Our story starts at a bridge over a deep lake in northern Nevada. A bear was making its way across the bridge one Saturday in 2007, when some vehicles crossing the bridge scared the bear into jumping over the edge. Somehow the bear caught the ledge and was hanging on for dear life. There it is, hanging on by its fingernails. It manages to pull itself up, but now there’s no way to get off the bridge and back to safety. I guess most of us have felt like that sometimes. We’re startled into making a sudden decision, hoping to find a place of safety, only to find ourselves going over the edge and facing a long, long fall towards certain disaster. We manage, somehow, to cling on and prevent the fall, but now we’re stuck. We can’t see a way out. We have nowhere to go and no route back to security.
Stuck in a dark place
The authorities, alerted to the bear’s plight, decided that nothing could be done to help before nightfall. So there’s the bear. Darkness is coming on. It can’t get off the bridge. It has no food or water.
What would you do?
I suspect many of us would panic and maybe even put ourselves at risk of falling into the ravine below. We would certainly want to do something as quickly as possible to get out of our dilemma.
The next morning
The bear, however, had a better idea. When the authorities returned on Sunday morning, they found the bear sound asleep on the ledge.
In our action-obsessed society, everyone is constantly urging everyone else to “do something” to cure any bad situation. The last option that comes to mind is often the best: to stay patient, retreat, and consider our options.
The current financial mess is a good example. Banks and finance houses got themselves — and us — into this mess by a mixture of greed, limited ethics, and deciding that nothing mattered much except short-term profits. Regulation was ignored or evaded by a mixture of accounting sleight of hand and the creation of novel “investment vehicles” that were outside the regulations, because no one had dreamed them up before. The result was easy profit, followed by the current period of staring into the abyss and knowing that you have no obvious way out.
What do they do? Do they wait patiently to see what occurs, to see which loans are, in reality, good ones and which have to be written off to experience and a hard lesson learned?
No, they yell loud and long for a government safety net. Are those the same folks who despised regulation and “government interference” in the market when times were good? Who loudly proclaimed the idea that “the market is always right” and asked only to be left alone?
Indeed they are. Only now they’re in a mess — entirely of their own contriving — they want the rest of us, the taxpayers, to bail them out.
The bear didn’t yell, but it did get a safety net.
Rescue comes
After securing a net under the bridge, the rescuers tranquilized the bear, which promptly fell into the net. The net was lowered to the ground. After a few minutes, the bear woke up and walked out of the net.
Let’s look at similar situations as they affect individuals. We get into a mess and feel trapped. Maybe we start to panic. There’s no clear way out. And no authorities on hand to bring us a safety net.
What do we do?
Most people start running around, frantically trying to find a solution. If the bear had done this on the ledge of the bridge, the chances are it would have fallen off. The same is true for us.
No one’s mind works clearly when they feel stressed and panicky. That makes managing hard to do. But, if we succumb to the urge to “do something,” it’s very possible that we’ll grab onto the first seemingly viable answer that presents itself..."satisficing ." It may help us out, but it’s much more likely to make the problem worse
Learning the lesson
Like all the best stories, this one has a moral. The bear was panicked by circumstances (the vehicles on the bridge) into making a bad move. It jumped out of the way, over the edge of the bridge, and found it was hanging on by its nails over a drop into disaster.
Somehow it was able to pull itself up onto a narrow ledge. Now it’s safe from instant death, but still in a very bad situation, with no obvious w
ay out.
When you’re confronted with a bad situation, sometimes the best solution of all is to do nothing, sleep on the problem, and carefully assess your alternatives. Patience often succeeds where immediate action may only makes things worse. Leadership through careful consideration of your options frequently works better than action for action's sake — for people and bears.
67 comments:
When people are put into these difficult situations, they often make reckless decisions or try to take the easy way out. Today, many businesses involved with the financial services industry are in this kind of situation. The way they handle themselves now will separate the average firm from the exceptional ones. I just who our economy improves soon before more corporations end up like Bear Stearns.
Patience. I'm still trying to master that. I think I often speak/act too quickly before thinking things through. I want to be able to step back and give the decision process its due time, without losing my "quick think on my feet" ability.
I have a tendency to choose the option that is available without too much thinking. Many times I have regretted. With more consideration of other alternatives, I could have done more effectively or gotten better results. The ability to think is what makes humans different from other animals. I guess I should start making the most of it and be more careful before reaching the conclusion.
