By Majid Kazmi The only thing more important than what is said is who said it. Or is it?

1. 3 Insanely Stupid Quotes that Went Viral
By MajidKazmi
The onlythingmore importantthan whatissaid iswhosaidit. Or isit?
We knowall toowell thatperceptionisgreaterthanreality.Thatincludesourperceptionof famous
people whose opinions are perceivedasgemsof irrefutablewisdomregardlessof whetherornot
theyhave any merit.
Well,it'snottheirfault.We tendto judge a lot,bothpositivelyandnegatively.Asaresult,people
whohave gaineda certainstature inlife are considered more entitledtoshare theirviewsbasedon
theirexperience.The truthis,everyone isentitledtoshare theiropinionsbasedontheirexperience.
The onlydifference isthatif somethingissaidbya billionaire,nobodyrunsitupthe flagpole evenif
it makesnosense.
But everyonce ina while,astatementjumpsoutatyou as so witlessthatyoudon’treallyneedto
scrutinize ittofigure outit isabsolute dopey.Itissocontrary to commonwisdom, thatyoudon’t
evencare whosaid it.Why suchquotes still getmillionsof hitsonthe social mediaisa different
story.
Here are the three silliestquotesthatwentviral fornoreason:
1. The minute youhave a back-upplan,you've admittedyou’renotgoingtosucceed(Elizabeth
Holmes)

2. The obviouschart topperisthisinsanelystupidquotebyElizabethHolmes.Evenif investigative
reporterJohnCarreyrouhadnot exposedTheranosasa possible multi-billiondollarfraudinhis
unforgivingWall StreetJournal story,the statementwouldstill have made nosense.
Decadesof researchinstrategicmanagementledustoone conclusion – if youdon’thave a planB,
youdon’thave a plan.Thisisso because a back-upplanisnot the same as a pack-upplan.
Everymorallyintelligententrepreneurknowsthatsuccessinbusinesscomesfrombeingadaptable.
That is the hallmarkof tenaciousstartupswhoare not willingtogive upontheirvision,evenif they
have to completelyrethinkthe waytheyachieve thatvision.
It islike drivingtoworkeverymorning.Youdon’tjumpoutof bedthinking,"nomatterwhat,Iam
goingto take the shortestroad to worktoday."If thatmeansbumpingthroughthe police cars
blockingthe freewaydue toanunfortunate accident,itdoesn’tsoundlike tenacitytome.
In hisbook“PlanB: How to Hatch a SecondPlanThat's AlwaysBetterThanYourFirst” DavidKord
Murray dissectsthe topicof back-upplansasan importantdiscipline instrategicplanning.He
emphasizesthe needtoembrace intelligentflexibility.AccordingtoMurray, ratherthan the
traditional top-downstrategicplanning,the keyistohave a bottom-upthinkingsothatyoucan
emphasize the importanceof tactics,because thatisthe level where moststrategiesfail.
Everyone hasa plantill theygetpunchedinthe mouth.~ Mike Tyson
Dr. Jeff Cornwall,the inaugural recipientof the JackC.Massey ChairinEntrepreneurshipand
Professorof EntrepreneurshipatBelmontUniversityinNashville,Tennesseepointsouthow
flexibilityleadstoluckandserendipity.Noone cares(orevenknows) thatGoogle originallysetout
to buildbulletinboardsorthatYouTube startedas a datingsite calledTune InHookUp. In the words
of Dr. Cornwall:
While ourexperiencesare important,we have tobe careful nottoget stuckin the old,traditional
waysof thinking.Andwe mustneverbecome aslave toouroriginal ideas.
However,if yourmomand dadsit at positionsof powerandprivilege,andyouhave all the
assurancesthat you’ll be successful nomatterwhatthe rulesof the game are (because there aren't
any foryou),youdon’treallyneedtobe all that flexible.

