Julie is a regular high energy, talkative 7 year old girl. She
loves school (except for the strict teachers and the homework) and she has lots
of friends. She loves swimming and playing with her golden haired labrador,
Ceasar.
Julie and her parents stay with her grandparents for a month
every summer. Julie loves these trips. Her grandparents have a sprawling two
storeyed house in a quiet suburb of the city. It’s a refreshing change from the
concrete jungle Julie lives in, and gives her and Ceasar lots of space to run
around and play.
One sunny Tuesday morning Julie is running around the garden
shed at the back of the house when she spies a new object. A ladder.
She eyes it curiously. It wasn’t there the last time she was
here.
Then she brightens.
Now she can climb the
wall of the garden with the ladder and see the world from the top! Wow! What a
wonderful idea! She gets really excited and tells Ceasar, “Look, Ceasar, a
ladder!” Now we can climb the wall and be on the top of the world.” Ceasar
woofs in return, wagging his tail in enthusiasm.
She runs towards it and looks at the highest rung, right on
top. It seemed so far away yet beckoning, like a huge tub of strawberry ice
cream, her all time favourite food. She grabs hold with one hand on either side
and puts one leg on the lowest rung. The ladder shivers in her hand, in response
to her weight. Julie hesitates. Maybe she shouldn’t be climbing the ladder
without showing it to Mummy. Mummy had told her to be careful and to call her
in case, she, Julie saw anything different or strange.
The next second Julie shook off the doubt. It was just a
ladder. Of course it was not a weird or a strange thing! And ladders are meant
to be climbed, are they not? So that was precisely what Julie was going to do.
She puts her second leg on the lowest rung. The ladder
shivers again but stays in its place. Julie grins. “Look Ceasar, I’m climbing
the ladder!” Ceasar woofs again, wagging his tail vigourously. He seems excited
too.
Emboldened by her first step, Julie climbs two more. Now she
is a good 3 feet from the ground. Suddenly she hears her name.
“Julie! Where are you, child?” It was Grandma. “Where are
you? It’s lunchtime! I’ve made your favourite pasta.”
“Grandma!” Julie calls in return from the ladder. “Come and
see me! I’m going to the top of the world! Come and see!”
Soon Grandma comes in sight. She is startled to find Julie
halfway up her old rickety ladder. “Julie! What are you doing? That’s an old
ladder, child. It can break any moment. Please get down from there.”
“But Grandma,” Julie protests, “it’s been great so far! It
hardly ever shook when I climbed it. And see how far I am from the ground! I’m
even taller than you and Ceasar! Please, Grandma! There are only 4 steps to go.
I will climb them quickly, sit on the top of the world for some time and come
back, ok?”
“Julie,“ Grandma sighs in exasperation, “It’s dangerous
because it’s an old ladder. And who ever gave you the idea that when you climb
it you will reach the top of the world? The ladder against a wall which is
taller than the ladder, look! When you climb the ladder you are going to reach
the wall, that’s all. And the wall is really high. You will not be able to look
beyond the wall, let alone the top of the world!”
As realization hits, Julie’s face falls. She sniffs as she
gets down to the ground. “Oh, Grandma. I was so excited. Can I never reach the
top of the world?”
Grandma smiles fondly at the little girl. “Of course you
can, dear. It’s all in your mind. You can be at the top of the world right now
if you wish! Ok? Come on now, it’s getting late for lunch.”
---
Remember your first job? Or your first day in a new job? The adrenaline,
the excitement, the enthusiasm to get
somewhere, do something? That is like
Julie finding the ladder.
Remember asking yourself if this is what you signed
up for 3, 5, 7, 10 years into Corporate life? Climbing an old rickety ladder
in search of an unknown nirvana?
Being sold the concept by the big bosses - that climbing the ladder of
mediocrity is the only way, because “what
else is there to do, dude”? Fighting the daily petty squabbles of
who-said-what-to-whom, who-wrote-what-mail, whose-boss-is-an-idiot,
who-has-to-have-the-last-word? Realizing that the end of the ladder is just
another wall, which apart from banging your head on, is not useful for anything
else?
Corporate life is like school uniform. It levels the playing
field so that the mediocre can function. Don’t climb the ladder of mediocrity. Create your own boundaries, your own limitations. Get to the top of your world. Not the top that some self confessed egomaniac defined to celebrate his smallness of mind. Go,
get a Life.
Sheesh.