Thank You Bad Experience!
My friend and I used to have an inside joke where we said "thank-you bad experience"! as a tribute to the lessons we learned the hard way. Whether it be an enemy that was bothering us, a plan that got ruined or a foible by either of us… we would see it in this lighthearted way in order to feel better. I have seen business executives call losses as a result of bad experiences, competition or bad decisions as "tuition" and they intended to learn from the tuition that they paid.
In the Dali Lama’s Art of Happiness it says:
Imagine what it would be like if we went through life never encountering an enemy or any other obstacles for that matter, if from the cradle to the grave everyone we met pampered us, with funny faces and the occasional "goo-goo" noise. If from infancy we were carried around in a basket (later on, perhaps on a litter), never encountering any challenge, never tested — in short, if everyone continued to treat us like a baby. That might sound good at first. For the first few months of life it might be appropriate. But if it persisted it could only result in one becoming a sort of gelatinous mass, a monstrosity really — with the mental and emotional development of veal. It’s the very struggle of life that makes us who we are. And it is our enemies that test us, provide us with the resistance necessary for growth.*
And he is right – it is not ONLY our enemies, but enemies certainly provide a part that is needed for growth. The Chinese government are certainly giving the Tibetans plenty of time to contemplate on this one.
Pg. 181 The Art of Happiness
On tuition – were the shareholders fine with paying that price too?