3. Notwithstandingthisuncomfortable realityof ourtimes,the momentyouthinkitisnecessaryto
have a back-upplan,whatyou have actuallyadmittedisthatyouare goingto succeednomatter
what.
2. You may lose yourwife,youmaylose yourdog,your mothermayhate you. None of those things
matter.What mattersis thatyou achieve successandbecome free (KevinO'Leary)
Oh,reallyO'Leary?
So whatreallyissuccess?Notto preachto the devil,butbecomingrichisjustone definitionof
success.Andthere'snothingwrongwiththat.However,whenyousay"whatmattersisthat you
achieve success"youare imposingyourideaof successuponeveryoneelse,commanding thatit
shouldnecessarilymattertothembecause itmatterstoyou.This isthe inherenteccentricityof this
arrogant statementthathelpsitachieve the covetedsecondspotonthisshortlistof insanelystupid
quotes.Butthere'smore to itthan that.
Lao Tzu wrote inthe 6th centuryBC ancientChinese classictext:
If your happinessdependsonmoney,youwill neverbe happywithyourself.Be contentwithwhat
youhave;rejoice inthe waythingsare.When yourealize there isnothinglacking,the whole world
belongstoyou.
Still,one mayargue that happiness,orspiritual andemotional fulfillment,isnotone'sobjectivein
life andamassingmaterial wealthisbotha meansandan end.Howeverspurious,whatthisidea
meansintoday's worldisthat you cannot alwaysstaymorallyuprightinanuncompromisingpursuit
of wealth,because moralsandmaterialismsooftenbecome complete tangents.Therefore,aperson
withmoneyasthe sole measure of success,wouldinevitablyhave tosidestepwhenconfrontedwith
the trade-off betweenmoral principlesandthe quintessentialeconomicobjective of profit
maximization.Inmanycasesif notin most,yousimplycannot pursue bothand mustdecide whatto
lose inorderto gainthe other.
Thisincludeslosingthingsinlife thathumanwisdomhasconsideredforcenturiestobe essentialfor
the pursuitof happiness.Andyes,thatincludesthe dogKevin.
3. A problemisonlya problemwhenviewedasa problem(RobinSharma)
Ah,nowthat's a problem!IgetwhatRobinintendedtomean,butthat'snot what he said.He's
makinga sweepinggeneralizationthatall problemsare opportunitiesindisguise.Itcomesacrossas

4. a wise-soundingstatementuponcursoryview.Unfortunately,itisnot;and there are no ifsandbuts
to it.
If we assume thatRobinmeantto say thateach problemreflectsanopportunitytosolve the
problem,thatwouldmake thisstatementsounddumberthanitactuallyis.He simplymeansthatall
problemscanactuallybe viewedasopportunities.
Many problemsolvingframeworks,suchasEdward de Bono'slateral thinkingparadigm, provide an
alternate viewof problemsolvingbyre-framingthe perceptions,conceptsandboundariesfor
decisionmaking.Still,itisconsideredaproblemsolvingframework.
The problemaboutproblemsisthatinorder forthemto get solvedtheyneedtobe viewedas
problems,studiedasproblems,definedasproblems,recognizedasproblemsandeventuallysolved
because theyare problems.However,duringthe course of problemsolving one mightstumbleupon
an opportunityoutsideof the immediate contextof the problem, whichmightleadtoesoteric
investigationonhowitcouldbe beneficial tosolve similarproblems.I'mprettysure Robinisnot
eludingtothatconcepthere.
On the otherhand,if all problemsare viewedasopportunities,itwouldnurture the same
diabolicallyopportunisticmindsetthatseesnoproblemwithraisingthe price of anAIDS pill from
$13.5 to over$700 overnight,onlybecausethere isanopportunitytodothat.One'sproblemis
other'sopportunity,right?
Wrong!
A problemisa problem,whetherit'syoursormine.Itshouldbe seenasone.
Aboutthe Author:Majid Kazmi isthe Founder& CEO of Valu VenturesInc.asocial enterprise based
inToronto that helpsimmigrantsbecome entrepreneurs.
For more information,simplyvisit: http://valuventures.ca/
Company:Jamie PR
Submittedby:Jamie White

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Email:snel365@gmail.com
NYC,NewYork, USA
Website:http://valuventures.ca/