Even the flapping of the wings of a butterfly that occurred several weeks prior can greatly influence the ultimate outcome of how and where the tornado forms, how far it travels and how soon it ceases to exist.
Ridiculous, right?
Ridiculous, right?
Let me quote from a celebrated scientific paper:
“one flap of a sea gull's wings would be enough to alter the course of the weather forever. The controversy has not yet been settled, but the most recent evidence seems to favor the seagulls.”
“one flap of a sea gull's wings would be enough to alter the course of the weather forever. The controversy has not yet been settled, but the most recent evidence seems to favor the seagulls.”
If you don’t believe me, you can refer to the actual paper here on the MIT university website.
The concept, no matter how hard to believe, found a scientific basis over time and eventually came to be a part of an area of mathematical study known as Chaos Theory.
The concept, no matter how hard to believe, found a scientific basis over time and eventually came to be a part of an area of mathematical study known as Chaos Theory.
In 1972, the American Association for Advancement of Science organized a lecture by Edward Lorenz with the title: Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?
A butterfly certainly cannot cause a tornado by flapping its wings, no matter how hard it does so. However, that flapping may make a small difference to the initial conditions that lead to the formation of a tornado.
Our actions, no matter how small, always matter. You have no idea how it will influence the overall dynamics of where things are headed into the future.
And that is why, we must keep going in the direction that we want to move, no matter how small the action is!
And that is why, we must keep going in the direction that we want to move, no matter how small the action is!
In the television series Lucifer, an angel called Uriel has been depicted. Uriel has the superpower that he can study any pattern, and then gently nudge something to cause the final outcome that he wants.
He can cause a car crash or homicide by running into a pedestrian or shooing off a dog, which then sets off a chain of events that lead to the final intended outcome.
Have you ever experienced the butterfly effect in your life?
Have you ever experienced the butterfly effect in your life?
In 2009, I was sitting in my college library doing some research on a computer for my project when someone came and sat next to me.
1 year later, that incident led me to work on a legal risk management project for L&T, dealing with a 300 cr power distribution digitalization project while I was still a law student in the 4th year!
That let me and my collaborators giving a lecture to L&T officers in a Vashi facility, where for the first time I experienced how badly managers and executives want to learn the practical aspects of the law.
That led me to conceptualize a course while traveling from Mumbai to Kolkata by train, which then my partner Abhyuday convinced our erstwhile VC of NUJS who gave us a chance to present the idea before the entire faculty.
It took us a year to get started on that project thereafter as we had to dot many i’s and cross many t’s.
And that is how I got into online legal education after quitting my job.
And that is how I got into online legal education after quitting my job.
How did I learn to sell? That was another butterfly effect. I was invited by IMS to give a speech at a school in Kolkata about law as a career. I didn’t have the confidence, so I told a friend to take the money and do the gig.
I went along anyway. After seeing her performance, I was quite dissatisfied. I took the mic after her and started interacting with the students.
My friend got the money, but I got a new direction in life.
My friend got the money, but I got a new direction in life.
I was told that I have a natural talent in public speaking by the IMS folks. Several of the students present signed up for IMS law entrance coaching. That was the beginning of my career in sales!
I learned that sales is not some sleazy thing to do, but a way to guide and inspire people, and I did a lot of it thereafter.
I attended a startup event for the first time when I read about it on my Facebook page.
I attended a startup event for the first time when I read about it on my Facebook page.
I went there on a hunch, with no idea as to what are startups or what to expect from the event. Once I reached, I saw a guy speaking about a data protection software company he was building.
3 months later, he was a paying client, giving me work for drafting and negotiating contracts. I got to see from close quarters how he was building his startup and copied many of the things I learned there when I started building my own startup.
10 years later, he is still a good friend who calls me every time he needs some legal advice. And attending that event led me to become a volunteer in it eventually.
It helped me to network with top entrepreneurs, build close connections with many of them, which led to work worth many lakhs over the years.
Reading a good book has a butterfly effect.
Every student who joins us and loves our courses set a butterfly effect in motion.
Reading a good book has a butterfly effect.
Every student who joins us and loves our courses set a butterfly effect in motion.
That is how we got some of the biggest companies in the world coming to a small startup like us for cutting edge legal courses.
Doing a bad thing, or being lazy at a certain moment has butterfly effects too.
Doing a bad thing, or being lazy at a certain moment has butterfly effects too.
Who knows what opportunities I have missed in life due to momentary weaknesses or laziness on a certain day?
That is how reputation is built. Every single satisfied learner and every dissatisfied learner have a huge impact on our business,
That is how reputation is built. Every single satisfied learner and every dissatisfied learner have a huge impact on our business,
And we run our courses with that awareness at all times. That is why we hire our best people in operations, whereas other edtech companies tend to think that spending on customer success or operations is a waste of money.
For us, if you buy one course from us, and then do not buy another, that means we failed, because clearly you didn’t benefit enough from the first course to want to invest in another, or refer another person like you to us, or think how we can help your organization or local bar.
That’s a great loss of opportunity.
I invite you to think of your career as a series of butterfly effects too.
No action is too small. Every good or bad action has long term, unimaginable ripple effects.
I invite you to think of your career as a series of butterfly effects too.
No action is too small. Every good or bad action has long term, unimaginable ripple effects.
Reading one article, helping one friend, speaking up for one person who needs your help can forever change your destiny in the long run, thanks to the butterfly effect.
We do not know which exact actions will have the best effects, so we must take lots of action, aimed at good outcomes, and send those ripples out into the universe. We must take as many good actions as we can and intend that these will eventually lead to a tornado of success.