I believe in my honest opinion, that I get frustrated quite easily and I don't know exactly why, but when I am put in difficult decisions, I usually take a moment to reflect on what exactly is happening, given the current situation, and then I start to plan quickly towards my next move. I've been given so many situations where I was put on the spot, did something wrong, where I tell whoever is scolding me to relax for a second so it registers through my brain and that way I can see the pieces fall together. I'm a firm believer of planning is a necessity in a better than expected outcome hadn't you don't plan. Sometimes, planning make take up too much time as well, but in response to your blog, the majority acts upon what's given to them at the current situation and most often times, people make mistakes by either acting too fast or too slow. I believe there is no right or wrong answer, except you just need to use your experience to guide you through unfamiliar situations.
I agree that panicking does not solve anything. When I was working in a CPA office, I often had to make a quick decision, otherwise our clients had to pay big penalties to the IRS.
In a situation like that, I try to asses myself first whether I am thinking calmly or not. If not, I just take a deep breath without thinking anything. After that, I will asses my surroundings. “Who can I ask things? Who is not panicking?” Most of the time, unfortunately, my boss was the one who panicked the most and yelled at people like “we have to solve this. You have to help me.” Actually he was a good example to learn about the importance of emotional intelligence. Most of the time, if we took quick actions, we could avoid the worst case.
I can not 100 percent agree that “sometimes the best solution of all is to do nothing,” especially in the current financial mess as a no-power student. Almost each week, I hear the news about bankruptcies of banks. If you do not act quickly enough, you will lose your asset. The important thing is to act with consideration and QUICKLY. I feel that if you “sleep over the problem,” you will lose something important, such as money. I am not rich enough to afford to pay such a loss YET.
Did the bear calm down in the beginning and think that "I am going to spent a night sleeping here until I figure out how to get down this human-made structure, or until some human come and rescue me" or did the bear growl and roar for help and try to figure a way out before finally giving up?
I am skeptical that the bear is calm in the beginning. I guess the bear's strategy to safety is not to stay calm and patient. The bear possibly had ants up in its pants too. I guess the bear might have move around, search around, and/or look around until it finds climbing either up, down, forward, or backward is mission impossible.
I really admire that bear. I would get a heart attack up on that ledge. It takes a lot of courage to stay and wait in situation like that. It is very strange that first human instinct would be to do something about it (mine definitely would) and possible get killed but the bear stayed and waited for the solution to come his way.
This case, as the case about the plain crash we had in the class, shows the value of waiting and processing the information instead of acting on emotions. Important and difficult lesson to learn.
I completely agree with the fact that sometimes the best action is no action at all. Even knowing this I still find myself stresses when I am not doing anything. To me time without action is time lost, and probably that is the wrong way to think about. I hope to change my ways, but when majority requires me to act from family to friends to school to companies, this becomes hard. Today everybody wants an instant solution for the problem at, it does not matter if the solution will only last a month.
I agree with the fact that patience should be our biggest virtue. In my own experiences when I just jump to a conclusion too fast, I am very stressed before I found out if the circumstances are going to turn out positive. Every time, I take my time with things, I feel more confident, and I believe that even if things turn out bad, this is the best decision I came up with, and there is no reason to blame myself.
I really enjoyed how you interwove the story of the bear into this blog entry. It was perfect metaphor for how to deal with panicking situations and I appreciate that because my metaphors usually fall short in comparison.
I absolutely agree that the same people who wanted limited government regulation, demand intervention when situations like the present situation in the banking industry come up. Looking for short term gains, people ignore the consequences that could occur.
The sad thing is that this trend will follow in the years ahead. We will always look to government or another external body to help in times of crisis. And a lot of that has to do with the current business environment which condemns but does not take action against unethical or impulsive behavior.
The attitude of being "shrewd" and having a command personality to succeed in business trumps over the "sympathetic" attitude. The responsibility that these "suits and ties" face are only to themselves, not to any external bodies that may be affected because of their actions. This is the attitude that business has fostered for far too long.
Because of the decisions made by these "suits and ties", families are without homes. A single mother cannot afford a home while raising 2 children. A family can't afford their new inflated mortgage payments because they take care of their sick parents and college bound children.
The challenges that these common folk face are not the concern of those who made the "sub prime market"...they don't feel their pain or comprehend their difficulties. These families just become a mere statistic in the "foreclosure" column...nothing else. Doesn't something seem wrong here?
What needs to be done is not only change the way we approach problems, but a massive overhaul of the negative attitudes that plague businesses. An ethics course is not intrinsic...it sets guidelines but doesn't require pro-active actions.
We will all learn about ethics but still commit unethical actions in the future because of the currently fostered business environment.
We need to hold ourselves accountable for our own actions and not look to point fingers when things aren't going our way. We need to hold ourselves accountable when an action committed harms many like in the sub-prime market case. We need to hold ourselves accountable for every decision we make...good or bad.
