The ladder of mediocrity

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.