Recently I read in the papers that the Salman Khan starrer movie “Sultan” grossed 100 crores within 3 days of its release and so far its box office collection has crossed a staggering 230 crores!!
Why are people so obsessed with the number game???
Welcome to the “Number game club”
Rules of the game:
No. of players : No limit
Age : Age no bar
Winner : The player who scores/earns the highest *
Replace * with any of the choices given below as required.
*marks, box office collections, salary, targets, likes on FB, followers on your blog, votes
The list is endless……
Why is success always measured in terms of numbers? Chasing numbers many times forces us to compromise on quality and values. Running the race like a horse with blinkers, we solely focus on surging ahead. Reaching that magical number brands us successful. We are least perturbed when we turn a blind eye to a sea of small little things on the way.
Is only the marks on a paper indicative of your intelligence?
Is only a mind boggling collection at the box office the criteria to declare a movie a hit?
Does a high number of likes on your FB post make you the most popular person?
Does only meeting targets at work brand you a star employee?
I believe “Numbers alone should not define your success”.
Now the question arises,
a) If not by numbers, how does one measure success?
or
b) Should we get out of the habit of measuring success?
What do you think???
Image courtesy : allindiaroundup.com,seclerk.com,cakart.com,123rf.com
radhikasreflection 
Because numbers lie and at the same time leaves an impact on the mind because it is easier to recollect. Also, statistics and percentages that we popularly see everywhere has to be analyzed carefully, rather than believing them completely.
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Very true, but unfortunately in most cases, its only the numbers that speak, with hardly an quality analysis happening.
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It won’t happen every. Because humans lack clarity and they still have not figured out how the Universe came into being, other than theories and postulations. So, you know we only have possibilities with us, not concrete evidence of what we are doing.
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But I am sure the yardstick to measure success will not be as complicated as the theories of the universe…….Surely we can devise something more conducive to define success.
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It’s easier to manipulate and also it won’t give a clear picture for the simple fact that human nature is inexplicable. When brands and companies try to capture Big Data and try to plot their future course of action based on that, they falter. Because the time that has elapsed, changed consumer behaviour and they have moved on to something else (so many choices). So, all the data captured to make a strategy always do not work. They remain numbers.
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Yes Amitav, agree with you……but this number game leaves me frustrated !
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Of course, and schools and educational institutions should abolish this system immediately. They are tormenting kids for ages. It’s time to reform and change.
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Very rightly said……when you and I and so many can see this, why does the government turn a blind eye to this serious issue?
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The names- ‘Weak child’, Mediocre Child’, ‘Genius Child’ are also discriminatory, same as body-shaming like zero size and plus size. And we say we do not discriminate. What a child goes through at that impressionable age, being called weak or mediocre or too much adulation for a genius, we do not know. Psychologically it affects a child for life. Well, as society we should raise our voices and Government will listen.
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Yes Amitav, it is criminal to brand children with labels. It is high time we realize the damage we are doing to the innocent souls.
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I think we have moved ahead and fairly call this a modern society, so our thinking, going ahead, should change positively.
What should I call you? I mean you name. Sorry, I did not ask you earlier.
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Haha….name is Radhika
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Thank you, Radhika. 🙂
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It was a pleasure interacting with you Amitav. Thanks for your feedback. 👍
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Thank you for opening up the forum for debate. Such interaction, will hopefully bring some change, as more people read it. Always a pleasure talking to you.
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Awareness is the first step in the direction towards change. Thanks and have a good day 🙂
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You too have a wonderful day. 🙂
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*ever
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We lost a girl from the school I studied in just two weeks ago , reason – she was declared failed by the state board for a mere 9 mks in a subject called ICT. The school lost cent percent and the girl was taunted by her friends apparently .
Now , she had scored an over all first class and was a child battling a spinal cord injury with a learning disability . Instead of being lauded for the success of putting in her best and making it despite barriers , the number game reduced her to just another number in the suicide statistics .size zero , ideal figure ….numbers everywhere , sad but true , quality takes a beating .
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Its so sad to hear about the girl from your school Pri. Very unfortunate that our system focuses only on numbers, which I strongly feel is not right. In spite of so many cases like this they hardly enforce any changes to improve the existing grading system.
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Absolutely Radhika, my mum was the principal of the school before she retired , she introduced little tokens of recognition for qualitative aspects of behaviour etc , it was heartening to see kids being encouraged for aspects per than academic marks . A mix of quant and qual would be ideal and fair . Needs more effort and openness , but it’s possible .
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It is so heartening to hear that Pri. We need more of such people to recognize the true worth of people before labeling them with a few numbers, which they have to carry for life.
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Absolutely ! Doing what you want to , to the best of your ability , not what others think you should be ! Have a nice day , Radhika 🙂
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Very well said Pri. Thanks a lot for your inputs. Enjoy your weekend 🙂
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I think it’s time we stop measuring success by numbers. The number of awards one received, marks obtained in an examination and age, are all just numbers. Just because someone has won loads of awards and trophies, it does not mean he or she is the only one capable. There are people who are really brilliant and intelligent than few MIT/ Stanford/ IIT grads. For example, Pranav Mistry, the guy behind “sixth-sense technology”. He was not an IIT grad, but he is famous now. Fame is pure luck. Luck also plays a part in success. One might be really good at something, but without luck, there is nothing that can help them to succeed.
