Action, Not Reaction

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Speaking Tree Website | September 07, 2015

Several years ago, IBM, the famous American Computer Company, was already so far ahead in the field of computers that its officers, making fun of Japanese computer companies, had quipped: ‘When IBM sneezes, Japanese computer makers are blown away.’

Japanese industrialists, however, did not express any anger at this provocative assessment of their worth. They rather devoted themselves to upgrading the standard of their computers, until a time came when Japan had achieved the topmost rank in the world in computer industry. Today Fujitsu, a Japanese computer company, said its largest new computer could perform up to 600 million instructions per second (MIPS), compared with as many as 210 MIPS for IBM’s best. (Time, September 17, 1990)

Reacting to provocation brings nothing but negative results, whereas ignoring provocation leaves the way clear to embark on planned construction and consolidation. It is the law of this world that those who act make progress, while those who react are doomed to failure.