Something will Happen!

Paul McCartney, of the Beatles (duh!), during an interview with the BBC for a BBC Masters series described an anecdote that happened during a ride with his fellow musicians. The narrative goes like this. Apparently, during a snowstorm and on icy roads, the van in which the Beatles were travelling in slid off the highway, went down an embankment and stuck there, wheels spinning, with no possibility of getting back up on the roads. There was shock from the suddenness of the incident, dazed looks and some outbursts of paranoia. One can imagine the change in state from a smooth ride to a bumpy crash.

Paul says the bewildering situation triggered chaotic conversations and this is where it got interesting. Some were quietly stunned; some wanted to take charge; go out in the biting cold; get some help and stuff and there was total pandemonium with multiple personalities cutting into one another when suddenly Ringo Star calmly asks everyone to chill and says, “Something will happen”.

Something will HAPPEN?!! Huh?!

Everyone goes quiet and looks at him in a weird way. Is he off his rockers? Is he high? We are in a ditch and he says Something will happen? OMG!

When the dust settled down eventually, there was a quiet realization that they couldn’t do anything and waiting was actually the best course of action. They acknowledged their situation, agreed on Ringo’s diktat and decided to do nothing.

Help found its way to them in one hour.

I found this story incredibly interesting and immediately caught on to this as a wonderful case of personalities, a case on differing reactions and a case of how to handle sudden out-of-the-blue situations.

Why do I find this interesting?

I work in a corporate and more often than not, you are in a room full of people and such situations crop up. These situations present a wonderful perspective on personalities, a case study on situational behavior and a case study on analyzing scenarios.

Read the room! ?

A typical meeting has the usual suspects. The “darlings” who are always going to say the right things, the “i-care-two-hoots” ones who are always going to be quiet and know nothing will come of this, the “pain-in-the-rear” ones who are going to be ask the uncomfortable questions or demand unconventional answers, the “preachers” who will pontificate and take the high road and then the “bosses” who will do what bosses do and that’s decide for everyone.

Situations manifest differently. It could be a simple change management situation, a dramatic unforeseen inflection point, an escalation with severe consequences, an unintended impact / disruption situation.

A meeting called in this context for one of the above is a classic situation for a personality riot. Different personalities taking in the shock and the gravity of the situation is one scene and then a second scene is trying to come to grasps and getting to wrap their thoughts around the topic and a third scene trying to put words to their thoughts. And the third scene is where the divergence begins to unfold.

It is believed that a hidden nature of any person is exposed or highlighted only during such stressful situations. These don’t allow for preparations, practice or a made-up persona to be developed. It instead brings out the raw, pure and uncut character to the fore. This is the real you. Why is that so?

Oscar Wilde said – “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken”

It is simple. Or is it??