Change, as Barack Obama put it, happens from the "bottom up" and as we bring new fresh new attitudes into the business world the business attitude will hopefully no longer remain static.
Sorry for the long post.
Probably it is not a very popular opinion but I think that animals are often smarter in their actions than humans are. The bear’s instinct was to wait and “sleep on the problem”, people’s nature is to act on impulse and do something as quickly as possible. As we should have learned from the past, abrupt decisions usually push us into deeper problems where there may not be a way out.
My first response to a difficult situation is panic and nervousness, that just how my body reacts to stressful conditions. But I’ve learned how to control my mind, and any time I encounter a problem I try to calm myself down. I believe that keeping myself calm on the outside or even pretending that I am peaceful helps me feel calm on the inside and as a result I can have a clear view of the situation and consider various options.
Although “sleeping on a problem” initially may seem like a bad idea, sometimes it’s the smartest thing to do. When people try to find a solution quickly, they act on emotions and often exaggerate the problem. So perhaps it is better to calm down and wait till the next day – in the morning everything seems to be brighter.
That's right patience leads one into making good and sensible decisions. It is a very helpful tool when it comes to making decisions in unbearable situations. It allows one to thoroughly look into the available alternatives and pick the right one. It lets one to get his/her thoughts together. It creates opportunities for you that are not available at the time. Or as Stacey Charter puts it,
“Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It's all about timing.”
The more patience you have better off you would be. It brings out the best thoughts that are lost otherwise while taking instant decision.
"OK.. from now on.. I'll always eb patient while making decision not just in unbearable situation like above, also in my every day life." This would be your instant reaction to the benefits that comes from having patience while decision making.But we have a problem. Everyone looks for easy and quick way out of things, even if they have to incur some cost due to it. As you must have heard, "Time is Money". More you waste it more money you lose. But patience require alot of time, you won't get instant results. The cost of quick decisions is the cost that you could have ignored while deciding with patience. So, you are right, the best decision is to wait and see how things work out than just looking a way out.
It's pretty amazing that the bear managed to pull itself up like that. I thought the bear would be too heavy to hang on. Patience is a good way to assess situations and I have done it before at work and daily life. But sometimes too much patience often leads to my demise. Such as being in a bad situation in a class, and sleeping on it and doing nothing while the final inches closer day by day. A leader, when faced with difficult situations, should be patient and should take everybody else into consideration when making a choice. A leader shouldn't fully rely on everybody else to get them out the mess, like how banks and finance houses are relying on us to get them out of trouble. They showed no patience at all, and are now just trying to find a quick fix. I'm glad the bear survived, I never knew bears lived in Nevada.
I believe people choose to take action right away when pushed into difficult positions because A) They want to get out of the situation and B) The situation may get worst. I agree that rash decisions are often the cause of failure. Things tend to just straighten out themselves naturally one way or another.
I used to always be an advocate for action and change. But, I am slowly realizing that maybe inaction is the best action to take for certain situations. Rather than worrying about big problems that we ultimately have no control of, we may need to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
Patience is definitely one of the hardest virtues to attain, but I think that it is so essential when difficult situations arise. It is needed to rationally evaluate the circumstances. I'm beginning to learn this virtue through many of the different situations that have risen through my life and college career. I hope it is something that I can bring with me into the working world.
I agree with the just sleep on it approach. Just recently I decided on following my passion and abandoning my carefully mapped out career in accounting. My passion is medicine which I will get back to later. IN the process of feeling frantic and not wanting to waste any more time if I was going to attend medical school, I almost dropped out of Baruch to attend Hunter College's Pre-Med program. However, I calmed myself, and did some research and learned I could meet all pre-med requirements with a minor in Natural Sciences and still come out with a BS in Accountancy before med school. So I am very glad I did not make the rash decision.
Now, you commented on sticking to my passion. I had a rough month, torn between the money that could be made in the not-to-distant future, being two years from my MS in Acct. However, I pictured the highest point I could achieve in that field, which I pictured as CEO, and I also through in my passion, so CEO of Universal Music Group. Even at that point, I realized I would not be as happy with my career as a starting pediatrician working with terminally ill children. So, I decided I will be pushing back my plan for the future by at least eight years, and the addition of paying off hefty loans. However, I found that the added happiness the job will bring should compensate for any money I would have made in two years. So, I definitely did not overlook my passion.
