Wednesday 1 June 2011

The Extra Mile Is Never Found on the Path of Least Resistance

    
     Hi all, Thanks for all your comments on my previous post. Your comments, your suggestions, motivates me and helps me improve in my thinking and writing skills. Thanks again.


     Google, the amazing search engine that tamed the vast resources of the Internet, has drawn hordes of prospective employees to their doorsteps. And in spite of their growing size, the company remains highly selective of job applicants. In fact, they are not even interested in reviewing an application if the person does not show initiative.
     So how does Google weed out the best from the rest? They take a different approach. In the summer of 2004, for example, Google placed billboard ads that simply read:

{first 10 digit prime found in consecutive digits of e}.com.

     Anyone able to solve that puzzle and find the website was directed to another website with another thorny math problem. Those smart enuf to decipher that problem were taken to an internal Google page that praised their "big, magnificent brain" and invited them to apply for a job.
     Google assumed that if a person was motivated enough to solve a problem on a billboard and jump through their hoops, they were motivated enough to work for them.
     Not a bad strategy! By default, it eliminates those who are seeking the path of least resistance. Someone once said, "Following the path of least resistance is what makes men and rivers crooked." We can drift towards success; instead we find triumph not by drifting, but through intention. And that's exactly where you find the extra mile- on the intentional path.
     In other words, the extra mile requires initiative. It requires more than the minimum. Somewhere in my records, where I keep all my paper cuttings, whenever I read something nice, in the newspaper or magazine, I cut that piece of article n save it my records. I saved this list a long ago.

 
    Do More Than the Minimum
  1. I will do more than belong - I will participate.
  2. I will do more than care - I will help.
  3. I will do more than believe - I will practice.
  4. I will do more than be fair - I will be kind.
  5. I will do more than forgive - I will forget.
  6. I will do more than dream - I will work.
  7. I will do more than teach - I will inspire.
  8. I will do more than earn - I will enrich.
  9. I will do more than give - I will serve.
10. I will do more than live - I will grow.
11. I will do more than suffer - I will triumph.
     Author Unknown (sometimes attributed to William Arthur Ward)    

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for your welcome and lovely gift, Khairu. It goes perfectly against my black tee shirt. I like your list here. I'm up to number 11. They always save the hardest for last. You have a great weekend too.

    Stuart

    http://www.stuartland.com/blog/

    ReplyDelete