frog and heat

i recall reading in some well gathered Azim Premji presentation one fact about a frog and how he uses that analogy to explain change management in business. You put a frog in a basin full of water. if you drop the frog in hot water, the frog jumps out instantaneously sensing the heat. Now, drop the frog in room temperature water, and very slowly increase the heat of the water - the frog doesnt care. Leave the frog at that - even when the temperature of the water reaches to unbearable heat, the frog still doesnt realize it. Ultimately, the heat levels have risen so high that the frog faints and ultimately dies.

Business changes are like that - it is no brainer for someone to look at an alarming change and react to it. it is these very subtle, imperceivable changes that you need to watch out for - it is what seperates the ordinary from genius, from the regular to the achiever.

This is not just business - slow changes are everywhere. You can take the same analogy to even other parts of life - ageing is one. You dont realize that you are ageing, your colleagues dont, but you go meet a friend after two years and he/she will tell you how old you have become. Working out - you dont realize you are not working out anymore when you see your tummy project out in some photograph. You dont realize you have been wasting so much money in cigarattes and drinks until you sit down and do the math.

Watch out for slow changes - be ready for changes, and adapt. The prime reason human being is so successful an animal in this planet is because you can put him in any part of the world, and he can adapt to the environment. Fishes and animals cant do that.