Tints of Jade
Question: “We have to split growth versus base for the plan. How do you define base?”
My Answer: “Base is defined as ‘not growth.’”
My Thought: “Why is everybody laughing now?”
I consider myself to be a systems-thinker, which is normally an asset but can get me into trouble. I at times have trouble making sure I’m sufficiently straddling the in-/out-of-box line, such that I think practically and openly at the same time.
The system that is my job environment appears to have infiltrated me enough that I am not feeling when things get wacky. I forget that, in some distant world, “base” might actually mean something to someone, not simply the yang of some elsewhere-defined yin. To me, “growth” is a constructed figure that implies the definition of “base.”
This is probably the financial equivalent of sociopathy, where one feels a sort of disconnection from the numbers. The numbers think, therefore they are, but their relationship back to some kind of meaty reality is fuzzy at best. I don’t like this aspect of things, so I’m challenging myself to maintain an enlightened perspective on what this stuff really means, not just how it renders to paper and charts.
But some nonsense is just nonsense.