My good friend and esteemed colleague He-Man and I had a most interesting conversation the other day. On one of our usual coffee and a tete-a-tete sessions, He-Man announced with a rather serious face that in Q4 '07, a realization dawned on him, as clear as the light of day.
He said that he firmly believes that all of the people in the world can be divided into exactly two categories. The first group, he postulated - contains the 'Acquisition' minded people. These people, he claims, know exactly what they want out of life, and what they need to do to get what they want, and how they need to do it. And they simply acquire other people as they go along - people who will help them get what they want. And they do it ruthlessly. With the utmost confidence in their capabilities, wasting no time on people or things that will not help them achieve what they want.
The second group of people are the ones that get acquired by the first group. Mind you, He-Man cautioned, these people are not losers, they are not pathetic junkies or flunkies that get only the raw end of the deal. They can be successful (after all, success is relative, now isn't it?), they can be happy with their lives. BUT, they get acquired by the Acquition people. The Acquired usually are seen ambling along, making friends here and there, making banter, indulging in this and that, here and there. They have goals, they have ambitions, but they take their own sweet time getting to them, if at all. They are smart, and intelligent and hard working, but they also have a super heightened sense of ethics, and usually a fair burden of emotional involvement in all their dealings. The Acquisition people devour them, always to their own end. And they dont have a single qualm about it. What's more, they apply the same principle to every aspect of their life.
He-Man listed all the names of people on our team that fell into the two categories. Amazingly, he was right. It was true. The people fit the categorization like a glove to a hand.
I thought this was a most interesting way to describe the fundamental difference between people. BUT - I wondered if it was overly simplified. What if, it was possible to strike a balance between the two categories. What if the first step was to simply be sure which category you belong to, and then see if being that way is good for the different areas of your life? Was it even possible? Further, is it absolutely horrible if you are not an Acquisition person? Are you doomed for an ordinary, mediocre life with no hope of reaching the stars? I want to badly say 'No, of course, not!', but He-Man is so sure of his theory, that he will bet his bottom dollar on it. You are either born with it, or you have to do something so drastic and groom and train yourself so specifically to get it, he believes.
Interesting. I know I am going to be using this lens on everyone I know or meet for a while at least. :-)
