My journey from the hotel to the training venue in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was only 2 miles yet it took 45 minutes to drive there each morning. The traffic was some of the worst I’ve seen.
Cars honking their horns and jostling for position to try and steal a few yards wherever possible. Buses meandering in the lanes, people leaning outside of the windows to gasp some air in the 35 degree temperatures, with almost 100% humidity.
The winners? The rickshaws. Tricycles pulling two seats for passengers who paid a few Takas for the ride. They were small, highly manoeuvrable and made it through the traffic far quicker than any motorised vehicle.
And this got me thinking about business. Sometimes we’re too enamoured with honking our horns, so to speak, trying to jostle for position and get ahead where if we resembled the rickshaw, we might just get ahead.
Take stock, have patience, look around and then use your agility to squeeze through the gaps and get ahead.
Just like the Rickshaws in Dhaka.
Why didn’t I evacuate the taxi and climb into a Rickshaw? Have you experienced that temperature coupled with the humidity whilst wearing a British business suit and tie? I hadn’t either and would prefer the air conditioned taxi anytime.
