Have you ever experienced this? Its very early on a cold winter morning and you are in a hurry to get to some place important. You have planned things Just-In-Time so that you dont get late. Among other things, you also turn on the geyser at the right time so you get nice, warm shower before you move out too.
You enter the shower and you turn it on; adjust the knobs half each to so you can take a lukewarm shower. The water hits your back and its ice-cold, probably the remanants of water inside the pipe. You pull back, shocked and simultaneously, almost instinctively turn up the 'Hot' water knob real hard. This time, you feel the water wait for it to get a comfortable warm and come under the shower again. The water gets warmer and more comforting. Your body adjusts to the growing warmth. You almost dont want to get out from under the warm flow.
Just then, the water suddenly turns hot. Hot but bearable. You can still stay under it. Then, in just a moment, its scalding.
You jump out of the shower. Get the 'Cold' knob on the go; re-adjust the 'Hot' knob to make it lower simultaneously. A couple of seconds pass and you test with finger under the shower. Feels right and you take your position under the shower again.
It gets comfortable. Then a little colder, till its absolutely ice-cold (reflecting a northern winter). You jump out again.
Cold. Jump in. Comfortable. Scald. Jump out. Turn up cold. Test. Jump in. Comfortable. Ice-cold. Jump out and so on...
The cycle could continue forever. In the case of the shower, luckily we get out fast enough. Though we are bound to repeat this cycle the next day.
Why does this happen? Cant we get to the comfort quicker?
Actually this is the typical logic that any feedback loop uses. The lag in the system inherently makes it difficult to reach the desired level quickly and effectively.
Imagine the above system when a turn of the knob instantaneously changes the temperature of the water hitting your back. Here, since the cause and effect are without lag, stability is reached immediately too. In this situation, you would come to a preferred shower temperature within moments without having to go through the agony of hide-and-seek under the shower.
However, unfortunately for us, life is akin to the former situation. There are intrinsic delays between action and result; cause and effect. Also, in life, these delays are almost impossible to guage and judge, further eliminating chances of logically connecting the cause and effect directly. Then there is the multitude of factors which impact the same outcome and therefore it is tough to find the primary reason(s) for the result.
If the above is true, how does one ensure you are not facing the 'Hot-Shower-in-Chilly-Season' syndrome every day of your life? Is there a solution to this conundrum?
The solution lies in Acting with a vision of the end result of the action. We must also estimate all the major factors which impact the outcome and then enter the 'system' with complete knowledge. (In the case of the shower, a simple understanding that water is already very cold will be the third input needed). The last and important understanding is to be able to estimate the delay in one or two important components of the system which will affect the end result.
Cause and effect have a lag and often, in life, it is not easy for us to recognize all these lags. Also, the subtle impacts that many things have on the outcome are also not recognized and understood easily. Therefore perhaps the ancient wisdom that says, 'Do your karma without expectations of results'. A reflection that the doer is only one component in the system - he/she does not achieve the result alone.
Recognize this one key thing and you will see the outcomes of your life changing by just this mindset change.
Update on 16th May 2012: This article became a part of a chapter in my forthcoming book Decoding Communication.
You enter the shower and you turn it on; adjust the knobs half each to so you can take a lukewarm shower. The water hits your back and its ice-cold, probably the remanants of water inside the pipe. You pull back, shocked and simultaneously, almost instinctively turn up the 'Hot' water knob real hard. This time, you feel the water wait for it to get a comfortable warm and come under the shower again. The water gets warmer and more comforting. Your body adjusts to the growing warmth. You almost dont want to get out from under the warm flow.
Just then, the water suddenly turns hot. Hot but bearable. You can still stay under it. Then, in just a moment, its scalding.
You jump out of the shower. Get the 'Cold' knob on the go; re-adjust the 'Hot' knob to make it lower simultaneously. A couple of seconds pass and you test with finger under the shower. Feels right and you take your position under the shower again.
It gets comfortable. Then a little colder, till its absolutely ice-cold (reflecting a northern winter). You jump out again.
Cold. Jump in. Comfortable. Scald. Jump out. Turn up cold. Test. Jump in. Comfortable. Ice-cold. Jump out and so on...
The cycle could continue forever. In the case of the shower, luckily we get out fast enough. Though we are bound to repeat this cycle the next day.
Why does this happen? Cant we get to the comfort quicker?
Actually this is the typical logic that any feedback loop uses. The lag in the system inherently makes it difficult to reach the desired level quickly and effectively.
Imagine the above system when a turn of the knob instantaneously changes the temperature of the water hitting your back. Here, since the cause and effect are without lag, stability is reached immediately too. In this situation, you would come to a preferred shower temperature within moments without having to go through the agony of hide-and-seek under the shower.
However, unfortunately for us, life is akin to the former situation. There are intrinsic delays between action and result; cause and effect. Also, in life, these delays are almost impossible to guage and judge, further eliminating chances of logically connecting the cause and effect directly. Then there is the multitude of factors which impact the same outcome and therefore it is tough to find the primary reason(s) for the result.
If the above is true, how does one ensure you are not facing the 'Hot-Shower-in-Chilly-Season' syndrome every day of your life? Is there a solution to this conundrum?
The solution lies in Acting with a vision of the end result of the action. We must also estimate all the major factors which impact the outcome and then enter the 'system' with complete knowledge. (In the case of the shower, a simple understanding that water is already very cold will be the third input needed). The last and important understanding is to be able to estimate the delay in one or two important components of the system which will affect the end result.
Cause and effect have a lag and often, in life, it is not easy for us to recognize all these lags. Also, the subtle impacts that many things have on the outcome are also not recognized and understood easily. Therefore perhaps the ancient wisdom that says, 'Do your karma without expectations of results'. A reflection that the doer is only one component in the system - he/she does not achieve the result alone.
Recognize this one key thing and you will see the outcomes of your life changing by just this mindset change.
Update on 16th May 2012: This article became a part of a chapter in my forthcoming book Decoding Communication.
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