Perhaps Anna is being obstinate, undemocratic and a brat. Arguably he isn’t letting Parliamentary democracy function. He will fast indefinitely until he gets his way and the Jan Lokpal draft is accepted.. He will not take recourse to law and go to the courts to change the Delhi Police’s stipulations. Perhaps Anna has some skeletons in the cupboard, allegedly team Anna have some dubious source of funding. There is also an allegation about misuse of money from his NGO. Clearly he is not a Jaiprakash Narayan, far from being a Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Most, even today, don’t know his antecedents or his claim to fame. To his advantage he looks a Gandhian and is willing to fight the system. He sports a white cap which is great branding and makes for great imagery . No wonder there are war cries about the “second freedom struggle”. There may be a lot that is not perfect about Anna. And certainly wasn’t about Baba Ramdev. But who cares?
This outcry and the outpouring isn’t about Anna, nor for Anna. People aren’t reacting the way they are because of goodwill and care for Anna. His past and bio are largely irrelevant, as long as he is largely clean ( which it seems is the case, and has been a social worker). This anger and rage is directed towards the Government machinery and governmental machinations in general and an outpouring thats especially directed against the current Congress one. This outrage is against Governments who don’t care, are corrupt and are arrogant. And more so ones that don’t care that they are corrupt and arrogant.
L’affaire Anna makes for fascinating study , and meaningful participation Clearly and without any doubt or debate its meaningful, relevant and much needed “movement” It is fascinating from two perspectives- one, its interesting to see how how social epidemics get precipitated, become viral and spread uncontrollably and usually without any central coordination. The second facet is to see how things pan out when lawyers , using laywer tactics go horribly wrong when it comes to civil society, public good and good governance, which is quite a bit like good parenting.
Good governments as do effective Parents .guide and shape, are honest, firm, principle based, punish, but above all are loving and caring entities. When governments have that energy and similar attributes they tend to succeed and do better. Imagine what would happen if Parents dealt with family issues as would lawyers in a court of law. Well that would be disastrous and that’s what is happening out there. You don’t deal with issues centred around national good using lawyer tactics. ( which by the way is no disrespect for lawyers and what they do and are supposed to do and admirably do in court.)
Currently the Government is using all the lawyer tactics it is so well equipped with. Interestingly all the others have come along with lawyers as well! The first lawyer tactic is to discredit the adversary. Use any and all means possible to grind their character and hence their credibility to dust. Witness whats happening in the French supremo DSK against the maid rape case. There is as much talk about the maids past as is about the crime that was committed. The second tactic is to intimidate...let the adversary know that there is a huge cost to fighting. Most people back off because of the above two tactics. But there are more. The third tactic that lawyers use is to harp on technicalities..and win on technicalities . The letter and not the spirit is what counts. In the Anna one no matter how many legalities and section 144 arguments that the Congress throws, no one is buying. The common man and society dispense judgement its own unique ways. Tactic number four is to obfuscate...witness all the “lawyer” debates on national television....and one sees some grand obfuscation with wonderful language, grandiose statements which are contentless, trivialisations and deflections, exaggerations and insinuations, shameless inexactitude and downright expediency. Lawyers also like to cut deals in private, with the same adversary that they so vehemently oppose in public. Its never about the principles, its about getting the job done. Sometimes when they meet a Ramdev who does a volte face, it leaves egg on the face.
The Government is going to have to alter their approach, which they probably will shortly.
How do we contribute, support?
Would love to have your views.....
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
I liked ZNMD for the same reasons that I liked Life is Beautiful. I like movies that celebrate life.
ZNMD, is about our free spirit that often and tragically remains boxed in most of us, for most of our lives.
Alas, how many will live in the Now, be aware of one’s every breath and know how precious every breath really is- to be alive and to just be.
"keh raheen hai bas ek tum ho yahan,
bas main hoon,
meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein,
aisi gehraiyaan, aisi tanhaiyaan,
aur main... sirf main.
Apne hone par mujhko yakeen aa gaya."
Hritik begins to know this many meters below underwater, first scared then liberated. The dive made the man cry.