Writing blogs past midnight=typos
Please change
no-too-distant
threw in
And whatever else you may find. I am usually good with grammar, but late night blogging is not my forte (probably mispelled forte, you can change that to, I mean too)
I can apply this to something happened to me recently. I got an email from Paypal saying that one of my buyer's payment made to me had been under investigation. The amount is over a thousand. It's a pretty big number to me, especially when I think of it as how long I have to work to earn 1000 bucks. So I started to panic. I almost immediate logged on to my Paypal account and involved in the process of solving the problem. I gave the tracking number for Paypal to check that I did ship the item out to my buyer. And I typed in some additional information and submitted my response. I never knew I could have proofed stronger evidence by uploading shipping receipts and the shipping form that was stamped by USPS, until several days after I lost the case. So after reading this article, I agree that I made a bad response when I was in a panic. By the way, does anyone know how can I find a laywer or else I can do to possibly reverse the case... ? just asking
"And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, ``Do I dare?'' and, ``Do I dare?''
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: ``How his hair is growing thin!'']
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: ``But how his arms and legs are thin!'']
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse."
--Excerpts from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot
was it patience or just smarts? I believe these two goes together at all times. In order to have patience you should be smart enough to think of all the possible outcomes. Having patience is the end result of being smart. Conclusion: Bear was a Genius!
Patience is something I think many people lack. In any situation, regardless of your role, it is difficult to stay put and consider all the options to find the best possible solution. I think by nature we are impulsive and think we know the answers without considering the alternatives or obtaining all the information possible to best assess a situation. Everyone wants quick results without realizing that sometimes a quick answer isn't the best solution and can worsen the situation or in the worst case, become fatal.
Luckily this bear was smart enough to know the best thing is just to sit and wait it out. Much like that survival leadership activity we did. Kudos for the bear.
I agree that if possible it's always better to wait patiently and assess the situation before making any decisions or taking on a certain course of action. Most of the time when one is rushed or pressured into making a quick decision without planning or thinking about the future consequences, it usually leads to disastrous results. But what does one do when one has to make a decision under a time constraint and there is not even a second to think? It's a "do or die" situation. Would you knowingly rather step in the hole and hope you'll find a safety net or not even make it to the hole? Anyway, I believe the financial predicament we're in now is caused by shortsighted financial gains which is the wrong take to dealing with longterm situations. Essentially, it all depends on the situation. Some require immediate actions because there is no time to think and others which are not as urgent to respond to, should be given more time to plan and think it through for the best outcome.
Anyway, what would the bear have done if no rescue crew came to the rescue?
Unfortunately, when you are in the middle of a difficult situation thinking calmly and trying to look for the best solution becomes tremendously challenging. I believe though, that when you already have made mistakes in previous situations you are able to learn from them, understanding that a fast choice might not be the best to consider. In my case my previous mistakes have helped me to teach myself to be patient and analyze the situation appropriately to find the best way out. Still very challenging but you become more aware of the consequences that a bad choice brings with it.
When people stuck into a bas situation, when a huge problem comes to us, we nearly forget to apply everything we’ve learnt. To make a good decision, we have to go through five steps. In this situation, at least four steps are necessary. Defining the problem, generating the alternatives, making a decision, and then implementing it. When people are worried or scare, they usually jump directly to the step 3, and just want to solve the problem. By not defining the real problem, the possibility of making a good decision will be very low. Calm down, be patient, and then “great moves” will pop out from your mind. My philosophy is think in a positive way will always help.
This is a great lesson we all must take with us for life. Also, the concept of patience in a decision making process is almost like a word - unless it comes in the right sentence and context it lacks its meaning. I feel that in order to best apply the concept of patience into any decision making process it has to be heavily integrated with one's intuition. It’s absolutely true that in this case rushing into finding an immediate solution could only harm the bear. Its also true that often in life, especially when things occur all at once we tend to just do something – most likely not the right thing. However my question is how do we integrate that together with the essential element of timing or to be more accurate - momentum??? In other words, things both in the personal and business world tend to loose their validity often faster then we can process them – therefore what should we do if we don’t have the time to sleep on the problem?
Then I guess between a risky environment to an uncertain one we must take our chances and maybe give some more weight to our insight and intuition……
Best,
Tal Koppel
wow.. i really like this story! I realize that in life, no matter how bad a situation is, you can overcome it, whether you sleep on it/ take action. When I think back on problems that I've encountered, I remember all the stress that I went through, all the mistakes, all the solutions that I've executed, but the result of it all is that it's taken care of- and in the past. The lesson learned is that you really dont necessarily need to stress on your problems, b/c there'll eventually be a solution even if you don't actively seek it.
btw.. the last post is by http://carpe-this.blogspot.com/
sry, i logged into the wrong account.
