More on comfort zones

The comments and emails drawn by my post on October 17th regarding people preferring to function within their own comfort zone led me to write about PLM (people like me) the next day.

Further support for my contention that it’s universal, a function of being human rather than a learned attitude, is found in one of the responses from Victor Chu, Chairman, First Eastern Investment, in a Business Week interview by Maria Bartiromo.

By all accounts, you are a master of guanxi, those personal connections so vital to doing business in China. Can outsiders ever hope to establish such relationships?
Maria, I think this is a worldwide phenomenon—not uniquely Chinese or Asian. All things being equal, you like to deal with people you know and can rely on. It’s human nature.

And the people you usually end up knowing best are those with whom you identify most closely, i.e., with whom you are most comfortable.

But in today’s world all things are rarely equal and that’s why I believe we each have a responsibility to pry open our mind, enlarge our field of vision and constantly move beyond our comfort zone.