Seeing the pyramids of Giza is an unforgettable experience. For the ancient Egyptians the concept of renewal and the idea of generative continuity was the important religious concern and the pyramids exemplified this. We are all stunned by their scale and grandeur, but especially when we think of mystery as they were built 4500 years ago. Mystery and Beauty together, something that was a very compelling combination for humans across the world. But something lots of us miss might be the simplicity of the materials; around 5.5 million tons of limestone, 8,000 tons of granite and 500,000 tons of mortar were used to build the Great Pyramid. Seems like a miracle. (that is why so many theories how they were built).
As humans are stunned by the mystery and beauty of pyramids, over the last hundred years, with development in science, they also started to learn more about the mystery of human body too. With all research and developments in science, we started to call out the human body as the perfect machine (some prefer to call it perfect organism). It's a perfectly designed system comprising of different sub-systems, working in complex, dynamic and efficient manner for its perfect health. Complexity is the characteristic of highly evolved human beings. But it is not only the complexity and but its beauty too. Another great example of mystery (complexity) and beauty together.
With the advances in molecular biology though, we started to demystify the code- the building blocks of the mystery and beauty. All the mystery around DNA started to resolve: The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The sequence of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism. All the complexity, mystery and beauty explained and simplified by the combination of four chemical bases, like all the great and mysterious pyramids are built by limestone, granite and mortar. I do not try to oversimplify here, we all know how complex both human body or pyramids are, but the main pillars of all beauty and mystery and complexity having “ the simplicity at its core”.
The art and science of using simple basic blocks to make something great and sometimes mysterious is not only interesting for only physical things too. On very similar lines, “Success” is something all of like, all of us find very beautiful but most of us might find sometimes complex and mysterious. Might be there simple building blocks of “Success”, with art and science to make the great, mysterious and complex big concept of success? What is DNA of success? If I would be simplify “DNA of Success” to 4 bases of A-G-C-T, here is how I would simplify:
- A: Ambition
- G: Generosity
- C: Commitment
- T: Teamwork
How complex it might seem or how mysterious it might be perceived; the right ordering and sequencing and combination of those A-G-C-T will be the main building blocks of Success. Ambition is all about thinking big and growing big, whether in professional or personal. As Salvador Dali had said, Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. Ambition is having about a dream and the motivation to make the dream real. Without ambition, success is hard – if not impossible – to achieve. Then comes generosity. A leader is not pulled up, rather he is lifted up. The more you give, the more you get. Whether it is your time, your knowledge, your experiences; the more you share and the more you move the people, I can bet that you will be more successful in your journey. Next comes commitment. Jeff Bezos had said: “It’s hard to remember for you guys, but for me it’s like yesterday I was driving the packages to the post office myself, and hoping one day we could afford a forklift.” Every journey, whether professional, entrepreneurial or personal is full of ups and downs. Sometimes you are the more lucky one with less problems on the road, sometimes you are the less lucky one with more problems on the road. It doesn’t matter that much. What matters is your commitment to continue. And always remember, luck is where preparation meets opportunity. So it is the commitment to innovate yourself and your commitment to succeed. And finally it is all about the team. Nothing explains this better than African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. Whether in start-ups or professional environment, the team makes you to win or lose. ”
Like sequencing and combinations of adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T) make the Life -which is great and mysterious-; it is ambition (A), generosity (G), commitment (C) and teamwork (T) which make success. Being successful is beautiful and it is easier than thought, we should be having the right base pillars with us. The rest is the art and science of sequencing them throughout the journey.