The answer is blowing in the wind. There will be an answer, let it be. Sleep on it. Sip on it. Just do not think about it, not in the original way, which is the negative way. Crisis is opportunity. Destruction is creative. Forrest fire is change. Death is birth.
"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." The rumor of this quote is from Michaelangelo. Another rumor quote from Mike is "Genius is eternal patience." That is why Mike a sculptor. In contrast, Leonardo said "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
There are days when you are confronted with what seem insurmountable obstacles; the clock is ticking and you just feel the walls closing in on you as you have no time to even breathe —don’t even consider thinking about what to do to overcome those obstacles. Then you are pushed over the edge. You do rash things and hope for the best.
In todays society though, you are expected to take impulsive action in rushed situations or maybe I should say, you are supposed to act intuitively. Best example: the bear.
The cars were closing in on it, and by mere animal instinct it jumped over the edge– to get away, to escape the ‘enemy’--to ease the terrible feeling of fear.
I don't completely support the idea of sleeping on some bad situation and doing nothing.
Sometimes by sleeping on the problem, you make it even bigger.
Yes, you do have to assess your alternatives carefully, but that is what we are expected to develop in the world 'out there' --the city jungle, the society, the work arena. Act fast, Think fast, choose wisely.
I do agree on the following: "Patience often succeeds where immediate action may only make things worse."
Patience is one of the greatest virtues in my opinion, however all bad situations dont allow us the priviledge of patience. We have to make sure that whatever the situation we find ourselves in, patience and time are options we are allowed.
In terms of patience, I am really steadfast when it comes to certain issue. I still have not purchase an iPod. I used a laptop before, but I prefer not to buy one. I used cellular/mobile phone before, but I prefer not to have one around me. In fact, I do not have a cell phone. I do not watch television and my TV is off most of the time (unless there is something good is showing). I would say that I do not have a TV at home since I do not have good reception on neither on of my channel. I do not have cable television channel on my television. I probably would not even consider buying a television in the future. Besides watching news or some good shows, my parents do use the TV to watch DVD or VHS every once in a while, but I have taught them how to do that on computer via the internet for free anyway, so they can watch anything anytime and possibly anywhere (even HD) for free. I think TV, movies theater, DVD, Blue-ray, HD-DVD, CD, VHS, flash drive, TV recording device, phonograph, cassette tape...all these things are already obsolete or becoming obsolete.
In addition, because of touch screen, mouse and keyboard are soon to be things of the ancient, even for programmers. For Mac, Windows, Linux, and other computer system users, computing experience will soon move away from the traditional GUI (graphic user interface), especially the one that is develop by Xerox, the ones that have been use in Windows and Mac. There will also be a leap in micro computing and personal computing (also, no more household computer and a different portable computer). That is because of the advancement and sophistication in nanotechnology research and development. There will be a point that silicon IC chip will not get any smaller and thinner, so computer will not use silicon as IC chip or the computer will not use any IC chip at all. Currently, every time there is a new computer, the price doubles because the cost of making smaller and thinner silicon chip is pass on to the consumers. There is a point where Moore's Law will collapse when silicon get into the quantum level, a point when a silicon IC chip can not get any smaller or thinner. However, in the near future, computer might be run on atoms -- a technology called quantum computing that scientists and engineers are currently researching and developing. Quantum computers might be more affordable, reliable, fast than many of the current silicon computers. Quantum computer might not have to use any electricity to run neither because of electrons running on their own. My concern is, how do scientists and engineers make quantum computers in a way the ensuring there is no environmentally harmful atomic particle or energy emission to the environment that can damage human health or the environment. There is already atomic clocks, watches, quartz watches, radios, clocks, crystal oscillators, so quantum computer might not be too futuristic. Another way of computing is bio-computing, e.g. DNA computer, Protein computer, etc. When these technology come out, there will be need for new kind of softwares, new kind of computer languages and programs to go with them.
I think nanotechnology is going to be huge in the near future.
Some people sometimes go for the quick solution, and sometimes the quick solution tends to be fatal, and sometimes it is not.
There is nothing wrong with going for the quick solution as long as that is a good solution. Otherwise, one needs to think longer and think more before making a decision, or get help.
What gives some people the strength and hope to manage through unbearable situation is a strong will power, passion, believe, intuition, gut, faith, whatever that they have, and addition to that, knowledge or expertise, or having help from other, and sometimes a little bit of luck.
If there is no rescue coming, the bear may have to think outside the box.
