| #80 |
#80-1. Whatever the mind of a person can conceive and believe - IT CAN ACHIEVE.
-Napoleon Hill
#80-2. People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives.
-Stedman Graham
#80-3. A certain amount of opposition is a great help to man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.
-John Neal
_____
The second one is so true. In fact a bestseller book called "The Road Less Travelled" by Scott Peck, starts by saying that this "Why me/us?" is a very common feeling of individuals, communities and even countries.
I like to remember the third one.
Napoleon Hill was one of the first authors who brought the power of positive thinking into prominence with his books. The first time I read about this idea was in a book called, "Bring Out the Magic of Your Mind" by Al Koran. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, explained why this works in his book, "Psycho-cybernetics". This powerful concept is now accepted wisdom amongst top achievers in sports and business. Apparently this same concept is elaborated in a recent bestseller by Rhonda Byrnes called "The Secret" where she calls it The Law of Attraction.
| #79: Talent Management by Kumar Mangalam Birla |
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, a chartered accountant and an MBA, focuses on two pertinent questions in this article:
1. India is a country of over a billion people, about one-sixth of humanity. Do Indians constitute the universe of talented people in equal proportion?
2. Are we doing everything we can to help people be the best they can be?
Many interesting observations about business and organizations in general (highlights are mine).
________________
In this article, I want to share some thoughts with you on 'talent', given that it is a subject presently occupying the attention of managers the world over, given that it is in extremely short supply, and given that the need to attract it and nurture it in sufficient numbers, is very real.
It is a management problem that is immediate, here and now.
A key resource
In any attempt to define our times, words and phrases such as 'accelerating pace of change', 'discontinuity' and 'complexity' figure often. Everything however somehow boils down to change and speed, mixed with a generous dose of confusion and chaos. Conventional truths and guideposts are now meeting their nemesis.
In such conditions, business survival and prosperity are clearly not a function of capital resources alone. Nor are they as dependent critically on scale or technology or labour, in the conventional sense of the word.
Even the newer strategic models do not give us sufficiently clear bearings on how to run our business. The point is, that when everyone in a Grand Prix drives a Ferrari, it is clearly the driver -- and his skills, attitude, temperament and sense of purpose -- that make the difference!
The one, single dominant force that has then emerged is talent. Management means attracting talented people, nurturing them, developing them, and giving them space.
People no longer want to just work, but are equally engaged in a search for their own identity and for a holistic meaning to their life.
The sharp focus on talent today stands out clearly. Microsoft employs around 200 full time recruiters. A recent survey by a leading international consulting firm (Amrop) revealed that 40 per cent of top management's time is spent on HR or talent related issues.
Another survey by the Harvard Business School identified the ability to spot talent and develop it as being the third most sought after attribute for a successful CEO.
Customers, yes. Shareholders, yes. But businesses will also have to embrace this stakeholder just as well -- the employee, the talent pool, the intellectual capital, the resource that is the most fungible, the one that can easily walk out the door.
Every organisation has to create a sense of ownership among people who will not be owned. A business of any worth today has to grapple with this compulsion. Talent is, in fact, central in the new paradigm. Without 'people power' even the best of operational and strategic thinking will come to naught.
What is talent?
Let's reflect a bit about what exactly 'talent' means. I believe the term has become too complex to define. Instead, let me quote from the book Excellence, written by John W Gardner, the American social reformer. According to him, 'There are those who perform great deeds and those that make it possible for others to perform great deeds. There are pathfinders and path preservers. There are those who nurture and those who inspire. There are those whose excellence involves doing something well and those whose excellence lies in being the kind of people they are, lies in their kindness or honesty or courage.'
Going a step further, the term 'talent' has developed some broader connotations. Earlier 'talented' might have referred to a person with expertise in a given functional area or a given business, or even a person who had achieved a pre-determined objective.
Today, these 'talents' are almost taken for granted. We now take stock of a person's managerial and leadership potential, the ability to straddle different functional areas, businesses, cultures and geographic boundaries -- all in a seamless manner. We need to assess not only intellectual skills, but also softer skills such as emotional intelligence, values, creativity, the ability to work in teams, to think out of the box, entrepreneurial abilities, and also, importantly, the willingness to learn and share.
A recent study by Janice McCormack, Professor at Harvard Business School, aptly describes topnotch talent today as someone 'having the vision of an architect, the theoretical mindset of a physicist, the attention to detail of an engineer and the financial acumen of an investment banker.