How many will know what its to fly like a bird, to leave below and leave behind the angst of the past. Liberated as Farhan then feels. The flight made the man scream with joy.
Or be like the woman who rides a motorbike miles to just kiss someone, only to return to her own freedom, and leave him to his? Katrina is liberated and liberating.
If I didn’t know that the prime-movers of the film include people such as Javed, Zoya and Farhan Akhtar, I would have dismissed my interpretations and delight as misplaced. Currently I am waiting to see the film dobara, to explore and discover more through the denouement of the plot and poetry of one of the protagonists. Below the thin but lovely sheen of glamour, glitz and kitsch that they have dished out which the Junta is loving, is Spain and the breeziness of the movie thats seductive...Beneath all that there is some chicken soup for the soul. Many may disagree...but as in Life, as for a movie, its what you take from it. Its personal.
Some have commented that the films meanders around, if not aimlessly but rather leisurely before its gets to its destination. Perhaps a more than apt parallel and comment on life. Shouldnt it always be about the journey? The film has been criticized for the many and somewhat long silent moments that punctuate the narrative. To me that is life, and at the end of the journey called ZNMD its creditworthy that we look back remembering the film as breezy and fluid. The beauty is the film is neither preachy nor melodramatic. Its new but it goes down smoothly!
The ending is abrupt to some and to others, a great stroke, as lovely as the film. To me the metaphor of the “bulls” that constantly chase us now and then in life, and how fear, fright and flight give way to a smile and a frozen frame is fantastic. Death we all know allows us to be born again. Near death experiences do the same. Now how does one consciously go about embracing near death experiences?
We all want to jump, dive, kiss, fly.
"Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai"
Time to chage seats to sitting in Lifes aisle seat?
ZNMD, is about our free spirit that often and tragically remains boxed in most of us, for most of our lives.
Alas, how many will live in the Now, be aware of one’s every breath and know how precious every breath really is- to be alive and to just be.
"keh raheen hai bas ek tum ho yahan,
bas main hoon,
meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein,
aisi gehraiyaan, aisi tanhaiyaan,
aur main... sirf main.
Apne hone par mujhko yakeen aa gaya."
Hritik begins to know this many meters below underwater, first scared then liberated. The dive made the man cry.
How many will know what its to fly like a bird, to leave below and leave behind the angst of the past. Liberated as Farhan then feels. The flight made the man scream with joy.
Or be like the woman who rides a motorbike miles to just kiss someone, only to return to her own freedom, and leave him to his? Katrina is liberated and liberating.
If I didn’t know that the prime-movers of the film include people such as Javed, Zoya and Farhan Akhtar, I would have dismissed my interpretations and delight as misplaced. Currently I am waiting to see the film dobara, to explore and discover more through the denouement of the plot and poetry of one of the protagonists. Below the thin but lovely sheen of glamour, glitz and kitsch that they have dished out which the Junta is loving, is Spain and the breeziness of the movie thats seductive...Beneath all that there is some chicken soup for the soul. Many may disagree...but as in Life, as for a movie, its what you take from it. Its personal.
Some have commented that the films meanders around, if not aimlessly but rather leisurely before its gets to its destination. Perhaps a more than apt parallel and comment on life. Shouldnt it always be about the journey? The film has been criticized for the many and somewhat long silent moments that punctuate the narrative. To me that is life, and at the end of the journey called ZNMD its creditworthy that we look back remembering the film as breezy and fluid. The beauty is the film is neither preachy nor melodramatic. Its new but it goes down smoothly!
The ending is abrupt to some and to others, a great stroke, as lovely as the film. To me the metaphor of the “bulls” that constantly chase us now and then in life, and how fear, fright and flight give way to a smile and a frozen frame is fantastic. Death we all know allows us to be born again. Near death experiences do the same. Now how does one consciously go about embracing near death experiences?
We all want to jump, dive, kiss, fly.
"Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai"
Time to chage seats to sitting in Lifes aisle seat?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Life is Beautiful
Those who havent seen Life is Beautiful...see it plese. Its one of my all time favs. I bought a dvd many years ago in USA, waited six months for the perfect day and mood and saw the movie alone. I fondly remember that day.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Great leaders don’t settle for 'OR'. They want and get 'And'
Leaders in organisations are required to make decisions all the time. Superior performance at the organisation/team/individual level does not require being correct all the time, which is impossible, rather managing a "good batting average." Good decision making is rooted in the analysis of data, the creation of models and meta models on the computer and in the mind (intuition and abstractions), embracing ambiguity (making good assumptions), getting experience to talk (having experts on the team) and some risk taking . It's a wonder, given the complexity of the Universe and the limitations of tools and techniques, that leaders not only make great decisions but are able to make them at all! Alas, the human brain is wired to do extra-ordinary things.
Leaders are typically confronted with choices where they must choose/decide between options/features/attributes seemingly available. Good Leaders are able to choose the seemingly correct choice when confronted with an "X or Y" situation. Great leaders, however, are able to turn the "X or Y" into an "X and Y" scenario.
I have observed, some have researched, that most people's brains are wired for 'or', and only a minority for 'and'. Through childhood, school, college and in jobs, we are conditioned to decision trees where we must give up something to get something. We must choose one. We lost, along the way, our ability to demand both (and all three, all four...) and the ability to find the ways to have the cake and eat it too. Great leaders, however, are able to. They want both. Theirs is, what I call the – 'And Brain'.
The 'Or Brain' chooses. The Or Brain's paradigm is one of 'or'- profits or market-share, relationship- based or task-based, long term or the short term, big picture or details oriented, being passionate or being dispassionate, empowerment or controls, flat structure or hierarchy or stable organisations. To be or not to be is the quintessential dilemma.
The 'And Brain', however, keeps two seemly opposite ideas simultaneously in the brain and not be dysfunctional. The And Brain is able to address the contradictions. Infact, it uses the tension between the contradictions for creative solutions. The And Brain can co-exist both…passion and dispassion, confidence and humility, big picture and detail, relationship and task, technology orientation and business acumen…seemingly "opposing" forces or facets which are easily reconciled.
Jim Collins ("Good to Great") calls it the "tyranny of Or versus the power of And". Recently, in the Harvard Business Review in an article titled "How Successful Leaders Think" by Roger Martin, this phenomenon was articulated. The article pointed out "that humans, unlike animals, have an opposable thumb, wherein the fingers and the thumb oppose each other, thereby allowing humans to do what animals are unable to." It was noticed that successful leaders exhibited an opposable mind. They have the predisposition to hold two opposing ideas in their heads at the same time. And then, without settling for one alternative or the other, they are able to creatively resolve the tension between those two ideas by generating a new one that has elements of both. This process of consideration and synthesis is called "Integrative thinking."
I find it possible to try and get people in organisations flirt with this concept and then get pleasantly surprised with the outcomes. It takes thinking, persistence and faith. The reactions change over time. At first, when asked to accomplish both objectives, peoples' initial reactions are "Boss wants more, he is unreasonable, doesn't he understand, what's new..." Over time, leaders show people the innovative solutions which resolve the inherent contradictions and achieve dual goals. People begin to become believers. Over time with continued success at finding these solutions they start to get converted to this powerful paradigm. Huge opportunities open up, massive resources are saved, extraordinary results manifest and a certain confidence emerges. Soon they too become 'unreasonable' themselves, realising that being reasonable allows one to do only reasonably well!
Welcome to the unreasonable world of And.
Leaders are typically confronted with choices where they must choose/decide between options/features/attributes seemingly available. Good Leaders are able to choose the seemingly correct choice when confronted with an "X or Y" situation. Great leaders, however, are able to turn the "X or Y" into an "X and Y" scenario.
I have observed, some have researched, that most people's brains are wired for 'or', and only a minority for 'and'. Through childhood, school, college and in jobs, we are conditioned to decision trees where we must give up something to get something. We must choose one. We lost, along the way, our ability to demand both (and all three, all four...) and the ability to find the ways to have the cake and eat it too. Great leaders, however, are able to. They want both. Theirs is, what I call the – 'And Brain'.
