‘What Google Maps lacks is it doesn’t scream out to you saying ‘stop you, idiot, you’re going in the wrong direction.’ It doesn’t stop, rather, it merely reorients itself to the wrong route you are taking. If you blindly follow it, you might eventually reach your destination. Just that you may be a few hours late.’
I recently used Google Maps to walk a short distance to get to a particular place.
Directions have never been my forte. Before the advent of Maps, I have got lost going to the same place innumerable times. Taking and giving directions always makes me jittery. While Google Maps has simplified lives to a certain extent, they have a long way to go before they can be considered to be seamless. I see many cab drivers go round about instead of taking a straight forward path just because they blindly follow the Maps.
As I began walking, I saw the distance and time required to get to my destination keep increasing. I then back-tracked and took another road. The same thing happened. On my third attempt, I finally began heading in the right direction.
Even as I was walking in the wrong direction, Maps kept asking me to take the next left. And even though the time and distance were increasing, it didn’t ask me to stop and turn back.
What Google Maps lacks is it doesn’t scream out to you saying ‘stop you, idiot, you’re going in the wrong direction.’ It doesn’t stop, rather, it merely reorients itself to the wrong route you are taking. If you blindly follow it, you might eventually reach your destination. Just that you may be a few hours late. If you don’t pay attention, you can keep heading in the wrong direction endlessly.
It then occurred to me how important it is for us to have people who serve as guard rails. People who care enough about us to tell us that something we are doing is wrong. Or that the job we are going to take isn’t the right fit for us. Or who set us in a better direction. These are not naysayers, pessimists who discount everything you do and try and thwart your every move. Those kinds of people are a dime a dozen. And sometimes, people who care about us can make us too cautious, keeping us from exploring and getting us out of our comfort zones.
Rather, these are people who help keep you in check.
In the lovely speech, commentator Harsha Bhogle speaks of how many of us become immune to criticism after a certain point and surround ourselves with people who sing our praises (watch from the 36.30 mark). That’s why very few organizations have reverse appraisals. Which is why teachers give students report cards but students don’t get to give their teachers report cards.
Constructive criticism, being shown the light, being led in a better direction, all of these are essential for us to course correct whenever we go off-track.
It’s never too late to start heading in the right direction.
But it sure helps if you have people who care enough about you show you a better way or stop you from going overboard in the wrong direction.
