I love great TV commercials just as much as I enjoy good movies and TV series. What sets commercials apart is their ability to deliver a powerful message in such a short span of time! Some witty ads become ingrained in our cultural memory, while others go a step further, offering us clever metaphors to describe our mental models.
Take the iconic tagline, “Streets are filled with idiots.” If you’ve heard it before, it’s likely etched in your mind. If not, you’re in for a treat—check it out below!
This was one of CEAT Tyres’ memorable campaigns from years ago, and its message remains timeless as long as we share the roads. Despite our best efforts to promote road safety education, the reality is that some individuals will never get the message. While we aspire for a utopian, idiot-free society, we must also prepare for the inevitable by equipping ourselves with tools like anti-skid tyres. CEAT’s ad reflects this mindset: embracing resilience as a practical strategy.
This mental model—choosing resilience over futile resistance—has remarkable applications beyond road safety. Here are two examples:
1. The Evolution of Software Development
For years, software developers sought foolproof ways to define and lock down software requirements to avoid project failures. They believed that ultimate clarity and rigid plans were the answers.
Then came a pivotal shift: instead of resisting change, they embraced it. Agile methodology was born, welcoming evolving requirements throughout the development process. Today, agile is the gold standard not only in software development but across many organizational processes. The resilience mental model solved what once seemed like an insurmountable problem.
2. Preparing for Future Pandemics
During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and organizations expended significant energy tracing the virus’s origin, often clashing with uncooperative parties like China. While this was important, some visionary thinkers asked a different question: What if we accept that such pandemics will happen again, regardless of controls?
Instead of solely focusing on prevention, they shifted their efforts toward preparation—predicting future pathogens and developing vaccines for likely variants before they emerge. To quote from this The Economist article –
“…There is no knowing when the next pandemic will come. New pathogens are emerging from complex, unpredictable environments all the time, often far from scrutiny or regulatory control. A fresh disease could be about to take off right now, as a freak bacterium escapes from an antibiotic-abusing factory farm, say, or a mutated virus sweeps out of a laboratory or a forest, as a bat passes it on to a new host which can infect humans. You cannot stop all pandemics, but you can prepare for them better….”
This forward-thinking approach embodies resilience: acknowledging the inevitable and adapting to minimize its impact.
The “CEAT Tyres Approach”
Next time you face an intractable problem, consider adopting this resilience-based mindset. Whether it’s software development, pandemic preparedness, or everyday challenges, the “CEAT Tyres approach” reminds us that sometimes, resilience—not resistance—is the most practical solution.
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(featured image: Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels)