In short, the ability to not get cowed down by 'competing imperatives.'
Why now?
People have always been important, so one may legitimately ask, why all this commotion now? Let us try to answer this question.
First, there is no doubt that the supply-demand imbalance in the talent area has become acute, not only in India, but also globally, and is getting more so. In India, a host of new industries -- information technology, financial services, media and entertainment -- are vying for the best people.
A flood of multinational companies is out to attract the best brains, not just for their operations in India, but for their overseas needs. The outstanding success of India's leading educational institutions, especially the IITs and IIMs, has drawn them to take a pick from our brains and capabilities. India has, in effect, become the world's scouting ground for talent.
Second, the desire to 'be one's own boss' is more common. More and more talented people want to strike out on their own, or work in a company which offers a significant entrepreneurial environment. So the pool of people from which to select is contracting, relative to the demand for them.
There is a third factor behind the scarcity of talent. Until recently, our preoccupation with talent was confined largely to the higher levels of an organisation. Today, every level of a company's operations requires talented people. In the wake of intense competition, and the consequent need for speed, the top-down approach to managing is increasingly proving ineffective.
Dispersal of decision-making is also being driven by complexity -- the sheer geographic spread of companies, the diversity of product lines and the need to be close to the customer. Decisions need to be made at every level and decisions need to be quick. So, we have to spot, incubate and groom talent at every level of the organisation, because more people need to be making high quality decisions.
And finally, much higher degrees of business complexity result in a much larger premium on talent. Complexity calls for an integrated approach, the ability to look at a problem from different perspectives, and a high degree of creative and non-linear thinking.
Coupled with that, there is the need for heightened cultural sensitivity as national boundaries are becoming hazy and business is becoming truly global.
India well placed to nurture talent
I have tried to identify some of the key factors driving the demand for talent, which has now come to be the strategic resource. However, despite the scarcity, we are fortunate that India has many of the right ingredients that help to nurture talent.
We just have to look at our present times to realise the considerable advantages we possess as regards talented people. I am sure we all must have been taken aback with the surge in the globalisation of Indian talent. We all knew it was there -- but today the entire world recognises it, and how.
As the joke in Silicon Valley runs, if a person's name is Shreedhar, don't bother checking his IT skills! Across a range of areas -- engineering, computer programming and financial services -- the Indian brain has begun to command the highest brand equity.
Indians are breaking the glass ceiling and staking their claim at the upper levels of global firms, in increasing numbers.
How did this happen? Unlikely as this may seem, India does seem to have some of the prerequisites that can be leveraged to nurture talent. We have the much sought after facility with today's Lingua Franca, the English language, as also a relatively high degree of numerical aptitude.
And, we have an innate capacity to adapt, without which it would not have been possible for Indians to strike roots overseas and become among the more successful of the immigrant communities, in a number of countries.
Of course, competition also does much to nurture talent. And we in India, work in a very competitive environment, pretty much from childhood. We even have interviews to get admitted to a nursery school!
Even leaving aside this extreme, we are constantly being graded, scored, evaluated and ranked. The admissions-to-applicants ratio at our premier educational institutes is more demanding than that of even the most elite universities abroad. The same is true of our Civil Service.
What retards talent in India?
On the flip side, we need to recognise and deal with some of the powerful attitudes and forces that not only retard talent, but also are hostile to it.
For one, there is the fear of failure. There is an almost indelible stigma attached to failure, much more than in the West. The family, the peer group, the society, the banker -- all still frown on failure -- of any sort, no matter how heroic and daring the effort that preceded it.
This attitude thwarts experimentation and stifles innovation. Better to be 'mediocrely' right than 'stunningly' wrong. The possibility of getting a second chance is rare.
It is difficult to think of the exploits of a Thomas Alva Edison happening here: the daring experiments, the failures, the bankruptcy, and then the success, the most well known of which is the electric bulb.
A second obstacle to talent is conformity. There is less acceptance of the offbeat. Dissidence is not looked upon too favorably: it's the nail that sticks out that invariably gets hammered down. Conformity is all around us: in the dress code, in the jargon of our times, in our patterns of strategic thinking, at a point in time.
The herd instinct is evident even in the way we invest, with everyone running after the same scrips, in the same industries, at a particular moment. Being different is difficult. Where are the contrarians?
