Moving Fast And Break Things Vs Sthira Sukham.

Silicon Valley Wisdom vs Yogic Philosophy

It's super interesting, as I've been pondering this paradox a lot over the last year. Everyone will be familiar with “Move Fast and Break Things” pioneered by Silicon Valley Versus the 1000-year-old yogic wisdom of “Sthira Sukham Assana”? which directly means postures should be stable and comfortable. Let's delve into these two philosophies that I firmly believe which sound rather contradictory.?

Sthira Sukham is the perfect balance between effort and ease. I've interpreted this in my working life and other areas as just doing the right amount so that I can continue to maintain the same amount of effort for a longer time, or in this case, every day. This is especially helpful in Sri Lanka, where the pace is not always on your own, and you need to maintain patience as the counterpart you are working with takes time. So being patient and thinking of things in the long run helps with peace of mind. When doing something, I can think about how I can maintain the momentum for 7-10 years.? Being personally somewhat loose in my behavior, this was very helpful in obtaining balance.

By the same token, Silicon Valley and the tech sphere embrace moving fast and breaking things. Sam Altman modified this to make it even more interesting by stating, “Move faster. Slowness anywhere justifies slowness everywhere.” Great disruptive companies must move fast and maintain urgency. To be fair, I also enjoy moving fast and breaking things; I get a bit of a kick from it. Especially now, when your competition doesn't take much time to catch up to you. Also, getting products out to market has become so easy that you can get overtaken by competitors in the blink of an eye.?

Once you have momentum, it's hard to stop you, and when someone else has momentum, it's hard to catch up.?

Maybe I lean towards “moving fast and breaking things” as it taps into my deeper child-like love of breaking things and then inadvertently having to fix them afterward.

So, where is the balance?

Moving fast and breaking things is cool, but it's no point if you cannot sustain that energy for a long time, or you do not have the resources to stay alive.?

You move so fast that the market does not catch up to you, and then you die. The same way, if you are just moving super fast and you burn out right before you get your winning shot. On the opposite side, being steady and easy is super cool because it fits the age-old wisdom of slow and steady wins the race. Which is factually not true.?

Slow and steady may finish the race, but for sure won't win.

Honestly, I do not have the answer to what you should use. I suppose everything is circumstantial, but I for sure know that I truly embrace both sayings of “Move fast and break things” and “Sthira Sukham Assanam.”