No method in the madness!
There was this Professor who came to teach us advertising under marketing, as a guest lecturer. The oldie had a long face, an outsized spectacle frame. And dense, long hair, all dishevelled. A character straight out of a mental asylum, we thought. Maybe, we could have spent our time in a better way in the library.
And the Professor cleared his throat and posed a question: Have any of you been to Agra mental asylum? Some of us were now looking for an escape route, just in case. As there was no response from anyone, the Professor proceeded to pontificate (or so we thought) that creativity bordered on madness. We looked bewildered and the man seemed to understand our discomfiture. Alright, he came forward, would you guys agree if I said out-of-the-box thinking mostly looks a mad idea initially when put forward? That was more in sync with our sensibilities.
By now, the Professor had gained our attention. And our confidence, too. He went on. Once, four men started on their journey in a car from Delhi. They were to go beyond Agra. As they neared Agra, one of the wheels hurtled off and somehow they brought the car to a halt without much damage. They got off the car, walked some distance and picked up the runaway wheel but the four nuts were irretrievably lost. Nearest point where they could have procured four nuts was some ten kilometers away. They discussed animatedly but could not decide on what to do. Suddenly, a voice came from behind. They turned around and found they were bang in front of Agra mental asylum. And the voice belonged to one of the patients. The four friends were not in a mood to engage in a conversation with him but the patient volunteered. Can I give you an idea? An idea from this madcap? They burst into laughter. Unperturbed, the fellow behind the iron gate suggested: Why don't you guys take one nut each from the remaining three wheels and fasten the fourth one? You can slowly drive ten kilometers and get your supply? The nut's idea worked. The Professor beamed: Sometimes, mad ideas work.
The old man now had the class at his feet. He went on. Once, three engineers each from two software firms were travelling in a train to attend a conference. The 'A' company engineers had bought tickets for all the three but the 'B' company guys had only one ticket among the three. When asked how they would manage when the ticket examiner came, they said, wait and see. The conductor came. Even as he was checking in the first compartment of the coach, the 'B' engineers locked themselves up in a single toilet. As was his practice, after finishing his job in the coach, the ticket examiner knocked on the door of the toilet. The door opened and a hand came out with a ticket and the conductor checked and returned it: Thanks. He moved on to the next coach.
The 'A' guys thought that was awesome. They all attended the conference. On their return journey, the 'A' men bought only one ticket and mentioned this to the 'B' engineers, who replied they had not bought any ticket but they will still manage. Probably over-confident? The conductor came. Like the 'B' men did on their onward journey, the 'A' engineers locked themselves in a single toilet. 'B' guys followed them and got into the toilet opposite. Even as the ticket examiner was busy checking tickets in the coach, one of the three 'B' men got out and stood before the other toilet: Ticket, please. The door opened and a hand came out with the lone ticket the 'A' guys had bought! Promptly, the 'B' engineer grabbed it went back into the toilet to join his two friends, ready to face the conductor.
The venerable Professor said: sometimes, mad ideas work. And most of the times, such ideas produce exceedingly great results. When he appeared to look for a response, one of us said: Yeah, but there has to be a method in the madness? The old man said if there is a method, then it is order, not madness. Such order or routine can produce steady results but to achieve phenomenal results, you may have to go beyond such ordered thinking. Sheer madness without a method can at times throw up extraordinary ideas. Out-of-the-box thinking takes you to another level. A paradigm shift in the way you think and process for a decision.
The Professor truly deserved the standing ovation we gave him.
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