Finally, I believe that our educational system contributes, in substantial measure, to our inability to draw out the store of talent latent in us. Students at the school level are overburdened with rote learning. Listening and being talked to is the norm.
Questioning, discourse, the spirit of discovery, curiosity and inquiry are rare. The curriculum is narrow and outdated and, to a large extent, 'memory-centric'. Unlike in the West, the options offered are few.
Talent issues in Indian organisations
At this point, I would like to share my thoughts on some of the critical talent related issues that we in Indian organisations need to address. No doubt, many readers are already working to tackle similar issues, and you would be having your own unique perspectives.
In my own organisation, although we have been putting in a lot of effort, in these and related areas, we are some distance away from having all the right answers. Perhaps, many of these are fuzzy issues and there are no definitive answers. Each organisation must chart out its own approach and course, given the specific context in which it operates.
Adrenaline: The first major issue is how to keep the adrenaline flowing in talented people. The game does not stop at identifying talent or inducting it. Talented people get bored easily and so they have to be kept constantly challenged.
In our organisation, we address this issue by fast tracking deserving talent, offering definite career paths, providing cross functional exposure across different businesses, and second-ments to our operations abroad.
The objective is to offer a high quality of exposure, faster, thus enabling the manager to increase his overall intrinsic worth and to take on higher responsibilities, much earlier in his career.
Integration: A second issue concerns how best one can integrate talented people into the organisation, in a way that there is no undue disruption. I bring this point up because, quite often, mediocrity tends to drive out talent or make it ineffective.
Integrating talented people into the organisation involves handling a host of sensitive issues and this is a task that will fully test the leadership abilities of senior management.
At the same time, as we move about with the process of integrating talent, we do need to subject ourselves -- and talented people -- to some kind of a reality check, every now and then. The best of talent has to operate, ultimately, within the boundaries of organizational objectives, and talent, no matter how highly regarded, cannot become dysfunctional.
Creating an ivory tower is not desirable. In the same vein, we have to keep in mind that talent means much more than 'white collar'. We cannot glorify a certain kind of talent, at the cost of talent in other areas. As always, maintaining the right balance is the challenge.
Compensation: The third issue I would like to touch upon is one very much in the spotlight today: the growing divergence in compensation and reward levels between the talented and those less so. This differential is widening by the day -- in absolute and relative terms.
How we handle this divergence is again absolutely critical to an organisation's health. Today, the clamour for stock options runs high. Incorporating a significant performance-based component in the compensation package is almost mandatory. Again, there are no clear cut solutions. It goes much beyond the criteria of affordability.
We have to look at larger and fundamental issues such as equity, value systems and organisational morale.
Until we find an answer to this dilemma, let me read out this very interesting text of an advertisement, which appeared in the London newspapers in the year 1900. Ernest Shackleton, the famous explorer, inserted this advertisement when recruiting team members for the National Antarctic Expedition.
The advertisement read as follows: 'MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.'
Shackleton later said of the call for volunteers that, 'It seemed as though all the men in Great Britain were determined to accompany me, the response was so overwhelming.' Perhaps, taking the cue from this, the real challenge lies in striking the right balance between material rewards and the larger sense of mission.
What per cent?
In conclusion, I believe that making India talent-friendly will require actions at the macro level also. Nurturing talent and keeping it here and putting it to good use requires resolving some tough quality of life issues.
For instance, India ranks low in any human development or quality of life index. Talent cannot flourish if the enabling social and physical infrastructure is not in place. Only then can we reverse the brain drain decisively. This is a task that needs the involvement of all of us -- in business, in government, in our educational institutions, in our professional bodies.
Attracting brains is a lot more difficult than attracting FDI or portfolio investments. But then that is also what will make us really competitive.
At the end of it all, we have to ask ourselves not only whether we have talented people, but also whether we have enough of them; and whether we are doing everything we can to nurture them in greater numbers.
We are a billion Indians, about one-sixth of humanity. Do Indians constitute the universe of talented people, in equal proportion?
| #78: Rainy Day Special |
With the Mumbai Monsoon in its full splendour, let the rain inspire a few thoughts:
#78-1. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
-Maya Angelou
#78-2. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.
-Frederick Douglass
#78-3. Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.
-Frank A. Clark
#78-4. Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.
-Anon
#78-5. Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.
-Kin Hubbard
#78-6. Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.