This is my opinion. 🙂
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Absolutely agree with you. Graduating out of the best college does not ensure that one is brilliant…..I know many people who have modest education from schools next door but have done exceedingly well for themselves. With lady luck smiling by your side, the ride sure does get easy 😉
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This is one of the bitter fact of society that we live on numbers,to cut short and simple i think quality can never be judge on the basis of numbers although sometimes talent shed behind because of this number game.Besides giving analytical importance we should appreciate in other forms i don’t know others would agree but sometimes these number game plays a crucial role in ruining lives also.Well! There is lot to say but i feel really happy to see this post.
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Yes Prashant …..very often numbers are responsible for butchering the confidence, aspirations and lives of many. Sad but bitter truth of the society we live in.
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Exactly thats what i want to say👍☺
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I am glad you too feel the same. 🙂 Thanks
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Count the number of lives you have inspired than no of follower on internet is my belief. What say ??
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I agree with you one hundred percent 👍
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Number is the measure of performance and not success.
There could be another movie in future which may break record of Sultan.
Numbers are used to set targets this may be sales or even marks of a student whitout targets set performance may not increase.
But i strongly feel success needed not be measured in numbers.
Succees is a journey towards acheiving goals. This may be passing the exam for a student. A student who has passed on the borderline and a student who stood first both of them can be treated as sucessful.
The student who stood first has performed better.
Indeed a nice writeup which helped me to differentiate sucess and performance.
Have a great day Radhika
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You have put across your point very well Kiran. As long as achieving the targets does not get fiercely competitive it is fine. But my observation is one who fails to achieve the so called benchmark or target is not considered good enough.
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Thats true …not achieving a set target is not good enough.
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Thanks for sharing your views on the same Kiran. Have a wonderful evening🙂
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Hmmm… A wonderful topic n a very debatable one actually… I would say numbers are important to measure like how blogger kiranmag says to measure perfomace, since I have done performance management I can say that it helps in evaluating someone’s work and setting up targets, measuring becomes easier. But when only numbers play the role and efforts, hurdles, growth are not taken into consideration that’s when these numbers don’t value add anything which and surely are wrong basis for success, failures or determining someone’s worth… I really liked your topic It made me really scratch my mind 🙂
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Thank you Shefali for your feedback. I cannot agree more with you……my grouse is when numbers are the only factor considered for measuring success.
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Thought provoking article to say the least.. My 2 penny worth…
Society cares for statistics… They care for groups….They care for pie charts and graphs which often capture decimal level increase or upswing…… So do policies…be it in education or any other scheme…They care for the output that each human can deliver YoY…And there are plenty to run this race…
So once each human robot is forced to retire…either to premature illness or age…there are plenty of other more efficient robots to take his place…We are victims…. not of a rat race… but of a robot race…Our qualities which define us as human are dried up and replaced into quantitative measures…
With regard to society… it has only a few measures…and money is the most rich yet poor measure..
Even good marks are indicative of a promise… that this potential candidate is a good investment opportunity…He can hit the Jackpot…
Movies also fall into the same category….though there are a few directors breaking away from this mould…
The Man who knew Infinity and Neel Battey Sannata are 2 examples in this regard…
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It was good to read your perspective Karthik. The fact that we humans are running a meaningless rat race or the robot race in life as you call it, is what exasperates me. Ability, creativity, values,intelligence, satisfaction and many other intangibles are all sacrificed in the process. Mere numbers are definitely not the only pointers indicative of success.
Well, from the feedback of other readers also it is encouraging to know that there are many who feel strongly about this. I am optimistic that slowly and steadily like minded people can initiate this change.
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This number concept changes the definition of success. From the scores of the exam to the salary and even in the blogosphere the numbers measures the success rate of a blog. We have an obsession on number, I think. We should measure the success by the quality of work and fix some basic criteria to define the quality.
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You are absolutely right Sayanti when you say that we are obsessed with numbers. Unfortunately across all platforms the criteria to evaluate success boils down to the number game, which is feel is grossly unfair.
Appreciate your input. Have a nice day 🙂
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You raised a good question, actually. It helps to know others’ views on this number game. Have a great day.
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Thank you. You too enjoy your day 🙂
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Numbers define success, that is a bitter truth in our society. It begins with the childhood, the more marks a child attains, the more successful she/he is considered. Even, the more friends a person has in real life is considered as socially amicable than an introvert person with fewer friends.
The most practical example is how PR and brands behave with bloggers 😀 The more likes/followers/Alexa ranking you’ve, monetizing and getting paid projects become easier. Nobody cares about the quality.
Numbers definitely play a great role, but you’ve raised a valid point here, should they be the definition/measuring unit of success? In my opinion, they shouldn’t, but unfortunately, they are.
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Yes Maniparna, I think all the other readers too echoed similar views. Numbers are a good indicator of success. But the issue is when they become the only indicator or criteria 😣. Across different sections of society the importance given to numbers in this regards needs to undergo a paradigm shift.
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Amen to that…
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interesting post….linking numbers to success is the norm, but as you said rightly, the quest for success often leads to dilution of quality and result in shortcuts, ethical violations and so on. Also, the obsession to win also contributes to the numbers game..it is everywhere. At the same time, numbers do matter!
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Yes numbers do matter, but numbers shouldn’t be the only thing that matters 🙂
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so true! that is the sad part – the number game has crept event into our lives quietly and steadily settled there. That is where what you had posted regarding the game of scrabbles comes in – a positive change…
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Yes we do need to initiate such positive changes which may be very small now but gradually impact the greater mindset of people.
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hmm…agree ma’am.. little changes matter the most. their impact is often gradual & acceptable !
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Well said 🙂
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Very true !😊
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Unfortunately it is 😒
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