STFU #79 - Badluram’s Body and Karwa Devi - Butterfly Effect in Startups

-- Badluram ka Badan - Assam Rifles --

In 1944, during World War II, the 1st Assam Regiment was posted in and around Kohima (Nagaland). They were fighting the “Battle of Kohima” as part of the British Indian Army against the Japanese Army in Burma (Myanmar).?

Badluram, a Rifleman sepoy of this regiment, was unfortunately killed in the early days of the battle from a gunshot wound.?

As per Army norms, your ration stops after your death. However, the quartermaster (the one who handles the logistics of the team), somehow forgot to remove his name from the rations roster.?As a result, the regiment?continued to draw extra rations in Badluram's name.?

On 6th April 1944, Japanese troops surrounded Kohima, and all supplies were cut. While a lot of regiments were plundered, Badluram’s team survived due to the extra ration they had received for Badluram.?

The team survived - no one knows if it was completely due to the ignorance of the quartermaster, Badluram’s sacrifice, or just pure luck that helped the team.

But in 1946, a song was composed in Badluram’s honor and has since become the regimental song of the Assam Regiment, symbolizing resilience, humor, and pride. It is sung by every new cadet and at official functions and celebrations done by the regiment, for the past 78 years now!.?

Hear this one and am sure, once you hear it, it will be very difficult to take it out of your mind!

"Badluram ka badan zameen ka neeche hai

toh humey uska ration milta hai"?

("Badluram's body is buried but we get his rations").

-- Karwa Devi and Veeravati - for Karva Chauth --

On Karva Chauth, women (mostly from the North and Western parts of India) observe a fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. They go without consuming food or water for the entire day.?

The fast is concluded after sighting the moon when women see the moon through a sieve, offer water to it, and then their husbands offer them the first sip of water or food.

A famous story involves a beautiful queen named?Veeravati, the only sister of seven loving brothers. After her marriage, she observed her first Karva Chauth but found it difficult to fast without food or water. Seeing her struggle, her brothers decided to trick her. They created a false moonrise using a mirror. Believing it to be the real moon, Veeravati broke her fast. Soon after, she received news that her husband died. Distressed, she prayed to Goddess Parvati, who advised her to complete the fast with full devotion to restore her husband's health. Veeravati resumed her fast, and her husband’s life was saved.

Another popular legend is about a devoted wife named?Karva, who was deeply in love with her husband. One day, her husband was attacked by a crocodile while bathing in a river. Karva bound the crocodile using a cotton yarn and prayed to Yama (the god of death) to take the crocodile away. Impressed by her devotion and strength, Yama granted her wish and the crocodile was sent to Yamaloka (hell), ensuring the long life of her husband.

The story of Karva Devi is simple - If you keep the fast till moonrise, your husband will be healthy. If you break it before looking at the moon, your husband is in deep trouble!

-- Butterfly Effect - Unpredictable and Predictable Outcomes --

On one hand, the Assam Rifles Unit survived a tough time, probably due to the quartermaster or Badluram or just luck or maybe all of them - a big impact but due to many small inputs.?

While on the other hand, Karwa Chauth has a clear direction - stay ‘fasted’ if you want your husband to be healthy. If you don’t, your husband might lose his life!

The first set stands for a bit of outcome caused by many small actions. These small actions have little impact on the system individually. But when together, they lead to a big output, you cannot pinpoint the main cause for the outcome. Hence, there is an element of unpredictability. This is called the butterfly effect and is for non-linear complex systems.

The second set involves small changes leading to predictable outcomes.?A clear “if you do A, B will happen” - predictable and stable outcome with specific small changes. This is called ‘Determinism’ and is for linear systems.?

Butterfly effect and Determinism, are both outcomes common in startups.

When business increases, how do you attribute it to inputs??

In some cases, you advertised a keyword and got an order on that ad - simple inputs leading to predictable outcomes. That’s linear. That’s Determinism.?

But when you run a brand film creating awareness about the brand or any of its categories, how do you measure outcomes? Or what part of the business that increased can be attributed to the brand-building team?

What is the role of that social post around Diwali that you worked through the night to make?

What about the YouTube ad you ran, that did not give any direct business??

Maybe it was not relevant. Or maybe it contributed to your business. Maybe it is just the butterfly effect.

Brand 101 says that building salience improves business over a period of time and is quintessential to increasing business. Constant focus only on ‘measurable’ ways to build a business will decay the brand and reduce numbers over a period of time. But do we follow it all the time?

At True Elements , these are the challenges we still live with today. Thankfully, some of the shots we have taken have led to the butterfly effect on business. At the same time, we also resort to Karwa Devi-style linear effort whenever we need measurable results in the short term.?

As a startup, we mostly deal with non-linear complex systems, even though you would want to believe otherwise. So while we keep worshipping Karwa Devi for straight linear results, one should not undermine the small inputs that need to be constantly given to ensure a big outcome.?

In summary, Be the Badluram in most cases, and Karwa Devi occasionally.?

For the ones who worship Karwa Devi every day, be ready to run without food and water!

For the ones who are hungry like the quartermaster or Badluram,?

STFU!

Reference: Books - 10x is easier than 2x, Drunk Tank Pink