The 'Or Brain' chooses. The Or Brain's paradigm is one of 'or'- profits or market-share, relationship- based or task-based, long term or the short term, big picture or details oriented, being passionate or being dispassionate, empowerment or controls, flat structure or hierarchy or stable organisations. To be or not to be is the quintessential dilemma.
The 'And Brain', however, keeps two seemly opposite ideas simultaneously in the brain and not be dysfunctional. The And Brain is able to address the contradictions. Infact, it uses the tension between the contradictions for creative solutions. The And Brain can co-exist both…passion and dispassion, confidence and humility, big picture and detail, relationship and task, technology orientation and business acumen…seemingly "opposing" forces or facets which are easily reconciled.
Jim Collins ("Good to Great") calls it the "tyranny of Or versus the power of And". Recently, in the Harvard Business Review in an article titled "How Successful Leaders Think" by Roger Martin, this phenomenon was articulated. The article pointed out "that humans, unlike animals, have an opposable thumb, wherein the fingers and the thumb oppose each other, thereby allowing humans to do what animals are unable to." It was noticed that successful leaders exhibited an opposable mind. They have the predisposition to hold two opposing ideas in their heads at the same time. And then, without settling for one alternative or the other, they are able to creatively resolve the tension between those two ideas by generating a new one that has elements of both. This process of consideration and synthesis is called "Integrative thinking."
I find it possible to try and get people in organisations flirt with this concept and then get pleasantly surprised with the outcomes. It takes thinking, persistence and faith. The reactions change over time. At first, when asked to accomplish both objectives, peoples' initial reactions are "Boss wants more, he is unreasonable, doesn't he understand, what's new..." Over time, leaders show people the innovative solutions which resolve the inherent contradictions and achieve dual goals. People begin to become believers. Over time with continued success at finding these solutions they start to get converted to this powerful paradigm. Huge opportunities open up, massive resources are saved, extraordinary results manifest and a certain confidence emerges. Soon they too become 'unreasonable' themselves, realising that being reasonable allows one to do only reasonably well!
Welcome to the unreasonable world of And.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Critical Imperatives for the next frontier
The world economy at large is in the midst of difficult times. The recession is deep and widespread and seems like that it is not about to relent anytime soon. While India isn’t as badly hit as USA and some western countries, it is gloomy out here as well.
Times like these can turn out to be a great boon if used to our advantage. It is in times like these that companies put greater controls in place, great talent is readily available and selectively hired, cost rationalization is undertaken, bench-time is used for creation of IP and products, competitors go out of business and operations are streamlined. We are trying too.
It’s a time when we embrace the ambiguity and the opportunity rapidly, and re-purpose and reorient ourselves, and be more sensitive to the context than ever before. In summary, as individuals and as an organization we must be responsive to change.
Here are the top THREE imperatives:
Change I: From being Brand Led to being Sales Driven:
QAI has been a brand led organization. Each one of us contributed in no small measure to the creation of highly respected brand in our space. The brand has had the power to pull customers in. It has enabled us to charge a premium. We have been called to the “party” most of the times. We have lost a few and won many. Thanks to our sales team we have fought many a battle, many hard ones and many not so hard.
NOW we need to transform into being a “sales” driven organization. In such organizations sales people are hunters, sales targets are tracked monthly, incentives are in place, people have a sense of urgency in meeting the numbers, low performers are coached and eventually if necessary urged to find a more rewarding place. Markets are analyzed and systematically penetrated. With goals, dates and targets…
As QAI we may be the tiger in the marketplace…but lets remember…In the forest the deer wakes up and worries that if it doesn’t run fast enough it will get eaten by the tiger. The Tiger wakes up and also worries that if it doesn’t run fast enough it will go hungry.
Change II: From being Strategy Stalwarts to being Finance Focused:
Strategy has been QAI's forte. Strategy is all about where we compete (areas and lines of business) and how we compete (value capture mechanisms, value delivery etc) We have a great business model, great portfolio, great brand, great team, great partnerships, great timing, great talent acquisition, great history and a great purpose for existence.
