Double Thank you moments!!!!!

All transactions in life have a purpose and we are looking to any interaction to get the maximum out of the interaction for oneself. So we maximise profit, pleasure and power for ourselves thinking that since life is short and the more we get out of it the better. However, life teaches us that the maximum profit, pleasure and real power come from double thank you moments. 

Capitalism defines double thank you moment as one in which both the buyer and the seller thank each other because both are benefited by the interaction and both because of the benefit accruing to each other say a genuine heartfelt thank you to each other. So can we have consistent double thank you moments in healthcare as far as the hospital is concerned. Contrary to the oft held belief that profit comes from reduced costs and increased prices the truth is that profit comes a combination of a cure for an ailment which is the primary objective of healthcare and a pleasant experience which can certainly create the double thank you moments in healthcare. 

The commonest example of double thank you moments given is of the humble tea/coffee experience, where a tea costing Rs.10/- in a cutting chai glass gets enhanced when served in cup and saucer and better still in a tray with teapot and bone china cutlery with sugar and milk separate and even better with a plate of sandwiches or cocktail samosas. Same tea will be priced 10 to 20 times higher. The ambience and maybe a book shop or an Art studio can raise the price further. It can even be a medium for a sale of painting worth lakhs of rupees. And yet the customer and the seller is happy to pay the price for the experience and the value enhancement of the product. 

The work of any organization is defined by its founder or the body running the organization. Even today I have seen many organizations who do not have clarity of purpose it defining what they stand for. This leads to loss of focus. Such companies create a product without considering the stakeholders and expect consumers to buy them. Whereas if you design a product which gives a delightful experience to all stakeholders you do not have to sell it but it sells effortlessly. 

A person enters a hospital to get a solution for an ailment and a cure which depends on the evidence based treatment for the illness. However, the caring communicating doctor, supported by a clean safe environment provided by the set up, along with an ethical management known for integrity and transparency in billing makes the patient, doctor and the hospital employee in the form of carer happy. So care seeker, caregiver and clinical outcome provider are all happy and thank each other creating a double thank you moment or experience. So in this interaction patient says thank you, doctor thanks patient and hospital and hospital thanks patient and doctor. This is double thank you. 

Let us examine swadharma in terms of work one does in life. The ancient Indian scriptures talked of following the work or profession based on one's inherent nature and the option for the man to become a teacher, warrior, trader and a labourer existed. The present age has seen these lines getting blurred and today there is huge crisis due what we know is the fall of the human intellect. We are part of a herd instinct pursuing an education which is utilitarian geared to standard 9-5 jobs which are mechanical and bereft of enjoyment. Very often man works for a salary in industry which degrades the environment or for companies which produce junk food, arms and ammunition, toxic medicines etc. So are these jobs and work creating products which are amenable to double thank you moments. My answer is a resounding "NO". So to my mind it is our duty to find one's svadharma and at any stage in life change one's vocation to do what satisfies you rather than just one's job. 

The other day I heard a term called optimal delusion which I very much liked. The important thing is to use one's power of discrimination to discover a purpose of life. In this work which leads to shreya rather than preya that is the work which leads to perennial joy vs that which leads to passing pleasure is to be chosen. This is from the Kathaupanishad. Simply it value work in consonance with one’s purpose of life and work ethics.

 This blog is experiential and at any stage in life one needs to make the choice. I choose optimum delusion to help me clear my doubts on my suitability to work on the path of shreya which often takes one out of one’s comfort zone. 

Vispi Jokhi