In this day and age “Nice” is becoming obsolete. People very rarely give a shit about others. After all aren’t we taught that “Nice guys finish last” or that “being nice never gets you anywhere”? It’s a dog eat dog man eat man world, where kindness and compassion have taken a backseat to ruthlessness and selfishness. Money and status rule the world, it doesn’t matter what you do, or who you trample to get at it. Sadly this is not a new thing. We humans have always been assholes, it’s just these days we get to hear it more, thanks to the global information network.
No, I’m not preaching that I’m any different. I too am a greedy corporate whore. If you say that you don’t want to have the cool clothes, the flashy cars and the awesome gadgets, then you are a flat out liar. There is nothing wrong with aiming for these things. The point is NOT to become an asshole along the way. A majority of us do have a conscience and will feel some sort of guilt when we do something that we know is wrong. It’s when we lose this that we become the Adolf Hitlers’ of the world.
I came across this very interesting book sometime back, which has given me a lot to think about. It’s called “The Power of Nice” by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, founders of the multibillion dollar advertising agency the Kaplan Thaler Group. One of their key approaches to work is NICE and throughout the book they share personal experiences of people who have gained something through the power of nice. Each chapter also has little exercises that you can do to improve your niceness.
Being nice is not about how much you donate to charities and how many fund-raisers you attend. It’s the little things that matter.
I don’t know about other people but I found this to be a very informative and inspirational book. It’s not big either. I got it at the book fair but can’t remember which shop it was :( but I think it was from Vijitha Yapa.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
The Power of Nice
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
After years of being 'nice' and getting walked all over I decided I'm not gonna be so nice any more :(
I totally believe in being nice. Finishing last (even though not being a guy!)is not a great feeling but it's better than finishing first knowing that you did it corruptly. I think manners and niceities are hard to come by in this age but they make a whole load of difference. :)
Being nice ftw! :D
being nice cannot be forced. It has to come within...
Being nice does have it's disadvantages also... but then, each to his own I guess..
@Niro: Being nice doesn't mean that you have to let other people walk over you. I agree, sometimes a little "not nice" is acceptable :)
@Scrumps: You are a beautiful person :D
@Chavie: :D
@LD: True, You can't change how your programed. But it's sad to see nice people becoming nasty due to environmental influences.
Post a Comment