Star Trek and Business
Star Trek and Business
Our small business, CL Simplex (for our astute readership) has been around for just over two years now. The journey has been a complete whirlwind and we generally measure our growth as leaders by the sheer number of mistakes we’ve learned from. Along the way, we have put out some serious five-alarm fires and sometimes to can feel like there is no good option, silver lining, or even paycheque. We have finally experienced our “Kobayashi-Maru” test.
The Kobayashi Maru Test
The “Kobayashi-Maru” test comes from the TV show Star Trek. The test involves captains facing an impossible scenario - one with no way out. The captains taking the test don’t know the inevitable outcome, the captains are tested on their ability to cope with failure and the reality of some situations. We were recently debriefing after an especially spicy week, and we were exhausted. We were in a situation where it felt like there was nothing we could do to make things work. We did everything right, but in the end our client was not happy with the results. In this story, we were able to resolve it, but before that moment we had experienced the Kobayashi-Maru test. Reflecting on it, lots of businesses probably have that moment. That moment of dread and foreboding feeling of helplessness. Thinking about Star Trek’s “Kobayashi Maru” was a helpful way we joked about the week we just barely crawled out of.
Business Lessons
As business owners, we need a little bit of Kirk in us. As all good IT workers know, Kirk never believed in no-win scenarios. Most importantly, even in the face of certain doom we need to maintain our composure and be professional. Fortunately for us, there is usually a tomorrow, and so we can use life and death as a metaphor. That being said, such a test is very valuable to anyone aspiring to be a true business leader - like us! The best swords are forged in the hottest flames, and so while we try and avoid these situations, we feel that we are better as a result of our experiences.
To Boldly Blog...
We posted this because we first of all enjoy making fun comparisons, and we feel like we ended up with a small nugget of wisdom. Even when we felt like things were not how we wanted them, we kept working at it and in the end - things panned out! Also we wanted to post something with another star trek photo.
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