Would You Rather have 100% Of A Cupcake Or 10% Of A Birthday Cake?

In a real sense, a birthday cake is shared with family and friends and should never be compared with a cupcake that is eaten without a ceremony. But the comparison raises pertinent issues whilst confirming that it is always a matter of different strokes for different folks.

One of the rewards of teamwork is found in the power of compounding, or put another way, the power of synergy. Mathematically explained, 1 + 1 = 3 when synergies are at play. A simple example time and again has come from primary school teachers who get married and prudently use their combined salaries to grow.

Five years down the road, the couple has much more than they would have individually amassed over the period. If at that point you split the gains between them, the individual's assets would be more than those of the colleague that stayed single over the period.

The multiplications derive from the conveniences that one partner gains from the other. The man will save time every day because the woman brings her cooking, housekeeping and plenty more skills to bear for him.

And the woman benefits from many man-based actions such as regular car maintenance, which many times happens silently to her car during those once-a-month car swaps. These sorts of things add up daily and snowball into huge financial benefits.

Savings made in time, money and effort, are a critical part of anyone's investment portfolio and serve teamwork-seeking people quite well. The inhouse accountability partner aspect keeps the couple in check and this, in the long run, provides an enabling environment for continuous quality decision making—itself, a critical component in the asset compounding matrix.

More often than not, many people defy the obvious power of compounding by going it alone. They chose to have 100% of a cupcake and remain contented with absolute control over small things at the expense of faster growth.

Selfishness rides on a level of foolishness to produce individualistic results whose overall effects around the self-serving beneficiary, develop a less enthusiastic population of onlookers. That resultant drag effect that reduces one's pace, makes come true the saying: if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with others.

We often mistake travelling light for travelling alone. It actually is about sharing the load with many so that you travel light together but with spare capacity for any weightier opportunities ahead.

100 quid in any currency can afford you minimal access to unique opportunities. At best, perhaps access to a loaf of bread consumed within minutes. The same 100 quid when pooled together with similar amounts from many people, will gain you access to better yielding portfolios that benefit from professional management.

Unfortunately, a herd mentality is not a euphemism for prudent resources pooling. Collective stupidity produces disastrous results such as have occurred with cults that misled many to their premature deaths. Ponzi schemes are the other popular charades that continue to hurt many who have now vowed to stick to their cupcakes. We have many other in-betweens that keep us busy and yield us no results. They keep us on the treadmill when we need no gym.

So, 10% of a birthday cake is only greater than 100% of a cupcake when wisdom is evident in the workings of collective vehicles. And it is more because it frees you to focus on other things whilst benefiting from the expertise provided by others who in turn, work transparently.

Quantitatively, 10% of a birthday cake is more than 100% of a cupcake aka a Queen cake. Figuratively, the opposite is true and brings about the kind of deception that is easy to fall for. You must first embrace teamwork before you are big enough to go it alone. Examples always make it easier for us to comprehend the topics at hand. Oscars and Grammys are never earned by luck.

Michael Jackson rode on the well-established family name to give the world his best music. Beyoncè broke away from Destiny's Child to give her best songs to a receptive fan base.

In both instances, they fully blossomed in bands before going it alone. The conveniences brought to them by others throughout their development manifested in their solo careers. You just don't show up at the Olympics, unless as a spectator. You must undergo a rigorous training regime often under the guidance of several people to become truly world-class, and at best attain a podium finish if not at all a well enjoyed per diem allowance in the process.

And just as it takes an entire village to raise a child, so it is too for all human endeavours in adulthood. But quite often, this is abused.

The cupcake mentality manifests in the "me too" attitude responsible for copying others out of jealousy rather than out of mentorship. When one sets up a kiosk and others follow suit just so that they get even with the pioneer for no good reason, they not only eat into the available market, but they create unnecessary bad blood between friends.

Cupcakers abound and are the majority in any situation given the enabling resources to display their mean nature. Some Sacco officials ride on the hard-earned resources of members to achieve selfishly driven agendas. They abuse the 'all for one and one for all' mantra to enrich themselves.

This mentality has embedded itself in our national psychic so much so that when one is appointed into a position, they are termed stupid if they don't amass wealth at the public's expense.

Cupcakers selfishly benefit from the efforts of others as do parasitic scions when they take over well-rooted trees. We can do well as a nation if only we truly embrace the 10% of a birthday cake mentality and discard that of the 100% cupcake thinking.