Too Close for Comfort? : Blog # 276

Too Close for Comfort?

With great power, comes great responsibility is what they say. These days, somehow I feel that with great proximity, comes greater blinders. Great proximity to anything or anyone can result in two different outcomes. The more involved we are in something or with someone, either it makes us too knowledgeable about it or the person. The flip side is that it makes us too foolish about the situation or the person.

 For instance, if I am part of a club which I deeply care about, I tend to think that it is the best club in the world. I tend to overestimate its importance for others. The fact might be that they won’t be interested in the club at all. But I am too blinded by the involvement that I lose perspective. Same holds true when we fall in love. All we see is how wonderful that person is. We wonder why others around us don’t see it!

The same happens when we are working in a certain situation. If you are working in a certain realm of profession for too long, there is this danger of falling to the fallacy of knowing too much. When you know too much, you rarely take a chance. You know or you think you know before taking a decision, what the outcome is going to be. The problem here is that you don’t even explore certain possibilities. For all you know, the circumstances might have changed. Something you tried earlier might not have worked due to a certain situation. It might have changed completely. But you tend to not give it a fair chance. Someone who doesn’t know about the field as much as you will take a chance and they might succeed. Is this why every organization looks for new talent quite often to escape the fallacy of knowing too much?

There is also the risk of being too invested in the situation. I am not talking of economical or such tangible investment. What I mean here is the emotional investment. When something is created by you or is nurtured by you, then it is a bit difficult to look at it objectively. It is almost like a parent-child relationship. The mindset here is that my child/creation is the best thing that could have ever happened to mankind. Why aren’t the people around not understanding it!

May be this is why we should allow ourselves to be consumed by multiple endeavors. The perspective which one endeavor gifts us might open up an entirely different mind space with which we can approach an alternate passion. May be, letting more people in to what you are trying to achieve will also help the cause. May be, stepping out of your interest for a little while and then going back to it might make you realize its worth or lack of it. 

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