Few weeks ago we were in the midst of a heated discussion in a group of about a dozen. We were old friends and were fair, frank and ruthless with each other in such discussions. As usual, we got segregated in three groups. One, perfectly illogical group for whom every argument was going on a tangent but they were still the most aggressive. Second, most logical and articulate who could speak only after pleading with the shouting brigade and eventually carried the day.  Third, just couple of them, who had funky ideas – one was too meek to even speak and the other was very aggressive whose ideas didn’t sell since they were found to be outlandish.

After we came home I forgot the underlying issue but the dynamics of these groups stayed with me. Slowly I started observing similar trends in many life situations – presence of groups illogical, logical and outlandish.

Illogical ones are the fools we all meet multiple times in a day, who end up raising our blood pressure every time. But the discussion is not about them today. What I am more concerned about is the logical ones and the outlandish ones.

Logical ones are a respected lot. They have wisdom, ability to store and process the information, articulate it well, reach right decisions and deliver consistently good results – everything in a logical and predictable way. Some of the ‘logical’ people and situations can be as follows:

1. Stock markets love consistency and predictability – quarter on quarter stable growth. HDFC family ‘logically’ continues to create wealth for its shareholders for decades
2. Subordinates love logical, predictable and stable bosses. They are easy to manage and always logical, taking right decisions and easy to predict
3. Parents love logical sons. Illogical guy gets written-off soon, outlandish one migrates to the US to do his MS and stay there. It is only the logical son, who knows he has to care for his parents who stays back
4. Pakistan loves Vajpayee as Indian PM since he had declared that we will never cross the LoC and have ‘no first use’ doctrine – logical isn’t it?

The examples are endless and from many facets of life. But when I started thinking about the third category in real life I was amazed by the impact of this group of people on this world. Most recent was the détente between North Korea and South Korea. These two countries were technically at war since last 70 years and a nuclear flash point very recently, till one fine day we saw pictures of the two rulers together, hand in hand, crossing the border. What an end? And come to think of it, this was significantly precipitated by two ‘outlandish’ characters – Trump & Kim. Unbelievable. Fire breathing men were now smoking peace pipe together. So, the outlandish guys do have their importance. Let’s see some more examples of this behaviour:

1. Airtel, a powerful brand, excellent stock, got humbled by the arrival of Reliance Jio who had bet big time on a new concept of telephony. Vodafone & Idea decided to merge to survive, whereas the consumer and Reliance gained
2. Election Commission of India was always independent and conducted elections well. Very predictable but toothless. Till one day a man called T N Seshan became the boss. Indian elections have never been the same again
3. Logical son stays logical but has a stunted growth. It is the outlandish who moves out and enjoys intellectual as well as financial well-being, with complete irresponsibility for the parents
4. Vajpayee ji is still respected, but despite bus diplomacy and Agra summit he reached nowhere with Pakistan, except Kargil and Kandahar

As I try thinking ‘logically’ I tend to believe that the first category of illogical people has no meaningful contribution anywhere though they enjoy fruits of others labour and create friction in the society. Logical ones are the institution builders, provide stability and much needed predictability, which are so essential for the world to survive.

But at a certain level they come to a standstill.  Their logical approach forces them to learn from past experiences, factor this learning in the new set of circumstances and arrive at a predictable and risk mitigated solution. Unfortunately, since it is predictable, it can be predicted by others also, making this solution lose its novelty and chances of success. Also, it doesn’t help to address newer situations which have no resemblance to the past. This is when we need outlandish variety. To move ahead and to address situations that have no past to guide us we need new, out of the box thinking, ability to take higher risks along with ability to ‘outshout’ the status-quoists and logical people.

So, we have today:

• An unpredictable Trump who is changing the world like no other in the recent times
• Reliance is rebooting not only the telecom industry but the entire ‘information’ system
• Modi-Shah duo have formed governments in states like Tripura and J&K where BJP had no base and have completely changed the political discourse in India
• India has now brought significant ambiguity in its ‘no first use’ policy for nuclear weapons blunting the blackmail of Pakistan
• Ideas that would be ‘outlandish’ just few years ago are accepted facts today – Car hires without cars, largest phone brand not having its own manufacturing, largest e-markets with no real markets and the list is endless

The reason I decided to write on this issue is that I find society to be giving big premium to ‘logic’ and the ‘logical’. We are forever trying to explain our logic to others in hope of its acceptance. Whole lot of gurus and trainers are working hard to make humans and organizations logical – leadership workshops, negotiation techniques, team building, marketing, positioning etc. are used as tools. Nations (particularly like India) and organizations work hard to create and aura of ‘being logical’ around them. Obviously, it is quite required. This world will collapse if the logic and discipline are removed from our life. Logical group, is indeed institution and nation builder.

But increasingly I have started to believe that they are also the ‘status-quoists’. They maintain order and keep the institutional structure intact. But to grow we need ‘creative destruction’ and continuous reconstruction. This is where the ‘outlandish’ people and ideas are needed and must be celebrated.  This is also something that defines leadership – of getting out of the box ideas and ensuring that they are heard, understood, accepted and implemented. To do this they not only need to have ideas but also the ability to ride over bureaucracies and logical status-quoists. Come to think of the following:

1. Till few months ago many believed that Trump will get impeached. I don’t hear it much now. He is showing signs of success and his approval ratings are increasing
2. Modi has proven that India can be friends with Israel and Palestine, Saudi and Iran, Russia and US – all against the conventional diplomacy that we had known
3. He has also shown that leaders can win elections without populist decisions
4. Old type of retailing led to organized retail and within few years moved to digital retail with no ‘touch and feel’ requirement – amazing transformation
5. The advent of internet, YouTube, digital movies, cable and dish TV connections had almost led to the demise of movie theatres till PVR changed the concept of movie watching by creating multiplexes and making movie watching an experience

This list is endless.

My Little Thought Of Life in this context is we need to appreciate and cherish the ‘logicals’. They hold us together, work harder, enjoy lesser and deliver yeoman service to the mankind.  They hardly ever get full dues and recognition for their work. But we need to celebrate and love the outlandish. They are the ones who take us forward, break old barriers, take risks and ensure survival of organizations and nations. In a world which is forever dynamic and is on the treadmill, a status-quoist will only ensure destruction in long run. Outlandish ones are brave who ensure the progress of others and enjoy the best of the world for themselves. This makes me remember the motto of Rajputana  Rifles – Veer Bhogya Vasundhara. That being the case, we need to bring in a streak of ‘outlandish’ thoughts in us. They will only propel us forward. Logical ones stay safe in risk aversion, survival, past experiences and status quo situation and more personal hardship for lesser gain. Also, when we see people around us sharing their ‘outlandish’ ideas, we should be patient, not make fun of them, apply our mind and offer our support if we find some merit in them. But we must remember that despite the logical group between them, gap between the illogical and the outlandish is not much.

To my friends and readers I wish an ability to appreciate and cherish logic and the logical but celebrate and love the outlandish.