The Joy of Building

"There is a joy in building, in creating something from scratch" my former boss used to say. I couldn't quite relate to it until I experienced it myself; we both brainstormed one late evening and developed a template for process mapping and subsequently developed it into a full-fledged automated BPM (Business Process Management) solution. In hindsight, it was quite a unique feat to achieve. It was a moment of great pride, indeed a joy to have designed and developed a tool which was conceived and molded by our own brains (although scripted by an IT developer). It was not our domain, we were risk advisors, were not in the business of developing IT solutions, and the fact that we did this while managing our day jobs made it a sweeter accomplishment.

This is perhaps the thrill that drives innovators, designers or creators irrespective of the size, prominence or the value of the creation. When a potter for instance creates his best clay vase, he can sit back for a moment, admire its beauty and take pride. Other creators experience a similar adrenaline rush too, for example when a car designer comes up with his miniature car model, when an architect pens his design on paper, when an application developer completes his final round of testing, when a musician records his masterpiece. There is a natural sense of attachment and pride attached to it.

As a child, when I would build a tiny castle at the beach using sand, I would love to sit back, admire it and protect it like it's my baby. It's natural to be protective of your creation. This joy is multiplied when your creation is seen and admired by your colleagues, clients, competitors or the external world. Bigger the creation, larger the thrill! Imagine the sense of satisfaction the creators of the wonders of the world such as Statue of as Liberty, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, etc would got, must have been incredible.


A coach/mentor/teacher feels this joy too, when his understudy/student performs well. When your team member who you are mentoring is able perform consistently above expectations or when your student scores very well in his exams, the mentor/teacher feels proud since they are a part of this success story. But perhaps the biggest joy of creation would be experienced by a mother, who develops the baby and nurtures it in her womb. When she delivers the baby and sees it for the first time, that moment is life changing; her perseverance has created new life!


The sheer thrill of building something which will outlast them or which will be a ‘new first’ is what innovators like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk get driven by. For them, money is more of a consequence than the desired end state. Apps like Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, Netflix, etc have managed to change the entire business model by creating innovative solutions. Uday Kotak, Managing Director of one of the large Banks in India once said, "You know you were successful if you were able to build something that outlasted yourself"; such a beautiful and simple way of measuring success.

My boss always said "your work should have always have your stamp" which means that your work should always speak for itself, should have the best possible quality and technical standards and that creation should so good that you should take pride in your piece of work.


If you haven’t build anything yet, start today. Something small today may be huge tomorrow. If you have built something yet, do not let go of it, keep trying, you may never know when your fortune might turn! There are no barriers to what you can create, the sky is the limit! So go out there, follow your instinct and build something which will add value! Happy Building!

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