"one does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity..." Bruce Lee
Stop for a minute and think of something big. Something huge. Something that makes other things move out of its way. Got it? OK now let me ask you a few questions about this enormous thing you have in mind. Is it quick and responsive and flexible? Is it easy to maintain? Can it support itself easily? Is it efficient in using resources?
The answer to all of these questions is probably no. Large things have lots of inertia. They cannot be quickly sent in a new direction. They cannot be halted quickly when it becomes clear the direction is wrong. They are often at risk due to their dependence on any number of supporting systems. Size is generally inversely proportional to efficiency when you take the whole into consideration. Large things can often do one thing very well while doing everything else very poorly.
Given these facts growth is actually a counterproductive strategy in life. Nothing, in the end, is too big to fail. Targeting growth is a recipe for failure in the long term. I have personal experience with those who have added too much weight to their frames, from either muscle or fat, who have begun to break down long before their time. I have worked for companies that were industry leaders when they were small and were forgotten when they grew too large. Large bodies of knowledge are slow to respond to new developments.
When what is required to maintain a body or lifestyle or a home or a family is greater than the its capacity to produce this input, its end is near. The only options are to shrink and suffer the pain required by this reduction, or to delay the inevitable by borrowing against an unknown future. The first is the only real option. The second assumes that somehow change will occur without an incentive.
It seems to me that large companies are beginning to fail and large homes are beginning to sit vacant and large people are facing tough choices and large vehicles are being parked and large debts incurred while delaying the pain of the inevitable downsizing will soon require painful repayment.
Stop for a minute and think of something big. Something huge. Something that makes other things move out of its way. Got it? OK now let me ask you a few questions about this enormous thing you have in mind. Is it quick and responsive and flexible? Is it easy to maintain? Can it support itself easily? Is it efficient in using resources?
The answer to all of these questions is probably no. Large things have lots of inertia. They cannot be quickly sent in a new direction. They cannot be halted quickly when it becomes clear the direction is wrong. They are often at risk due to their dependence on any number of supporting systems. Size is generally inversely proportional to efficiency when you take the whole into consideration. Large things can often do one thing very well while doing everything else very poorly.
Given these facts growth is actually a counterproductive strategy in life. Nothing, in the end, is too big to fail. Targeting growth is a recipe for failure in the long term. I have personal experience with those who have added too much weight to their frames, from either muscle or fat, who have begun to break down long before their time. I have worked for companies that were industry leaders when they were small and were forgotten when they grew too large. Large bodies of knowledge are slow to respond to new developments.
When what is required to maintain a body or lifestyle or a home or a family is greater than the its capacity to produce this input, its end is near. The only options are to shrink and suffer the pain required by this reduction, or to delay the inevitable by borrowing against an unknown future. The first is the only real option. The second assumes that somehow change will occur without an incentive.
It seems to me that large companies are beginning to fail and large homes are beginning to sit vacant and large people are facing tough choices and large vehicles are being parked and large debts incurred while delaying the pain of the inevitable downsizing will soon require painful repayment.
