Real successful are those who can Dream and also Do. Dreamers and Doers are like two sides of the same coin, they are inseparable twins making individuals successful.

How many times have you come across or you yourself said “he is lucky” or “its magic” when someone you knew became very successful?

If you think making a dream a reality is a dream, co-founder Mr.S.A.Chandran of Essae Chandran Institute through their Monthly Reflection series shares it could be a science.

The Magic of Three: Concept, Systems, Tools

Seeing a banyan tree in the seed is not only an imagination or dream but a vision.  Begin (seed) with the end (tree) in mind.  The seed has got the potential to become a banyan tree.    Dreams have the power to spark off this inner potential.

Dreaming big is great.  Men of achievement have begun by dreaming big.  Helen Keller said, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone, who has sight, but no vision”.  Daring to dream big is excellent and is a good starting point but is insufficient in itself.  Be it in personal, family or professional life, a dream can be translated into reality only if it is followed by systems and tools.  What starts as a concept must get its flesh and blood through systems and application of tools.  No one plans to fail but many fail to plan.  Translating the dream to reality needs a systematic approach.  Only when we make a road map will we know whether we are on track to reach the destination and if need to make any course correction.

Concept:  Most of us have got excellent concepts.  It is something like building a castle in the air.  One has to go through a pragmatic way of transforming this concept into reality.  Dreaming big is good.  Implementing the dream is better.  Realizing the dream is best.  Failure to realize the dream happens in not systemizing and not systemizing and not using right tools.  Thomas Alva Edison is known for his perseverance.  He never used to accept any experiment as a failure.  He used to learn from the failures with persistence and perseverance.  He declared:  “I have not failed.  I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.  Having a concept is like having a seed:  it is essential but insufficient.

Systems:  Concept cannot walk.  It is like a sign post.  It will show us the directions but it will not take us to the destination.  The systems give us a mechanism to convert concept into reality.  It will also help us with milestone to measure and monitor progress.  If the seed is a concept and the goal is to have a banyan tree, then one must sow the seed in fertile soil, water it and fence it to protect it from animals and also expose to sufficient sunlight.

Tools:  Just as we need tools to nurture the planted seed, our dream needs tools to facilitate implementation.

The visionaries are those who can see the banyan tree in the seed.  Concept, systems and tools are equally important without which the concept will only be thought in the mind of its creator.  The greatest thrill in human existence is to have an idea and give life to the idea by blood (system) and bones (Tools).  A concept without systems and tools is merely a passing thought.

“Dream is a Dream if you don’t Do anything about it” – Naveen Lakkur

We all look for different angles to a situation. And usually miss the most important one. The ‘Try-Angle‘.

This angle made Edison one of the greatest innovators of our times. He tried a 1000 times before he created the successful incandescent electric light bulb.

So let’s not be afraid of trying. Those who really tried this angle have even reached the moon.

This angle is the source for innovation. Ideas have become realities only because someone dared to try and persisted till it succeeded.

While I say we need to try to innovate, its very important the fundamentals are taken care, else your try could even kill you (I mean, you will be a looser even if you win).

Here is an illustration shared by my friend Nasir Ali on a try which can kill…

“When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount and get a different horse.”

However some people employ more advanced strategies often, such as:

1. Buying a stronger whip
2. Changing riders
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses
5. Lowering the standards so that the dead horse can be included
6. Reclassifying the dead horse as ‘living impaired’
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed
9. Providing additional funding and / or training to increase dead horse’s performance
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse’s performance
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overheads and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses
And, of course,

13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position!

In today’s world you need to innovate even to survive, but if the purpose of innovation is not well understood, it is suicidal!