Committing without Considering Consequences

We have a CEO of a large company - let's call him Mr. Sharma (I choose this name because of its sheer commonness)

He has resources, he has power, and he has the ability. He is liked by his employees, because Sharma has led them to growth.

One day, Mr. Sharma comes to know about a unicorn startup that is looking for venture capital investors. He is immediately attracted since the unicorn in question has established itself as a brand. Mr. Sharma thinks that by acquiring this unicorm will enhance his portfolio.

During the negotiations, Mr. Sharma agrees to most of the conditions laid out by the startup company - high valuations, retention of control by the startup promotor, etc. The cost of acquisition seemed must lesser than the future prospect, at least for now.

The acquired company does not perform as expected. Losses started mounting quarter on quarter. Sharma's colleagues started pointing out potential hazards of continuing the investment. They advised him to cut losses and exit.

But Sharma was too proud to accept that it was his bad call. His pride led him to stick to the bad decision. He has taken most of the decisions right in the past, and this too will turn out to be right.

But then, one day, the accumulated losses were unbearable for him to continue. Unwillingly, he closed down the unit, cutting futher losses. Action was taken too late, too little could be done now.

Had Mr. Sharma taken lesson from King Shantanu's life, he would have minimized the grief.

King Shantanu of Hastinapur was handsome, he was powerful, he was a Chakravarti Raja (Emperor), he was loved by his subjects.

One day, he saw Ganga, a beautiful maiden on the banks of a river. He was mesmerized by her beauty and wanted to marry her at any cost. Shantanu proposed marriage to her. However, she laid out a condition.

She said that Shantanu will not question any of her deeds, no matter what. If he does so, Ganga will immediately leave her. Their marriage will come to an end.

If you read this story in the Mahabharat text, you will come to know that Shantanu agreed to the conditions even before listening to them. He was so confident that he could fulfill any wish that the lady had. Afterall, he was an Emperor. What would have stopped him? He practically had no limits.

Shantanu never considered any potential hazards of this condition, nor did he consult his family, or his ministers, or any other well wishers. His desire to 'acquire' this damsel was too strong.

Soon the reality struck him, when Ganga gave birth to their first baby. One the day of his birth, Ganga drowned the baby in river. Despite the shock, Shantanu just remained a mute and helpless witness. The condition which he agreed upon for marrying Ganga stopped him from asking her. Shantanu lost his first child.

This continued six more times. In total, Shantanu lost his seven children. And not even once he had courage to stop Ganga from doing so. His desire to keep Ganga as his wife was much stronger than the grief of losing children, one after the other.

When Ganga gave birth to the eighth child, Shantanu could no longer bear the grief. He stopped Ganga, and reprimanded her of her acts. Shantanu had mustered this courage after losing seven children. Ganga immediately left her, since the King had violated the basic condition of their marraige.

Though Shantanu could save his eigth son, his marriage to Ganga came to an end.

Wrong decision making is a part of life, but it is worse to stick with those decisions. Accept mistakes, make amends, cut further losses.