We must now change to build in the controls, collect the money, disallow client cancellations, not tolerate individual demands, negotiate right, discount only that much, and know the numbers.
It is said that the Top-line is vanity, Profits is sanity but it's the Cash that’s reality and King. The cash in the bank, keeps the organizations going, and is critical in such times. Financial metrics become key for managing survival and growth.
Selling a deal and celebrating is one part. Collecting the cash is when the deal is actually worth anything.
We are taking many steps in addressing the financial controls, augmenting the bandwidth, moving towards sanity and reality. Policies are being drafted.
Your contribution and participation is seeked.
Change III: From being Individual Thought Leaders to also being Organizational and Business Leaders:
Most in QAI are thought leaders, effective consultants and trainers. It is who we are. Some at QAI are far more than this.
Here’s a thought for those who aren’t.
The organizations...QAI and Client would increasingly require a greater participation and empathy in its business mission, an understanding of the bigger picture …a greater engagement. Especially in times like these, it may no longer be adequate to deliver great consulting for the attainment of a specific goal…although that’s what the contract requires. Organizations and CEOs want business improvements, they need hard advice on all matters, and they need our programs to have lasting impact and our improvements to shore up the bottom lines. They want solutions even though they might be signing up for an offering.
Fortunately we have both the talent and the deliverables, the various practices and the IP. Every sign up can be a massive follow on opportunity, much greater than the sign up amount.
Similarly the internal organization wants us be and do more than show up for consulting days and do a terrific billable day. It needs your time and attention for creating IP, it needs your assistance for organization building, it needs every non billable day not to go waste, it needs presence in the office and participation, your leadership coaching to new joinees. It needs you to “sell” yourselves to various Practice groups and make your contribution valuable. To acquire customers.
I will repeat once again what we have heard so often….when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I seek your participation and enrollment for this one year to reinvent ourselves, create a stronger, and better QAI. It cannot be done by a few. It can be done if we all participate. This is a call to action.
Let’s do it.
Times like these can turn out to be a great boon if used to our advantage. It is in times like these that companies put greater controls in place, great talent is readily available and selectively hired, cost rationalization is undertaken, bench-time is used for creation of IP and products, competitors go out of business and operations are streamlined. We are trying too.
It’s a time when we embrace the ambiguity and the opportunity rapidly, and re-purpose and reorient ourselves, and be more sensitive to the context than ever before. In summary, as individuals and as an organization we must be responsive to change.
Here are the top THREE imperatives:
Change I: From being Brand Led to being Sales Driven:
QAI has been a brand led organization. Each one of us contributed in no small measure to the creation of highly respected brand in our space. The brand has had the power to pull customers in. It has enabled us to charge a premium. We have been called to the “party” most of the times. We have lost a few and won many. Thanks to our sales team we have fought many a battle, many hard ones and many not so hard.
NOW we need to transform into being a “sales” driven organization. In such organizations sales people are hunters, sales targets are tracked monthly, incentives are in place, people have a sense of urgency in meeting the numbers, low performers are coached and eventually if necessary urged to find a more rewarding place. Markets are analyzed and systematically penetrated. With goals, dates and targets…
As QAI we may be the tiger in the marketplace…but lets remember…In the forest the deer wakes up and worries that if it doesn’t run fast enough it will get eaten by the tiger. The Tiger wakes up and also worries that if it doesn’t run fast enough it will go hungry.
Change II: From being Strategy Stalwarts to being Finance Focused:
Strategy has been QAI's forte. Strategy is all about where we compete (areas and lines of business) and how we compete (value capture mechanisms, value delivery etc) We have a great business model, great portfolio, great brand, great team, great partnerships, great timing, great talent acquisition, great history and a great purpose for existence.
We must now change to build in the controls, collect the money, disallow client cancellations, not tolerate individual demands, negotiate right, discount only that much, and know the numbers.
It is said that the Top-line is vanity, Profits is sanity but it's the Cash that’s reality and King. The cash in the bank, keeps the organizations going, and is critical in such times. Financial metrics become key for managing survival and growth.
