In the startup industry there is a popular mantra that suggests that one should “fake it till you make it.” Essentially, it is an advice to companies to project themselves in a manner that makes them look and feel more successful than they genuinely are, with the eventual hope that this masquerade of prosperity would propel them to real and actual success. As a strategy it has worked very well for many firms, resulting in market valuations of billions of dollars for companies where the revenue numbers just do not correspond with this assessed value. So the value is essentially based on perceived intangibles rather than on basic fundamentals like revenue.
However, this philosophy of feigning success till actually attaining it is not limited to Internet startups; how many of us know of people who have used this very strategy to further their goals in the real world? People who succeeded in life by pretending to be ascendant, and eventually achieved triumph because of that same projected image. The name Double Shah comes to mind. Or I can think of this relative of mine who having a large, splendid moustache introduces himself as a retired army general or an IG of police or even as a sitting Senator according to the opportunity. And the worst part is that he seems to get away with it all the time.
So that old aphorism of perception being reality does seem to hold true, even if the said perception is not indeed the truth. Now you begin to realise why people go to such extreme lengths to craft that certain image of themselves; they know how critical that perceived image could be for their actual success. And you understand why certain media houses go to lengths to skew and manipulate rating systems, and why we all buy cars and houses that we really can’t afford. It’s all just an elaborate ploy to disguise ourselves into looking successful because we know only then will we be treated or considered so. We view everyone with shallowness and naturally assume that we ourselves shall be viewed with the same superficiality.
But you can go ahead and console yourself to the fact that it is not just individuals, organisations or even society in general that has this injudicious and superficial view, it is also nations.
Consider India for example. Here’s a nation with a substantial percentage of the population living in wretched poverty in rural as well as urban areas, footpaths of all major cities covered with the poor and the homeless sleeping at night, and slums stretching across miles, yet the country is considered a success. In Pakistan, there is nowhere close to that depth of poverty yet we are perceived by some to be a state close to failure.
India’s economic numbers are certainly stronger than ours; the GDP and per capita are higher, yet the quality of life in Pakistan appears to be better, urban as well as rural. We have no real untouchables or dalits in our country, yet Indians are considered more enlightened. And whole villages and towns defecating in the open? That’s unheard of here.
Their extremists are just as rabid if not more than ours, and, in fact, much larger in sheer numbers but you never hear about them in the news. Even our problems with Balochistan pale in comparison to Kashmiri and other separatist movements, yet why is it India that is considered more stable and just?
Indian leaders are just as corrupt and the scale of their corruption simply enormous, but we are considered worse of the two. Does democracy appear just as overrated for them as for anywhere else in the world?
Of course, their middle class is larger as they are a larger nation, after all, but why is there never any mention whatsoever of our increasingly affluent and assertive middle class?
I said, perception is sometimes more important than reality, and we have fared rather poorly on this front just as we have fared poorly on many others, I am certain. But we have also done quite well on some matters so let’s not forget that. Compare your life and the life of your parents and grandparents and tell me there has been no progress. There is increased pressure of course but is there not more reward too?
Despite the corruption, the mismanagement and the terrorism you have more freedom, better education, more disposable income and more choices. As that uncle with the splendid moustache, India successfully projects an image that is eminently better than the reality, while we continue to project the image of a nation so much worse.
Almost every Indian film shows a happy, progressive, wonderful place, filled with beauteous women and successful men leading happy, contented lives, but think about it for a minute: isn’t that in actuality closer to what we have here in Pakistan? Minus the skimpy dresses, of course!
I think it’s time someone comes forward and tells the truth, even if only to ourselves. That overall, despite all the obstacles and the bureaucracy and the mismanagement and the bad governance we’ve not done too badly. Not badly at all. If you agree tell me who deserves the credit? Is it you?
The writer is chairman of a Hedge Fund, and can be reached at [email protected]