"GENIUS OF THE AND" AND "TYRANNY OF THE OR"

It was weekend, the time when like minded weirdos (friends) discuss (waste time) as to where there is a high probability of having loads of fun. "Let’s go check out the new mall", a weirdo announced. "Let’s catch a movie", one blurted out. "I’ll die if I don’t have an ice-cream", someone screamed. It wasn’t before an uncanny silence prompted me to lift my head from the deep and comfortable recess of a leather sofa, I noticed all eyes were on me. I guessed it was my turn to speak. (Yes, I am the leader of the weirdo gang and apparently, in which damn book is it written that it is mandatory for the leader to be involved in worthless discussions). "Well, let’s go to all the places discussed". I think nobody spoke for 0.0005 seconds, during which I managed to read their faces "Has he gone nuts!!!" "He is crazy!!!" “Another weirdo would make a good leader!!!" . And before anybody could react I said," We will have triple the fun; we have money; we have time to waste; no big deal". Now everyone was eyeing each other, each trying to figure out as to how the other person actually won. As I got up to leave, I was grinning like a smiley; I knew I had used the "Genius of the AND" 

It all began the day before. I was going through my childhood pics and I was reminded of a certain incident that had happened long back. I was offered two chocs by a distant relative and I had to open one of his fists to get my catch. I did open one and to my dismay I did not find the choc. A child that I was, particularly a naughty one, I split open his second fist very much like a crowbar with all my childish energy and realised that the bugger did not have a choc at all. A cheap trick. I had realized then that when a choice is presented to me,I go for all the choices coz I never know what I might get into. So, if any smart relative tried to play the same trick on me, I knew what I had to do.

At some point of time as I grew, the 23 year old me, missed the trick. It was when as a kid,I saw two mouth watering cakes in the sweet shop and I egged my mom to buy me both, I got one and a "Beta , you will get the silver one OR the golden one". It was when I had to decide where my career would go, I got "You can either become a doctor OR an engineer, you can’t be both". It was when I told a dolt, " I am currently in the share market", I got "Dude, you are an electronic engineer".....All my life I had to undergo the "Tyranny of the OR".

It`s funny, most of us think that life details are always in black OR white. This type of thinking is everywhere we look, science, college textbooks, in our speech, in our thought process, in the speeches of our politicians “you’re either with us OR you’re with the enemies”, "Do this OR we’ll harm you ", "We can do Project A OR Project B" ,"Do you want more time OR more money?" ,"You can have a great marriage and average career OR an average marriage and great career", " Win OR lose”,” Yes OR No", "This OR That" ,it’s everywhere,” Tyranny of the OR" .

"Tyranny of the OR” is a rational view that cannot easily accept paradox; that cannot live with two seemingly contradictory forces or ideas at the same time. It pushes people to believe that things must be either A OR B, but not both. It is one of the roots of most of the systems that hurt people and their environment. A clear cut impediment towards progress.

If you look at highly visionary people, companies and scientists, they liberate themselves from this tyranny by invoking the "Genius of the AND". "I can have voice AND video on the same line", "I can study AND sleep at the same time"(Now where did I see it, oh yeah, the dolts in the classroom), " The company can undergo change AND be stable", " The company can have low cost AND high quality", "I can be conservative AND risky in the share market".

When I say "Genius of the AND”, I don’t intend to mean a 'balance'. Balance is 50 50, half half. A visionary person or organization does not intend to strike a balance between the cost and the quality. It seeks to do well in the cost AND it seeks to do well in the quality. When I mention AND here, I am talking about being in the extreme.

As Scott Fitzgerald pointed out very beautifully, "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."

For once when I said, "I’ll go for Aishwarya OR Preeti for the Filmfare" , the dolt reacted the way he would- "Dude, Can both get it?"