-Pepper Giardino
#78-7. Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
-Rabindranath Tagore
| #77 |
#77-1. There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.
-Logan Pearsall Smith
#77-2. The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.
-Orison Swett Marden
#77-3. If you want to know your past - look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future - look into your present actions.
-Chinese Proverb
_____
The last one requires us to take responsibility for what we are. Whatever condition we are in, is the result of all the choices we have made. It also reminds us that all our choices, actions, words today are what will create the state of our future.
The second inspires us to believe that no dream is given to us without the power to realize it (I think Richard Bach has said this eloquently).
The first quote is an observation that we are constantly revising our list of wants and rarely dwelling on the moment. Think. And enjoy.
| #76: Don't Stop, Start! |
Leading Ideas: Don't Stop... Start
by Doug Sundheim
Nature abhors a vacuum.
-François Rabelais
Consider this:
If you want to change something in your life, it's common to try to stop the behaviors you don't like. While this certainly seems logical, it seldom works. The reason is simple - it unintentionally creates a vacuum where the old behaviors used to be. And since nature hates a vacuum it will fill it with anything it can find - usually the very behaviors you're trying to stop since they're so familiar. Instead of stopping certain behaviors, try focusing on what you want to create - and the new behaviors you need to get there. Eventually, with practice, new behaviors will develop enough muscle to naturally replace the old ones.
One place this idea can be important is in changing one's management style. Often I have clients who are abrasive with staff members and want to change how they interact. One in particular admitted that he really hated his own behavior. He then asked for my advice on how to stop it. I said, "Before we try to stop your current behavior, let me ask you one question - what do you want to start doing instead?" He looked at me blankly and said, "I'm not really sure." "That's the problem," I said, "Let's start there."
Try This:
1. Notice any place in your life where you say you've got to stop doing something.
2. Shift your mind to think about what you need to start doing in that area.
3. Be specific. Write down the exact things you want to do.
4. Don't admonish yourself for doing the old behaviors, rather stay focused on starting the new ones and the old ones will diminish on their own.
______
A similar concept applies when we discuss alternatives. I find many of us clearly stating what we do not want and what should not happen but we find ourselves tongue-tied if asked what is it that we would like to happen. Some believe this has to do with the way the mind works, it is essentially a filtering mechanism. It takes conscious effort to focus on the desired outcome than on the hurdles. Imagination is more difficult than knowledge?
| #75: A Commitment to Laughter |
A Commitment to Laughter
The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken seriously.
by Earl Nightingale
One of the enriching blessings of growing older all the time is that it has a way of improving one's sense of humor — or at least it should. The person without a good sense of humor is a person to avoid as though he were a known carrier of the plague.
Horace Walpole once said, "I have never yet seen or heard anything serious that was not ridiculous." And Samuel Butler said, "The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken seriously." It has been said that seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow. Oscar Wilde said, "It is a curious fact that the worst work is always done with the best intentions, and that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves very seriously."
We can be serious about situations. When a youngster is ill or hurt, or someone insults your spouse, you can get very serious about the situation in a hurry. But that's not taking ourselves seriously. That's different.
I have found it a good rule of thumb to be slightly suspicious of anyone who takes himself too seriously. There's usually something fishy there someplace. I think this is why we love children so much: Life is a game to them. They will do their best at whatever work is given them, but they never seem to lose their ebullient sense of humor; there is always a sparkle of humor in their eyes. When a child lacks this, he is usually in need of help.
Dictators are famous for their lack of humor. The mark of a cruel person is that he doesn't seem to be able to see anything funny in the world. And, a sense of humor was what was so great about Mark Twain. No matter how serious the subject, he could find the humor in it and bring it out. All the great comedians have this ability to see what's funny in the so-called serious situation. They can poke fun at themselves.
People who are emotionally healthy, with a sense of proportion, are cheerful people. They tend to look upon the bright side of things and see a lot of humor in their daily lives. They're not Pollyannas — they know what's going on and that a lot of it's not at all funny — but they don't permit the dark side of things to dominate their lives. To my mind, when a person lacks a sense of humor, there's something pretty seriously wrong with him.
There are times for all of us when all the laughter seems to be gone, but we should not permit these periods to last too long. When we've lost our sense of humor, there isn't very much left. We become ridiculous.
