branch.
    What would have possibly happened to a branch manager of the late nineties, who refused to change and upgrade his skill-sets? From a 'star manager', he would have crashed down to the lowest rung of performers in the branch league tables.
    The message from this example, as well as from Sam Pitroda's quote, is that the only thing which is constant in this world is change. Either embrace change and prepare yourself for it or perish, the choice is yours. The only way out is to anticipate change and acquire the skill-sets necessary to deal with it.
    If you aspire for the Ferrari, you will have to get out of your comfort zones and learn