Sometimes, the trouble will not be over by itself, instead one has to get over the trouble. This really depends on the situation. For example, if one is experiencing a storm or an earthquake, one can probably stay in a safe place, sleep on it, and hopefully next morning everything will be peaceful again. If one is on a sinking ship in space, in air, or on the ocean, or is cast away on a deserted island, then one really can not wait around and be patient, because in those scenarios, time is the essence.
However, in all case, one has to be proactive instead of reactive.
More often in life, decision making involve making non-preprogrammed decision. Thus, one can either make a decision not to make any decision and wish for the best (the power of positive thinking, positive attitude), or one can make a decision to prepare and be ready to act.
It is very true. I agree that during life and death people often decide very fast and may result negative consequences. Even during difficult situation people do what benefits themselves no matter what the effect would be for others? This is known as self defense mechanism. For example, we know that a mother loves their kids the most than anything else. If both the mother and the kid are being drowns in water, the mother tries to save the kid first but if she could not breadth under water, then she will try to push the kid under water to save herself. This theory was defined by Charles Darwin as the Survival of the Fittest. The down fall of Enron was also a good example of this situation. In which Arthur Anderson made a fortune where as other people lost their future because of their investment. Many multinational corporations makes instant decision to benefit themselves which ends up to a huge loss due to their mistake and the loss is bearded by the citizens. But, I think that slowly and stead wins the race. So we must think carefully before deciding and if we cannot decide instantly, we must close our eyes for a moment and then discuss with our co-workers or consult accordingly to solve the issue.
However, it takes experience to know when you have the ability to wait and fully evaluate the options and situation. Many times, and it is evident in the banking industry, if one waits even a few minutes, the window of opportunity has passed. This has been drilled into their heads like Pavlovian dogs.
Yet, when the opportunity to sit back, and fully assess the situation arises, then yes, you should take the full advantage of that.
How does one develop the skills to know when to act? Today's society has built such complex financial instruments that require specialization, which then limits the ability to see the 'big picture' and has limited experience with flexibility.
Is the problem even greater than that?
Yes I agree that sometimes when we are face with difficult situations we tends to think of the faster way out. This faster way may solve the problem, but in most cases it happens that it worsens the problem instead of solving it. In every situation that we see ourselves we have to be very patient, in order to make right decision. If we decide to think very well before making our decision we tend to make the right decision which helps solve it.
Among my friends I'm known as the one with no patience. I always need my wants...right away. Sometimes this can cause problems because I tend to jump into things head first just to get it done right away. The repercussions are sometimes horrible. Sometime i'm faced with situations where nothing can be done, so I wait. This sometimes is the best thing because things just happen naturally and its great.
It is true that there are lots of things surround us as the superior specie in the world: human beings can enlighten us. The action of the bear in the story is some kind of amusing but truly fascinating and helpful to our daily practices. I do like anyone else sometimes facing dilemma and feel panic, and often time the decisions I have made are not stay calm and patiently to observe but trying to find a good solution (even there is actually noun) to lead me out of trouble. I absolutely agree patient observation and a peaceful mind can be crucial in between stepping in further confusion and making the problems go away.
At lot of times when people are faced with a difficult situation, they put pressure on themselves to make the right decision. This pressure only makes the matter worse and leads people to the wrong choice. There are some situations, like the bear’s, that require us to take instant action and we must accept the consequences. From this point forward, it is important to remain patient and consider all the options. However, this is much easier said then done.
Incredible bear, with disadvantage over weight still manage to climb up over the bridge.
Patience is not something that defines me, although i would want that. As i grow older i realize that patience is really a good thing to have. Even though your first instinct is the right one, that is not always the case. The best way to approach an issue is to take some time and think it through and then make a decision.
Although the bear is so cute hanging over there or sleeping underneath the bridge like showed in the picture, it’s an excellent example of how we deal with the bad situations. Speaking from personal experiences, so many times I found myself go into even a more confusing situation than I originally wrongly went into when I made a move right away in a mindset of trying to get out the bad situation. It hardly goes right when you make your decision with all the panic and think solely of how to get out from bad situations as soon as possible. It almost always gets me trapped deeper. When we make a move like that, we are very likely to make a decision to relief our uncomfortable feelings resulted from the bad situations rather than try to solve the real problems. Thus, I learn it’s better to be patient and try to bear with those unpleasant emotions in order to see clearer of the whole situation and then make a correct decision to solve the issues. Just as how important for an individual to realize this for himself/herself, it’s even more critical for the manager or leader to know this especially the decision is going to affect many people, those who follow him/her for the trust.
Although are certian situations where you don't have the chance to step back and sleep it over. Sometimes the best solution is to take time to evaluate the situation and come up with as many solutions as possible that would result in the best outcome.
