Nada Kholeif
Recently, I came across the book ‘Obliquity: why our goals are best achieved indirectly’ by John Kay. Its ideas and thoughts challenged the way I think and triggered me to dive deeper into the subject.
I’ve always thought that the only way to reach an objective is to think about it all the time and divide it into small steps of achievements to reach the final destination I am aiming towards. Till now, this method of reaching success has worked in some areas of my life. But maybe life isn’t that simple after all.
John Kay argues that defining what are the objectives is quite complicated. He describes that the best way of achieving complex objectives is indirectly. Oblique approaches recognize the presence of limitations and uncertainties; therefore, we learn and redefine our objectives throughout the process of experiment and discovery.
But why should we use obliquity to reach our goals rather than directly reaching our objectives?
Kay states that “our objectives are complicated and we learn through the process of working them what they actually are.”
The second reason why we need obliquity according to Kay is that the world is inevitably uncertain. There are a whole variety of things not only that we don’t know about but we don’t even know if they exist.
Another reason why we should use obliquity is that the world is complicated and the simplifications we make to try to deal with it are often wrong and misleading.
Of course, there are many things that we can achieve by intending to do them like passing an exam. This is a clear goal that is pursued by attending classes and studying relevant textbooks but obliquity is needed in rather more complex goals that can only be known through the process of achieving them. These include living a fulfilling life, creating a successful business, and producing a distinguished work of art.
A quote mentioned in the book that conveys the concept is:
“What is the highest good in all matters of action? As to the name, there is almost complete agreement, for uneducated and educated alike call it flourishing, and make flourishing identical with the good life and successful living. They disagree, however, about the meaning of flourishing.” — Aristotle
Obliquity can be used in Business and Economics. Industrial Chemical Company (ICI) was the largest chemical company until it changed its mission in this period from focusing on being the leading chemical company that serves its customers through innovative application of chemistry and science (oblique) to maximize value for shareholders (direct). Now the company is not one of the leading companies and it doesn’t even exist anymore.
It is best to achieve happiness indirectly as Kay makes a point that “Happiness is not achieved through the frequent repetition of favorable experiences, and that is why the pursuit of happiness is a peculiar phrase.” Happiness is not achieved through objective circumstances instead it is a matter of self-fulfillment. Reinhold Messner, a famous mountaineer who reached the summit of Everest, is mentioned as a person who sought happiness by enduring misery and achieved his goal obliquely by challenging himself and overcoming obstacles.
Life is not always understood or easy and the path to our goals may not always be clear. We may not even know what we want or need. Therefore, sometimes it is better to pursue our complex objectives indirectly.
If you want to learn more about the principle of obliquity you can read the book ‘Obliquity: why our goals are best achieved indirectly or listen to the TED talk by John Kay, the author.
Comments