Do you vote for the belief that everything is moving very fast? Most of us grew up listening to or reading the story of the race between the Hare & the Tortoise. There’s no way we would have forgotten the moral of the story ‘Slow & Steady Wins the Race’! We further grew up and challenged the very logic by asking the question, “How many times would a hare go to sleep in the middle of a race such that the Tortoise could win the race?” It’s essential to validate the assumptions underneath, and hence it’s a very valid question. When we further grew up and learned how to set or change context, we figured out that the context is decisive.

Here’s a list that emphasizes why ‘Slow & Steady’ still wins the race:

• Be very slow in growing up to retain a childlike curiosity and steady in creativity
• Be very slow in growing up to retain a childlike heart and steady in caring others
• Be very slow in losing your focus and steady in reaching your milestones
• Be very slow in forgetting and steady in helping
• Be very very slow in hurting and steady in loving

Now, let’s change the context to ‘Life’. With this context, I want you to enjoy ‘Slow Dance’ by David L. Weatherford — a poem that my business partner Avinash Vaidya shared with me. I really enjoyed this poem, learned from it and it even got me motivated to write this article.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round, or listened to rain slapping the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight, or gazed at the sun fading into the night? You better slow down, don’t dance so fast, time is short, the music won’t last. Do you run through each day on the fly, when you ask “How are you?”, do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed, with the next hundred chores running through your head? You better slow down, don’t dance so fast, time is short, the music won’t last. Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow, and in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch, let a friendship die, ’cause you never had time to call and say hi? You better slow down, don’t dance so fast, time is short, the music won’t last. When you run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the fun of getting there. When you worry and hurry through your day, it’s like an unopened gift thrown away. Life isn’t a race, so take it slower, hear the music before your song is over. I feel winners are probably those who understand the meaning of life well (slowly) and live it steadily. Now, if we change the context to management, you will observe that successful people spend enough time (slowly) in Thinking / Strategizing / Planning and are steady in Performing / Executing / Validating. This list could be endless…because we all know that context is decisive. “Slow and Steady wins the race with a winning context.” – Naveen Lakkur You may also like 4 Pillars of Winning The Game of Entrepreneurship The 3 Important Angles Of Innovation