Somethimes we have to deal with similar situation but we have to be patience, think about it, and try to solve them. Giving up is not a solution.
The picture brought my intention to this post. I am very admire the bear itself, with the action it took in order to survive. I agree with the word "patience", because when we try to do anything, or to make any decision for what's happen around us. The primary key we need to have in mind is "patience".
This blog is a great metaphore for how leaders and regular people deal with situations whether in everyday real life or at work in a corporation. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing right away, to take a look at the problem at hand from an outsider's perspective, analyze its outcomes from different solutions, and attack it with the best possible solution. The key is to be patient and think first before you act and things will fall into place.
i think in our society people often are being put on the spot and sicne we live in a fast paste society especially new york city we have to come up with answers and solutions on the spot( or atleast thats how our bosess make us feel) i also thin that it is not only on the job we are asked to make rapid desicions but in life as well, for example i play tennis and wen the ball comes to me i ahve .3 sec to decide weather i wanan hit light or soft to win the point, in the end we forget to think about the outcome and we focus too much on just coming up with something to say or do instead of just taking a deep breath and really think about it, and i thin that is the biggest problme with our society today. if we increase our deadline time we could avoid most of the mistakes that are being made everyday by large corporations, maybe we can also spare peoples jobs as well
i think in our society people often are being put on the spot and sicne we live in a fast paste society especially new york city we have to come up with answers and solutions on the spot( or atleast thats how our bosess make us feel) i also thin that it is not only on the job we are asked to make rapid desicions but in life as well, for example i play tennis and wen the ball comes to me i ahve .3 sec to decide weather i wanan hit light or soft to win the point, in the end we forget to think about the outcome and we focus too much on just coming up with something to say or do instead of just taking a deep breath and really think about it, and i thin that is the biggest problme with our society today. if we increase our deadline time we could avoid most of the mistakes that are being made everyday by large corporations, maybe we can also spare peoples jobs as well
i think in our society people often are being put on the spot and sicne we live in a fast paste society especially new york city we have to come up with answers and solutions on the spot( or atleast thats how our bosess make us feel) i also thin that it is not only on the job we are asked to make rapid desicions but in life as well, for example i play tennis and wen the ball comes to me i ahve .3 sec to decide weather i wanan hit light or soft to win the point, in the end we forget to think about the outcome and we focus too much on just coming up with something to say or do instead of just taking a deep breath and really think about it, and i thin that is the biggest problme with our society today. if we increase our deadline time we could avoid most of the mistakes that are being made everyday by large corporations, maybe we can also spare peoples jobs as well
i def agree with the first quote because why would u do somthing you know you are going to fail. beliving u can even if u dont think you will be able to is a driving force pushing many people beyond their expectations, and who know al lil hard work never hurt anyone.
I saw that story on the news one day! Man, talk about hanging on for dear life...
Patience is one of my biggest challenge. I always want to act fast and i don't know why. Sometimes it can be good but sometimes i regret it. So now I allowed myself to step back from the situation and wait before making any decisions
It takes a lot of courage and self-discipline to go the ‘bear’ way. It’s true that in a crisis situation our first impulse is to look for a fast way out, but that kind of behavior can also work towards our advantage, because some crisis tend to get out of control unless there is a quick intervention. The question is how was the bear able to distinguish between a crisis that asked for a quick intervention and one in which patience was the best answer. Especially when we are under pressure, it is difficult to discern possible future scenarios, and we tend to put the worse ahead. It’s probably wise to keep the bear example in the back of our mind, but we must be careful not to use it as a ‘universal panacea against all dangerous situations. In the end our life and job experience is the best weapon we have in such circumstances. Experience didn’t seem to work very well for financiers lately, but waiting wouldn’t have done them much good either. Maybe the fed rushed by coming in with a safety net, but had they not done so, how would the market look today?
The fear of falling and never again getting back on ones feet is a scary thing. When people fail at managing, leading, or even doing something that they felt was important, most look for a quick solution out. I think people often jump to conclusions about what may happen as a result. If they dont start working on a solution fast and soon, they will never get back to where they originally were again.
But, with a cool and steady head, one can go through decision making processes and find a better solution. By being able to think of every possibly way of getting back on ones feet, one can find the best solution or incorporate a series of methods in order to achieve ones goal. And also, who knows. There might be a helper or savior who comes along and saves us from the desperate situation we are in like how the bear was saved from its dilemma.