_____
Of all the good advice messages I have been sharing, this is the only one I can claim to try practising... seriously.
| #74 |
#74-1. Sometimes, in order to have complete integrity, you will stand alone. You may at times lose friends, but you will find inner peace by staying with that in which you believe.
-Thomas D. Willhite
#74-2. A person asked God, "What surprises you most about mankind?" God answered: "That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived..."
-Anon
#74-3. I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.
-Edward Everett Hale
_____
As someone rightly said, it's lonely at the top. The top need not mean official position, it could be any higher level of excellence in an activity.
Living in the present moment, fully absorbed and aware... so simple yet so rare! This is recommended by stress management gurus, spiritual texts and can even be a cure for procrastination of important actions.
Many times we get stuck pondering over things that we cannot control, and in the bargain, miss opportunities to do what we can.
| #73: Fantastic Reminder (Attitude versus Skills) |
Staying Positive In A Negative World
by Tracy Brinkmann
Harvard and Stanford Universities have reported that 85% the reason a person gets a job and gets ahead in that job is due to attitude; and only 15% is because of technical or specific skills.
Interesting, isn't it? You spent how much money on your education? And you spent how much money on building your positive attitude? Ouch. That hurts.
Now here's an interesting thought. With the "right" attitude, you can and will develop the necessary skills. So where's your emphasis? Skill building? Attitude building? Unfortunately, "Neither" is the real answer for many people.
Perhaps if more people knew how simple it is to develop and maintain a positive attitude they would invest more time doing so. So here we go. Five steps to staying positive in a negative world:
1. Understand that failure is an event, it is not a person. Yesterday ended last night; today is a brand new day, and it's yours. You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and then you can expect to win.
2. Become a lifetime student. Learn just one new word every day and in five years you will be able to talk with just about anybody about anything. When your vocabulary improves, your I.Q. goes up 100% of the time, according to Georgetown Medical School.
3. Read something informational or inspirational every day. Reading for 20 minutes at just 240 words per minute will enable you to read 20 200-page books each year. That's 18 more than the average person reads! What an enormous competitive advantage... if you'll just read for 20 minutes a day.
4. Enroll in the "Transit University". The University of Southern California reveals that you can acquire the equivalent of two years of a college education in three years just by listening to motivational and educational cassettes on the way to your job and again on the way home. What could be easier?
5. Start the day and end the day with positive input into your mind. Inspirational messages cause the brain to flood with dopamine and norepinephrine, the energizing neurotransmitters; with endorphins, the endurance neurotransmitters; and with serotonin, the feel-good-about-yourself neurotransmitter. Begin and end the day by reading or doing something positive!
Remember: Success is a process, not an event. Invest the time in your attitude and it will pay off in your skills as well as your career.
_____
All readers of this blog are quite aware of the benefits of positive thinking hence the title that this is a reminder. I have read many articles on this theme but this seemed very specific and hard-hitting. Read, practise, enjoy and share.
| #72 |
#72-1. Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
-Jules Renard
#72-2. Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation.
-Oscar Wilde
#72-3. If your ship hasn't come in, swim out to it.
-Anon
_____
Each of us has different levels of stamina in different situations so it is best to tap into our energy. Anyone who has accomplished anything of significance has pushed themselves rather than thinking, "This should be enough."
Not being happy with oneself can be a useful motivator for change. It needs to be balanced with periodic bouts of satisfaction for maintaining good mental health. That comes if there is genuine effort towards improvement.
We often waste time and energy complaining about how circumstances and other people are not in our favour, thus missing opportunities for actions we could take. Once we train our mind to be more positive-action-oriented, we will find our actions actually start turning things more in line with our expectations.
| #71: Becoming All You Can Be |
By Jim Rohn(Highlights mine)
How do you know when you're successful? Do you have to be a millionaire? No, all we ask of you is that you earn all you possibly can. If you earn ten thousand dollars a year and that's the best you can do, that's enough. God and everything else will see to it that you're okay. The key is to just do the best you can. If it's ten thousand dollars a year, wonderful! If it's a hundred thousand dollars a year, wonderful! If it's a million dollars a year, wonderful!
It doesn't matter whether you earn ten thousand dollars a year or a million dollars a year as long as you've done the best you can. The essence of life is growth. It is doing the best you possibly can.
Here's what is interesting: humans are the only life form that will do less than they possibly can. Humans are the only life form that will settle for less. All other life forms except human beings strive to their maximum capacity. How tall will a tree grow? As tall as it possibly can. You've never heard of a tree growing half as high as it could. No. Trees don't grow half. Trees send their roots down as deep as possible. They stretch their limbs up as high as possible, and produce every leaf and every fruit possible.