Selling a deal and celebrating is one part. Collecting the cash is when the deal is actually worth anything.
We are taking many steps in addressing the financial controls, augmenting the bandwidth, moving towards sanity and reality. Policies are being drafted.
Your contribution and participation is seeked.
Change III: From being Individual Thought Leaders to also being Organizational and Business Leaders:
Most in QAI are thought leaders, effective consultants and trainers. It is who we are. Some at QAI are far more than this.
Here’s a thought for those who aren’t.
The organizations...QAI and Client would increasingly require a greater participation and empathy in its business mission, an understanding of the bigger picture …a greater engagement. Especially in times like these, it may no longer be adequate to deliver great consulting for the attainment of a specific goal…although that’s what the contract requires. Organizations and CEOs want business improvements, they need hard advice on all matters, and they need our programs to have lasting impact and our improvements to shore up the bottom lines. They want solutions even though they might be signing up for an offering.
Fortunately we have both the talent and the deliverables, the various practices and the IP. Every sign up can be a massive follow on opportunity, much greater than the sign up amount.
Similarly the internal organization wants us be and do more than show up for consulting days and do a terrific billable day. It needs your time and attention for creating IP, it needs your assistance for organization building, it needs every non billable day not to go waste, it needs presence in the office and participation, your leadership coaching to new joinees. It needs you to “sell” yourselves to various Practice groups and make your contribution valuable. To acquire customers.
I will repeat once again what we have heard so often….when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I seek your participation and enrollment for this one year to reinvent ourselves, create a stronger, and better QAI. It cannot be done by a few. It can be done if we all participate. This is a call to action.
Let’s do it.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Robin Sharma and QAI
Here’s wishing you a Happy New Year!. I hope we have a great year ahead.
The last year was amongst the worst ones for India (although there were some bright spots.)
I know of people who know of people who lost dear ones to terrorism in Mumbai. The incident was a tragic one and a watershed event. Something has changed since and I hope the change will be substantial enough to make some difference to our lives.
The coming year is also going to be challenging for most organizations across the world. The world is in the midst of a deep economic recession. Most I speak to are talking of the bloodbath. I meet people who have been laid- off. I have met companies who are implementing massive efficiency programs. I hope this situation improves soon.
As we look back and look ahead on Jan 01, 2009, I thought I would share a few thoughts I believe in and feel strongly about. These will keep us enthusiastic, wonder struck, engaged, hopeful and in pursuit of happiness and in pursuit of excellence. The following 13 tenets have been taken from Robin Sharma’s Guide to Greatness Part 1 and 2. There many others …grab the books if you relate to these.
Best wishes again, for the year.
Navyug
1. The Power of Simple.
"A simple message that everyone is a leader - no matter what they do or who they are. Adopt simple ideas and tools (that actually work) to help people and organizations get to world-class. And living a simple life. Simple, is so powerful. Success will come from Simplicity!"
2. Be So Good That They Can't Ignore You.
"Life favors the devoted. The more you give to life, the more life sends back. It's just not possible for you to be great at what you do, always reaching for brilliance and standing for excellence and not win in the end. Life is always fair in the end. Trust it!"
3. Be Unreasonable.
"Don’t be so scared of failure a that you fail to dream. Don't be so reasonable and practical and sensible that you refuse to seize glorious opportunities when they show up. Push the envelope. And know that every outstanding piece of human progress was achieved through the heroic efforts of someone who was told that their idea was impossible to realize. The unreasonable souls fight the urge to be ordinary!"
4. Are You Jokeable?
"The best among us don't take themselves too seriously (no one else will take you seriously if you take yourself too seriously). They do their best and then let go, letting life do the rest. Life has its own intelligence. So be jokeable. Relax. Yes, go for world class. But blend that drive with a sense of amusement. Hold on to life with a loose grip. And know that life was never meant to be an ordeal. It was meant to be pure joy!"