Sometimes, given the circumstances, it may seem best to make any decision than no decision at all. Sometimes, it may seem easier to be the bear in situations. Isn't it easier to mess up and let someone else clean up our mess? Officials arrived that Sunday to tranquilize and save the bear, who escaped unscathed. However, in the real world, we are constantly challenged with hardships that may not always have a clear solution. It is harder to think things through withour sight of the future. If we all dealt with problems by not just seeing the short term results but for longevity and prosperity, many problems, like today's markets, would not exist. Good management must always make this sacrifice, even though it may seem unclear at the present moment.
Patience is something I am really learning to master. Although I am generally a calm person, I often decide to act very quickly and abruptly, forgetting to think about other consequences that may surface rather than the one I expect to get. And often times I felt bad about my impatient decision when I received an unsatisfied result.
I agree that the subprime mortgage crisis was a subsequent of impatience and greed. Apparently, the consequence is devastating. I wish the U.S. economy would get better soon. {By the way, the bear was so cute..}
The Bear parable I am really not sure about.
I mean, the Bear did get rescued by other powers than his own. But then, when I think about it I remember a couple of times in my life when I was so confused about the situation I didn't know what to do, so I did nothing. And at the end, the problems solved themselves. Note the word "themselves". I bet the bear thought the same when he woke up already on the ground.
I guess it's not a bad approach after all. The tricky part is that problem solving capabilities are proportionate with life experience. So, the longer you live the higher is the likelihood of always having a plan of action no matter how bad the situation is. If you do have alternatives, how to know when it's better do nothing and wait?
I particularly like this post because it puts the old adage “sleep on it” into action. You are right in that in today’s society, at least in America, people are often encouraged to do things; to take action. It is the American dream, to get off your lazy ass, work hard, and succeed. When we face a problem, we are often told to confront it head on. Basically we have been taught to never give up and never stop pushing, not even for a second. However, when we run into an obstacle, immediate action is not always the answer. Like the bear, when there is something very troubling on our minds, it may just be best to sleep on it and see if any creative solutions will present itself in the morning. Luckily for the bear, the “solution” was a tranquilizer, safety net, and proper transportation.
While reading this I was thoroughly enjoying the bear story but you suddenly switched it over to the financial crisis, which took me a bit by surprise. You really seem to hate these firms with a passion and will take any opportunity to jab at them. You are correct in that they did not want any government interference when things were good, but when things are bad, they are crying desperately for help in a situation they got themselves in through their own misdeeds. What other alternatives do they have though? If they go down, our economy goes down with them.
I, like most people, hate waiting. It can be an unbearable feeling at times but patience is often rewarded. In the case of the bear, I am glad his reward was life. Considering your options, potential actions, and their consequences is often a prerequisite to true success.
http://freshfocus.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/patience.jpg
Most of the times, it is better to take matters easy. That allows you ample time to think through the alternatives in decision making. However, sometimes you have to make decision instantly to get out of the instant danger as the bear did to save itself.
Therefore, I thing the government should make a quick decision to save the economy from the immediate danger. Then watch and see what happens, and think thorough the alternatives; look for pros and cons of any action. Only do whatever it takes it to get out of the trouble.
When stuck in a state of panic, decisions are made that most of the time are wrong decisions. Many learn this the hard way. The bear acted rationally in a very irrational situation. We can all learn a valuable lesson from this bear. Dont be quick to make decisions! You must wait and analyze all options before picking the first option that comes to mind. It may ease the situation and first, but more than likely cause more problems in the future.
I am completely agree with you Professor that when we are in difficult situation, we tend to get frustrated and los the power of thinking. If we stay calm in any given (hard) circumstance, we can think and get to the possible solution of anything. Because, if are not in the hotch-potch our mind produce more ideas.
But sometimes, no solution can give us a big loss. So, I am not completely agree with it. but I am 5o-60% believe in it.
I know that all the financial companies, in order to get the profit, don't see the big picture of a problem. They just work for their benfit and even sometimes people want help from them, they also do so.
Its a great story professor, I also watch it on NBC News at 5:00pm on time.
I found this article to be very entertaining and informative. The pictures and the way it was presented with the usage of the bear to be light-hearted. I appreciate the fact that animals are able to assess and react to problems in a better way than humans. Many humans would have panicked and gotten themselves killed, but the bear just took everything one step at a time. When people are put into difficult situations, they often act before they evaluate the problem that is presented in front of them. This article teaches us that when are placed into difficult circumstances we must not panic ourselves into a worse situation. The first thought we have is to do something that often leads us into a worse predicament. With a clear and concise thought process, we can prevent these crazy situations from happening.
On this bear example, the bear is only waited for one day. Sleeping, waiting, and do nothing cannot solve the problem because the problem is still there. If there is no one saw the bear on the hedge, then the bear may eventually die. Samething for the market, the market would get only worse if no one do anything about it.
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