As matter of fact, you've never heard of a human growing halfway-physically, that is. We keep growing until we're done. It's genetically coded. That's a part of life that we can't control. It's the growing of our minds that we can control, but we tend to neglect this. It tends to get away from us. All life forms inherently strive toward their maximum potential except human beings.
Why wouldn't we strive to become all we can be, to fulfill our potentials? Because we have been given the dignity of choice. It makes us different than alligators and trees and birds. The dignity of choice makes us different than all other life forms.
And here's the choice: to become part of what we could be, enough to get by; or to become all that we can be. My best advice for you is to choose the "all." Earn all you can. Make all the friends you can. Read as many books as you can. Develop as many skills as you can. See and do as much as possible. Make as much fortune as possible. Give as much of it away as possible. Strive for the maximum. There's no life like it. Pick up the challenge. Go for it. When you're focusing on growth, it's easy to do all you can. It's easy to succeed. It's easy to have financial freedom. The more you do, the more you get.
_____
Sometimes when we achieve something that we feel proud about, we wonder why we did not try it earlier so the trick is to keep trying many things quickly. Unstated assumptions, inhibitions, past conditioning and general avoidance of mistakes (fear of failure) are some of the constraining forces. Remember it is a choice we make. Sometimes when I have accepted responsibility for a limiting factor, I have felt it a liberating perspective.
| #70 |
#70-1. In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
-Eric Hoffer
#70-2. Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more.
-A. Lou Vickery
#70-3. A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.
-Anon
_____
I was struck by the distinction drawn between a learner and the learned. Taking the quotation literally one can say, "As soon as I feel I know I am doomed."
The third one I saw in a board outside the Our Lady of Good Counsel church at Sion, Mumbai. It is a favourite because my observation is that too many are too serious all the time.
| #69 |
-Jim Wesnor
-Neale Donald Walsch
Accept what is good.
Reject and forget what is not.
This is intelligent living.
| #68: The Little Hut |
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.
The worst had happened -- everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me?" he cried.
Early the next day, however, he was woken by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.
"How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.
"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.
It's easy to get discouraged sometimes when things appear to be going badly. We all face some days when we feel that our huts are burning. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, Life has a positive answer for it. The next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground, remember it just may be a smoke signal that summons Grace.
(Thanks to Tarun Gandhi for sharing this.)
_____
This illustrates the famous Indian proverb, "Everything is for the better" ("ellaam nanmaikke" in Tamil; would love to hear other language versions from you). The trouble is, when something happens, we cannot see the hidden blessing or the fact that things could have been worse. It is only later, with the benefit of hindsight that we are able to view the same event in a new perspective. One learning could therefore be to always believe in a better future and quickly move out of a moan-groan mode.
Anyone who has struggled through a crisis phase in a project or personal life would relate to this. Afterwards when we look back we feel it was an interesting challenge and that it taught us a lot.
| #67 |
#67-1. It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises, but only performance is reality.
-Harold S. Geneen
#67-2. If you want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.
-Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
#67-3. Be conscious of your inner reactions, whether positive, negative or perhaps no reaction at all. Be prepared to step aside and ask, "Why am I reacting this way?" or "What is being said that makes me feel this way?" If you do this, I believe you will discover some important things about yourself. Remember... discovery, growth, and change must begin with you.
-Thomas D. Willhite
____
Change is inevitable, change is necessary for growth, but evolution has designed the human brain to create and stick with stability--with the capability to consciously adapt to change. We often see signs of change around us but refuse to acknowledge it, as brought out in the bestseller, "Who Moved My Cheese?"
| #66: Snippets on Performance Problem Analysis |
A couple of interesting snippets.
What Kind of Problem Are You Dealing With?
Zingerman's Training encourages leaders facing challenges to consider what kind of problem they are actually facing. Here's their checklist of questions to begin identifying:
1. Is there already a system in place for performing the task? If not, you have a systems problem. Training won't help until there's a system in place.
2. Is there a system in place that employees know how to use but don't follow? If so, you have a management problem. Leaders need to ensure that existing systems are being used.
3. Is there a system, but employees don't really know what it is or how to use it? If so, you have a training problem.
Many times, training problems are confused with systems problems, and managers try to replace the "flawed" system. This quick checklist may be a handy way to respond to challenges.
