8 Lessons "Life of Pi" Teaches
“Life of Pi”, the booker prize winning book by Yann Martel is now
showing as a movie in theatres. Not only it has scored high on the
box office meter but has given the viewers something to take back
home about life’s ups and downs and how to handle them bravely.
The captivating story of the Pi’s magical journey on a lifeboat with
a Royal Bengal Tiger teaches about faith in oneself and in god. The
journey is very similar to the journey of an entrepreneur. There is
a lifeboat and a raft (the start-up), a tiger (the unwanted venture
capitalists angel investors), the sea (the market), ships
(commercial success)... There is also time (the factors that we
cannot control and therefore should stop worrying about; there's
enough worry on matters that we can sort out). Let us look at
some of the lessons the movie teaches the entrepreneurs:
1. Be Grateful
Despite those feelings
we all have at some
point in our lives that
nothing is good and
that nothing will ever
be good again there is
always something to be
grateful for.
2. Don’t Give Up
Life of Pi is a story of
perseverance and a story of not
giving up, even in the hardest
of conditions. Pi didn’t give up
hope and he kept moving.
Similarly, for an entrepreneur,
it’s important to remember,
that the darkest days are not
going to last. It’s important, not
to give up on your dreams and
give up on life.
3. Keep Moving
When Pi reached the mysterious
floating island, it seemed like he
has reached an oasis of life with
abundant food, water and shelter.
But he didn’t settle for something
average as he believed there
could be something much better
available. In business, it’s
important to keep moving and
not get satisfied with temporary
success. It’s important to keep an
eye on the final destination.
4. Learn to Co-Exist
After the whale incident, he
decided to start staying with the
tiger on the boat and also set
out marking their territories and
setting some rules. He started
developing a bond with him. Mr.
Parker is both a co-founder and
a competitor for Pi in his
entrepreneurial journey. An
entrepreneur needs to co-exist
with both co-founders and with
competition in the market.
5. Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One
Basket
When Pi found Richard Parker on
the life boat, he got scared and
threw all the supplies in the
lifeboat to a raft and tied it to
the life boat and decided to shift
to the raft. But a whale appeared
one night and upturned Pi’s raft
throwing all his supplies to the
water and then he realized living
with Mr. Parker on the boat may
be a better option. While
starting up, resources are few
and it’s important to save them.
It’s good to have one secure base
and address the market.
6. Planning is Important
When Pi was thrown into the Sea
on the lifeboat with limited stock
of resources, he found a
handbook to help him plan for
the time on the lifeboat. If you
are an entrepreneur, think of the
handbook as your business plan.
It’s important to keep it handy
and work according to the plan
and of course, keep referring to
it, when you’re in doubt and
monitor progress as you go
along.
7. Branding is the First Step Towards
Success
Pi Patel was born with the name
Piscina Molitor Patel, of which
everyone started making fun. He
worked hard on a rebranding
exercise. He decided to remember
the value of Pi expressed in
several hundred decimal places to
tell that his name is derived from
the Greek letter. So, if you have to
work on creating a new brand
name of changing your existing
brand name for that matter, work
on telling a good story which
captures the imagination of the
audience. The story makes the
brand name stick.
8. Stay Focused
Pi’s father Santosh Patel says
this to Pi at the dining table,
when he was getting curious
about different religions and
wanted to follow all of them
at the same time. It’s difficult
to follow different paths at
the same time, as many of
them are conflicting in nature
and often create confusion
and make it difficult to stay
focused and at times, lead to
wastage of crucial resources.
Thanks
RB