Beyond Because

You built something people loved.

You expanded, three new brands, more locations, franchise partners.

Then the world shifted, and everything collapsed.

The tempting story: One thing destroyed everything. 

The uncomfortable truth: One thing revealed everything.

Your biggest failures aren't caused by single reasons. They're exposed by them.

WHEN SUCCESS MASKS SYSTEMIC WEAKNESS 💡

I blamed the food delivery platforms.

When my restaurant business wound up in 2019, the narrative was clean: Venture capital money disrupted our ecosystem. Zomato and Swiggy (Deliveroo of the UK) forced restaurants into revenue-sharing death spirals.

True? Partially. Complete? Not even close.

The platforms didn't destroy my business. They revealed its hidden fragilities.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF FAILURE 🔍

Looking back with brutal honesty, here's what actually happened.

The Visible Reason: Platform disruption and margin compression

The Hidden Architecture: Multiple reasons impacting collectively

• Marketing inertia (my discomfort with "pushy" sales)

• Operational arrogance (trying to solve everything myself)

• Strategic scatter (rapid expansion during ecosystem volatility)

• Leadership isolation (lone wolf mentality masking superiority complex)

The platforms were the stress test. My business failed because it wasn't built to pass one.

This is about diagnostic precision, not blame distribution or excuse-making.

When you identify only the most visible cause, you solve only the most superficial problem.

But here's where it gets profound: The single-reason narrative doesn't just limit our problem-solving. It limits our understanding of reality itself.

THE INVISIBLE LOSSES WE NEVER COUNT 📊

This pattern shows up everywhere in life.

In Relationships: "We broke up because of his anger." 

But what about the unspoken expectations? The communication patterns you both inherited? The timing pressures? The individual insecurities that amplified every conflict?

In Career Stagnation: "I'm not advancing because my industry is shrinking."

But what about the skills you haven't developed? The network you haven't built? The value proposition you haven't clarified? The strategic positioning you haven't considered?

In Team Dynamics: "Our project failed because we were understaffed."

But what about the unclear objectives? The misaligned incentives? The communication breakdowns? The assumptions that were never questioned?

In Parenting: "My teenager is rebellious because of social media." 

But what about your own modelling of stress management? The family communication style? The pressures they're facing that you haven't seen? The identity formation happening beneath the surface?

In Personal Growth: "I can't lose weight because I have no willpower." 

But what about the sleep patterns affecting your hormones? The stress eating triggers? The social environments? The belief systems about your own worth?

The single-reason explanation provides cognitive relief. But cognitive relief rarely provides actual solutions.

THE RICHNESS WE MISS 🧩

When you see people through single-dimension lenses, you miss their full humanity.

That "aggressive" colleague at work? In different contexts, they might be the most protective, passionate, or principled person you know.

That "difficult" family member? Their resistance might be protecting something valuable you haven't seen yet.

That "failed" relationship? It taught you communication patterns, boundary setting, and self-awareness that serve you in every subsequent connection.

The most interestingly profound people refuse simple explanations for complex realities. They don't need neat narratives. They need accurate understanding.

Don’t mistake is as analysis paralysis. This is wisdom in action.

And here's the climax most people never reach:

The single-reason trap isn't just a thinking error. It's a choice to remain intellectually comfortable rather than emotionally honest.

Because going “beyond because” is acknowledging multiple causes, that means acknowledging complexity. And complexity demands growth. Growth requires discomfort. And discomfort... well, that's where transformation actually lives.

THE PERSPECTIVE SHIFT FOR TRANSFORMATION 🔄

Here's the mental model that revolutionises how you see reality.

Most people experience life like viewing a cone from one angle - impressive, dimensional, seemingly complete from their single vantage point.

The cone appears sophisticated. Complex. Worthy of respect.

But here's what transform what you perceive:

Unfold that cone, and you discover it's actually a semicircle - flat, simple, with every element visible and interconnected across its surface.

The cone is the illusion of single-cause sophistication.The semicircle is the reality of foundational clarity which holds multiple perspectives of rawness at its core.

One perspective gives you the vanity of apparent complexity. The other gives you the power of true understanding.

When you learn to unfold the cone of any situation - relationship conflict, business failure, personal struggle - you see the full semicircle of contributing factors.

No longer impressive from a distance. But completely visible up close. And therefore, completely workable.

This shift doesn't just change how you solve problems. It changes how you see reality itself.

THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL ADVANTAGE 🚀

People who embrace multidimensional thinking develop an elevated understanding on diverse facets of life.

Self-Awareness: Instead of "I'm bad at relationships," you discover specific patterns, triggers, and growth edges that can actually be addressed.

Problem-Solving: Instead of attacking symptoms, you design solutions that address root causes and prevent recurrence.

Leadership: Instead of blaming market conditions or team incompetence, you identify the multiple leverage points where your influence can create change.

Empathy: Instead of judging people by their worst moments, you understand the forces shaping their behaviour.

Resilience: Instead of being blindsided by single points of failure, you build anti-fragile systems in your life and work.

Growth: Instead of repeating the same mistakes with different people or situations, you learn from the deeper patterns.

This might look like perfectionism, but it's actually intellectual-cum-emotional sophistication.

CAUSAL CURIOSITY + 5S FRAMEWORK 🎯

Most people ask: "What caused this?" Sophisticated thinkers with casual curiosity ask: "What else contributed to this outcome?"

The difference isn't semantic. It's systemic.

Because when you assume multiple causation, you:

• Expand your diagnostic capabilities

• Increase your intervention options

• Develop more robust solutions

• Build anti-fragile systems

The 5S Framework:

SURFACE → What's the obvious explanation? 

SYSTEMS → What structural factors enabled this? 

SELF → What did I contribute or fail to address? 

SURROUNDINGS → What environmental forces were at play? 

SEQUENCE → What timing and sequence factors mattered?

Not to distribute blame. To distribute understanding.

When your startup struggles: What market, execution, team, timing, and strategic factors are interacting?

When your relationship hits turbulence: What communication, expectation, stress, and growth factors are converging?

When you feel stuck in life: What belief, environment, habit, relationship, and opportunity factors are creating this experience?

The goal isn't to complicate simple problems. It's to solve complex problems completely…by unfolding the cone and seeing the full semicircle.

THE TRANSFORMATION THAT MATTERS 🌟

When you master multidimensional thinking, something profound happens:

You stop being a victim of circumstances.

You become an architect of outcomes.

You stop looking for someone to blame.

You start looking for something to change.

You stop seeing failure as final.

You start seeing it as information.

This is the difference between people who repeat patterns and people who evolve beyond them.

The former see single causes because they need simple answers. The latter see multiple causes because they want actual solutions.

Which person are you becoming?

Until next week,

love,

aayush

hustle peacefully!