Performance Consulting - why people don't do what you want them to
They don't know how - training problem
They know how but don't - performance problem
Performance Problems include:
-there is no reward for doing the behavior or the system is rewarding some other behavior
-there are disincentives for doing the behavior (using a system that makes what they are doing difficult and annoying, lack of organizational support (resources, lack of clarity of priorities and importance, unclear roles and responsibilites, lousy processes) etc.
-they don't want to or are not interested in doing the behavior.
_____
Such an analysis could also be applied on ourselves when we find we do not feel charged up to do something though we desire the result.
| #65 |
-The Dalai Lama
-Thomas D. Willhite
-Winston Churchill
Trust The Dalai Lama to encapsulate a deep message of inner peace in such simple words.
| #64: Focus on Problem versus Solution |
It is a good habit to ask before deciding on a solution if we have identified the end objective and if that is being met.
| #63 |
-Anon
#63-2. At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
-Albert Schweitzer
#63-3. Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
-Mother Teresa
_____
The first one reminds us of a capability called Delayed Gratification, the first attribute of Emotional Intelligence.
The second is one type of the attitude of gratitude mentioned earlier in i-TFTD #32: Bless You My Friends. Often we can never repay acts of kindness in the same way to the same people who helped us. My personal experience has led to the strong belief that opportunities to "repay" arise in different ways with different people but we must remember to carry on the virtuous cycle.
We sometimes act as though there is a limited quantity of appreciation we have in our safebox that has to be carefully dispensed. The third is such a simple reminder from a simple and great person to loosen our purse strings at least as far as words go.
| #62: Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management |
Benjamin Franklin in his early years was a manager. This information may surprise those who have come to associate the bespectacled statesman solely with the patriots who founded the United States of America.
According to some, the roots of America's current business success lie in the principles embodied more than 200 years ago in the life of Franklin, the founding father of American business. His life exemplifies the innovation, technology and ingenuity that have propelled the American economy to unprecedented heights in recent years. Andrew Carnegie, Lee Iacocca, Stephen Covey and Warren Buffet have all acknowledged a debt to Franklin.
What follows is a summary of his 12 rules of management, an ideal for lifelong learning that is as pertinent to managers today as it was in the 18th century. It is excerpted from the book, "Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management" (highlights are mine).
1. Finish better than your beginnings.
2. All education is self-education.
3. Seek first to manage yourself, then to manage others.
4. Influence is more important than victory.
5. Work hard and watch your costs.
6. Everybody wants to appear reasonable.
7. Create your own set of values to guide your actions.
8. Incentive is everything.
9. Create solutions for seemingly impossible problems.
10. Become a revolutionary for experimentation and change.
11. Sometimes it's better to do 1,001 small things right than only one large thing right.
12. Deliberately cultivate your reputation and legacy.
_____
These remind us once more that great thoughts and useful tips have been available for us for a long, long time. Application will give results, not just reading or remembering.
For instance, once you truly accept that everyone wants to appear reasonable, you are less likely to feel anger or irritation at someone's behaviour. "Finish better than your beginnings" can be applied at a project level (what have you learned, what have you contributed, what relationships have you built) or even at a life level (most of us begin at a different starting point than, say, the Ambani brothers of India, but more important is what we make of our lives and where we go in relation to our starting point).
| #61 |
#61-1. Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.
-John Andrew Holmes
#61-2. There is no victory at bargain basement prices.
-Dwight David Eisenhower
#61-3. It's not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are you busy about?
-Henry David Thoreau
_____
When we wish to generate new ideas, knowledge of the relevant facts is useful up to a point. More important is to take a fresh perspective that outsiders or novices are easily able to do.
Others' success sometimes looks like a lucky break but history teaches us that there always is a lot of sweat and sacrifice behind the glamorous stories. Funnily, many creative breakthroughs have been achieved by those who looked for a shortcut or easier approach but then such individuals used that desire to persist in finding and developing their ideas.
"Being busy" is a modern disease. I dislike saying, "I am busy" to anyone when they ask for my time. In my view, that statement simply translates into, "I attach higher priority to certain other things than to whatever you are requesting." Which is fine as it goes, but it is good to be clear about it rather than giving an impression that I want to give you time but cannot. Many people confuse activity with action.
No comments:
Post a Comment