In general I have found that desi people (particularly) Pakistanis are so used to the structured lifestyle and culture, that very often they are highly risk averse and unwilling to take calculated risks in careers, academia or in social settings.
Even people who have spent several years here find it difficult to make their own choices in situations where they may be taking on more risk. this is especially evident in the lack of enterprenuers in our midst epesically since there are so many highly qualified people who could easily be very successful if they just tried a bit harder. Most often people take on the comfort of a “secure” job over the ability to be their own managers. I am not sure if this is just because there is a lot of focus on kids to be science/engineering focused (which are both all about structured environments or approaches) or if its due to some other factors.
Are there anyways to teach “the old dogs new tricks”?
all these stereotypes that we have in the west abt 'desis' r just that...STEREOTYPES!!!
i think desis do take risks. in fact most pakistani people prefer having their own business over a secure job unless its a govt job. just look at the many many small entrepreneurs. all those rehri walay for example.
there is a certain group of ppl who enter the job market, mostly middle class educated ppl, but most desis do try their hands at entrepreneurship. those who don't can't b/c of lack of capital.
I disagree with you irem… First, I think hmcq is only drawing a parallel between individuals of similar capabilities… the rehri wala in your example does not have the same opportunities as someone with say a Bachelors degree in Management.
Say you have two individuals who’ve graduated from the same college, same program, same grade point average and have the same options available to them, i.e. work vs. start your own business (both can afford the investment). Even a rough exploratory study will show you that a desi person is less likely to go for the second option.
Furthemore, shortage of funds is not an excuse - even venture capitalists are on the lookout for bright ideas which a lot of desis have, we’re a talented lot ahamdullilah… but it’s the lack of exposure and risk-taking capabilities that hamper us. By the very nature of our culture, we as desis are conditioned to grow up to do what our forefathers did, not necessarily by function’s specificity but in the overall context.
We don’t take risks in business cuz risk could lead to penalty i.e. the possibility of losing your investments whereas if we have a job, there is a guaranteed reward i.e. a monthly salary to take home.
I remember reading an article where they said that in India, people are likely to bribe their way to jobs whose salary would be lower than the interest on the sum they paid up…. Interesting finding :)
I think with the reheri wale we are looking at people who dont really have any other options. Sure we can all go back to our marabas and farm but I wouldnt call that a highly risky option cause its a default option and at that point you are just looking to make ends meet.
But in terms of taking risks where you have options, think about how many docs who start their own private practice and just content to go on life with one hospital cause they know it is secure and rather safe risk wise. On the other hands most of the huge fanchises or HMO sort of setups were created by people starting their business and growing it. May be thats the problem I see most often with desis- they are unwilling to go beyond their comfort zones (one gas station, one 7-11, one hotel) etc and actually grow their own business.
I'm in sales, and I pretty much work for myself because I am highly dependant on commissions. I can tell you that most desis I meet think I am crazy. They always ask, why didnt you complete grad school, you would have a secure job and make lots of $$, etc. A lot of them cannot understand my decision to be in this line of work, and even when I tell them I didnt want to be what grad school pointed to, they tell me I should have done it anyway. sigh I can understand their thinking, and its not that they dont take risks even in their own work environments, but I can see where they prefer more job security, rather than go on a risky venture. I dont know how you would be able to change their mindset, except by becoming a successful entrepenuer yourself and them seeing your success, upon which they venture to try something similar. smile
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*Originally posted by hmcq: *
But in terms of taking risks where you have options, think about how many docs who start their own private practice and just content to go on life with one hospital cause they know it is secure and rather safe risk wise.
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Options like what? What makes you think those options are appealing to the doc who is living a balanced life and enjoying his private practice.
If a person is successful and he happens to be in his 'comfort zone' as well then why should he take a risk. Are you an American? ;)
Fayz its not about balance which of course is an important part of life, but rather it has to do with us working on imporving ourselves. Very often we get to a certain stage and are happy with it and fall into to laid back attitude. Sure its great but if you look at most of the big achievements/discoveries, they were made by people who took a risk.
hmcq - this is the same topic one of my professors was speaking on in my Tuesday classes. She explained that great scientific advancement was usually the result of risk-taking, not being afraid of what others think of your work and studies. But she also told us not to forget that many great discoveries were actually accidents - discoveries of chance.
While I think that technological and scientific advancements require people to willingly take a risk - either personally or professionally - I tend to be more like Fayz - I'm comfortable, no risk-taking needed here;)
hmcq, we take risks every day… from driving cars to J-walking on the streets…I can see where you are coming from and I do realize the importance of risk taking but my question is more towards the prevalent unsettled behavior among well settled individuals in North America. Self-improvement is a wonderful thing but contentment, peace and tranquility are priceless.
You wrote
*Most often people take on the comfort of a "secure" job over the ability to be their own managers. *
What percent of the risk is related to achievement of material things versus self-improvement? May be we should narrow down why people take risk or why people don’t take risk from a psychological perspective.
Well its not about contentment but I find that people set their goals much lower just because they are risk averse. So think about what that does to their whole approach to things. They are less likely to do better then they expect because they assume thats the best they should be doing. The business part was just one way to show how we are not making a significant change in moving up the financial chains. The same applies to politics - we are just content to be happy with what is. If everyone stayed that way it would be a very slow progressing world.
For business in particual we can look at the internet revolution and how many very bright and able people we have in our midst, yet we would rather stay the course and join firms then start our own companies (which requires more repsonsibility). It often seems to me we tend to shrink away from responsibility which really bodes poorly for taking charge of things and making a change.