4 ms·

>>Sometimes a plain "I don't know" can be very helpful in achieving a goal. In a country like India where opportunities are scarce, saying no in many cases can

by kamaal 8y ago

>>Sometimes a plain "I don't know" can be very helpful in achieving a goal. In a country like India where opportunities are scarce, saying no in many cases can mean permanently losing the opportunity to do something big. Saying 'yes' and failing is a lot more better than saying 'no' and not trying at all. If I'm not wrong this isn't just limited to India. I think it was Richard Branson who said something to the order of never saying no to an opportunity. Always learn and do it.

chris_wot 8y ago
Yeah, and the problem with this is if you lie and get found out, you'll not get asked again in many Western companies.
- setr 8y ago
  Well, if what he's saying is true.. then you'd lose the chance by saying no anyways. So getting caught lying is the same result as not lying. It'd only be useful to be honest if you do have a skillset, and the company has a reasonable chance of reaching out to you fot the skillset in the (near?) future
  - jerf 8y ago
    "Well, if what he's saying is true.. then you'd lose the chance by saying no anyways. So getting caught lying is the same result as not lying." That's only true locally. Globally, you've got a variety of reputations, for yourself, for your firm, and whether or not you like it or consider it fair, for your country. You're burning all of those things. This will eventually catch up to you, your firm, and your country if withdrawals exceed deposits. This is, of course, a global truth, not an India-specific truth.
- kamaal 8y ago
  Based on how politicians and how many second chances CEOs and other rich people get in the US I think its the same in US too. Its just that if you are working minimum wage, or you are a spoke in the gig economy it's different for you. Based on my experience working in the US, my American friends weren't very different. Its just that when you have sufficient you tend to worry less about over optimizing for the rainy days. US is a different country in so many ways. US citizens are lucky to be born in such a great country, which supports its citizens through social security. And later with food stamps should the need arise. There is also awesome infrastructure like freeways and cheap air fare to move around based on opportunities. The cities are so full of opportunity. You also get free public education(Something like that is quite expensive in India.). Every city I saw where I stayed or visited(Who Bay Area, Philadelphia and NY) had parks, playgrounds. Every city had a swimming pool. Roads were sparkling clean and people were so welcoming. Plus food in the US is cheaper than chicken feed. If you can cook, rice, veggies and lentils are just like walk in the park. Meat too, you can afford to eat twice or thrice in a week. In my 3 years stay, I only have good things to say about the US. The full story is impossible to write. But I just can't imagine how anyone born in US can ever complain about lack of opportunities or ability to make a good life. When you live in heaven, you tend to worry a little less about putting food on the table. India is different. You have none of this. And its on your shoulders. Ensure your hands work till you die, or you will die. Saying no to opportunities is very very expensive in India.
  - v_lisivka 8y ago
    > India is different. You have none of this. And its on your shoulders. Ensure your hands work till you die, or you will die. It was same in any country of the world just century ago. I.e. Indians are doing that not because of economic situation (which is much better than century ago), but because of culture. And culture is result of moral principles, which are moderated through punishments and support.
  - gowthamgts12 8y ago
    Cannot agree more.
  - Clubber 8y ago
    >Saying no to opportunities is very very expensive in India. Unfortunately lying about your skillset is very expensive in the long term as well.
pjc50 8y ago
> Saying 'yes' and failing is a lot more better than saying 'no' and not trying at all. Not for the person whose money you've spent on the failure.
- kamaal 8y ago
  Not all failures are in the 'WW2 Normandy' Ballpark. In fact in almost all cases, letting people fail is how let them learn.
  - mieseratte 8y ago
    We're not talking about hiring some interns and giving them room to fail here. If I hire your firm and you tell me you can achieve an objective, then I spend money and come to find out you can't and you knew you couldn't, you've defrauded me. If I ask if you can perform a task and you tell me you know how, then I find out you have no idea, you've lied to me. I'll take a "No, but I can figure it out" any day of the week, but lying is a cardinal sin in any relationship.
    - carlmr 8y ago
      >I'll take a "No, but I can figure it out" any day of the week, but lying is a cardinal sin in any relationship. ...in western business culture.
      - v_lisivka 8y ago
        ... in Christianity.
        carlmr 8y ago
        How so? Southern Europe is very relaxed in this sense culturally, and it's the most religiously Christian part of Europe at the same time. While atheist northern and central Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland) place a lot of emphasis on reliability. Sure you could argue that these nations are culturally Christian, but Christian culture still doesn't imply an emphasis on reliability. At most I might agree with this being a case of the protestant work ethic, which seems to have a high correlation here (northern and central Europe as well as America is very much protestant, southern Europe is more catholic and orthodox). However first of all most historians agree it's false, and second you get places like Germany, where the economic powerhouse is the catholic south (Baden-Württemberg has Porsche, Daimler (Mercedes), Audi and Bosch, Bayern (Bavaria) has BMW, the protestant North and East are more poor).

