Mumbai Taxicab Confessions
An interesting occurrence happened every time my wife and I climbed into a taxicab last week in India…
The drivers did not ask for our final destination.
At around 14 million residents, Mumbai is a tremendously large city, maniacally packed with buildings and businesses. Even with GPS, it is impossible for a hired-car driver to know the exact location of where a passenger would want to go.
Climb into the backseat of the vehicle and the driver simply asks you for a general direction.
Only at the point in your journey where you are in the vicinity does the driver ask for more details. That could mean pulling over to ask a pedestrian for assistance or rolling down the window to shout over to the rickshaw driver waiting in the same traffic jam.
Why? Because the support the driver needs is more likely to be accurate and of help closer to the destination where people are knowledgeable about their local surroundings.
What would happen if we applied this Mumbai taxi driver principle to our own lives?
Instead of planning the exact details from here to our desired finish line, why not just start?
Over-planning at the start builds expectations and kills innovation.
A few small steps forward that move us in the general direction are simple and effective. They give to us just the right amount of momentum and open our eyes to unexpected opportunities and new experiences.
Perhaps we would meet more like-minded people and develop some real passion for the fundamentals.
Consider the quality of the questions we could ask based on our incremental progress.
Or consider the quality of real-life expertise into which we could lean for advice and accountability.
We would move our entire purpose closer the source which in turn gives us the best opportunity to raise the quality of our direction.
Whether traversing through Mumbai or our own journey in life, navigating the congestion and noise and challenges are not the problems.
The key is to begin. Choose a first step. Then do the first step. Before reading the next blog post. Before watching the next TED Talk.
Course correction is more effective on the move than over-planning at a standstill.
With gratitude,
Joe
Hi, I’m Joe, the owner of 5 With Joe Performance Coaching. My clients are leaders, organizations, and teams who utilize my Olympic Gold Medal performance strategies and 40 years of navigating whitewater river rapids to streamline decision making and actions when engaged in complicated river currents of business and life.
The best way to interact with me is though Sunday Morning Joe, my weekly newsletter that explores the art of improving performance, overcoming challenge, and aligning with purpose for Sunday readers in search of more depth and motivation. Subscribe HERE for free.