by kamaal 8y ago

chris_wot 8y ago

Yeah, and the problem with this is if you lie and get found out, you'll not get asked again in many Western companies.

setr 8y ago
Well, if what he's saying is true.. then you'd lose the chance by saying no anyways. So getting caught lying is the same result as not lying. It'd only be useful to be honest if you do have a skillset, and the company has a reasonable chance of reaching out to you fot the skillset in the (near?) future
- jerf 8y ago
  "Well, if what he's saying is true.. then you'd lose the chance by saying no anyways. So getting caught lying is the same result as not lying." That's only true locally. Globally, you've got a variety of reputations, for yourself, for your firm, and whether or not you like it or consider it fair, for your country. You're burning all of those things. This will eventually catch up to you, your firm, and your country if withdrawals exceed deposits. This is, of course, a global truth, not an India-specific truth.
kamaal 8y ago
Based on how politicians and how many second chances CEOs and other rich people get in the US I think its the same in US too. Its just that if you are working minimum wage, or you are a spoke in the gig economy it's different for you. Based on my experience working in the US, my American friends weren't very different. Its just that when you have sufficient you tend to worry less about over optimizing for the rainy days. US is a different country in so many ways. US citizens are lucky to be born in such a great country, which supports its citizens through social security. And later with food stamps should the need arise. There is also awesome infrastructure like freeways and cheap air fare to move around based on opportunities. The cities are so full of opportunity. You also get free public education(Something like that is quite expensive in India.). Every city I saw where I stayed or visited(Who Bay Area, Philadelphia and NY) had parks, playgrounds. Every city had a swimming pool. Roads were sparkling clean and people were so welcoming. Plus food in the US is cheaper than chicken feed. If you can cook, rice, veggies and lentils are just like walk in the park. Meat too, you can afford to eat twice or thrice in a week. In my 3 years stay, I only have good things to say about the US. The full story is impossible to write. But I just can't imagine how anyone born in US can ever complain about lack of opportunities or ability to make a good life. When you live in heaven, you tend to worry a little less about putting food on the table. India is different. You have none of this. And its on your shoulders. Ensure your hands work till you die, or you will die. Saying no to opportunities is very very expensive in India.
- v_lisivka 8y ago
  > India is different. You have none of this. And its on your shoulders. Ensure your hands work till you die, or you will die. It was same in any country of the world just century ago. I.e. Indians are doing that not because of economic situation (which is much better than century ago), but because of culture. And culture is result of moral principles, which are moderated through punishments and support.
- gowthamgts12 8y ago
  Cannot agree more.
- Clubber 8y ago
  >Saying no to opportunities is very very expensive in India. Unfortunately lying about your skillset is very expensive in the long term as well.

pjc50 8y ago

> Saying 'yes' and failing is a lot more better than saying 'no' and not trying at all. Not for the person whose money you've spent on the failure.

kamaal 8y ago
Not all failures are in the 'WW2 Normandy' Ballpark. In fact in almost all cases, letting people fail is how let them learn.
- mieseratte 8y ago
  We're not talking about hiring some interns and giving them room to fail here. If I hire your firm and you tell me you can achieve an objective, then I spend money and come to find out you can't and you knew you couldn't, you've defrauded me. If I ask if you can perform a task and you tell me you know how, then I find out you have no idea, you've lied to me. I'll take a "No, but I can figure it out" any day of the week, but lying is a cardinal sin in any relationship.
  - carlmr 8y ago
    >I'll take a "No, but I can figure it out" any day of the week, but lying is a cardinal sin in any relationship. ...in western business culture.
    - v_lisivka 8y ago
      ... in Christianity.
      - carlmr 8y ago
        How so? Southern Europe is very relaxed in this sense culturally, and it's the most religiously Christian part of Europe at the same time. While atheist northern and central Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland) place a lot of emphasis on reliability. Sure you could argue that these nations are culturally Christian, but Christian culture still doesn't imply an emphasis on reliability. At most I might agree with this being a case of the protestant work ethic, which seems to have a high correlation here (northern and central Europe as well as America is very much protestant, southern Europe is more catholic and orthodox). However first of all most historians agree it's false, and second you get places like Germany, where the economic powerhouse is the catholic south (Baden-Württemberg has Porsche, Daimler (Mercedes), Audi and Bosch, Bayern (Bavaria) has BMW, the protestant North and East are more poor).