5. Stop Trying So Hard.
"It is important to let life lead you. If you have tried everything possible to realize an outcome and it just hasn't worked out as planned, stop trying so hard. Maybe nothing's wrong. Maybe the timing is not right. Maybe what you wanted is not in your best interests. And once you let go of what you thought was best, space is created for something even better to arrive. Because every ending ushers in a brand new beginning. Life will always lead you to a place that's better!"
6. Your Team's Only As Good As You.
"Your team will never be greater than you are. You set the standard to which all can rise. Each finger affects the strength of the hand. Forget blaming others- that's just excusing yourself. And it all starts with your inner world. You can't help in the building of an excellent organization until you commit to becoming an excellent person. External leadership begins with internal mastery!"
7. You'll Know When You Know.
"No one gets to world class without a relentless devotion to not giving up. All acts of heroism were accomplished by human beings who refused to lose. They just wouldn't let go- no matter how bad or impossible things looked. But sometimes, you just get to a point where you just know it's time to change strategy. It's not about losing hope. It's about trusting life. You just know. Trusting that there's something better waiting for you. Do your best and let life do the rest!"
8. Be Unpopular. Leadership Isn't a Popularity Contest.
"Businesses that try to be all things to all people end up being nothing to anyone. You need to stand for something. You need to play ferociously. Passionately. Emotionally. To get to world class. Or don't play at all. Great leaders fearlessly make tough calls. They speak their truth. They run their own race, making the right decisions and worrying little about public opinion. They are courage in action. Extraordinary leadership is a balance between being tender yet tough, compassionate yet courageous, part saint and part warrior, friendly yet firm. Being a leader isn't about being liked. It's about doing what's right!"
9. Whatever Happened To Commitment?
"We live in a world seduced by the easy. Nothing comes for free. There are no free lunches. The best things in life require sacrifice and devotion. Each of us must pay the price. And the more we pay, the more we will receive. Great lives just don't occur out of the blue. They are crafted and built, block by block, day by day. Give your best and the best will come to you. Guaranteed!"
10. Live An Intense Life.
"Live like there is no tomorrow, achieve the best within yourself and love like you really mean it. Do your part to elevate the world. Live with intensity. Sure we need to enjoy the journey, tread lightly and balance our courage with striking kindness. But do it all with rare passion, with bravery and with a sparkle in your eye. Do it with intensity. All of the great ones do!"
11. Getting What You Want While Loving What You Have.
"Enjoy the view from where you are at. Savor how far you have come. Be grateful for where you are along the journey that is your life. Live in the moment. But also remember that with the gifts that reside within you come great responsibilities. We must continually walk toward our fears and make more of our lives. We must constantly play a bigger game and use our creative talents to do, be ad see more. So love what you have. And then go for what you want. Enjoy the climb up the mountain. But never take your eyes off the summit!"
12. Do You Play?
"As adults, we stop playing once we assume the responsibilities of life. It doesn't have to be that way. Make the time to play. Find the time to be a little reckless and silly. Be imaginative at work and bring curiosity back to your days. Get back to that sense of wonder you knew when life was all about make-believe, riding your bike and enjoy every second of this journey called living. Adults are nothing more than deteriorated children!"
13. Revere Great Design.
"Human beings need mystery to be happy in life. If life is bland, we experience no joy. Good design adds to that mystery. It makes life interesting. It connects the artist that resides within each of us. It surprises us. "
The last year was amongst the worst ones for India (although there were some bright spots.)
I know of people who know of people who lost dear ones to terrorism in Mumbai. The incident was a tragic one and a watershed event. Something has changed since and I hope the change will be substantial enough to make some difference to our lives.
The coming year is also going to be challenging for most organizations across the world. The world is in the midst of a deep economic recession. Most I speak to are talking of the bloodbath. I meet people who have been laid- off. I have met companies who are implementing massive efficiency programs. I hope this situation improves soon.
As we look back and look ahead on Jan 01, 2009, I thought I would share a few thoughts I believe in and feel strongly about. These will keep us enthusiastic, wonder struck, engaged, hopeful and in pursuit of happiness and in pursuit of excellence. The following 13 tenets have been taken from Robin Sharma’s Guide to Greatness Part 1 and 2. There many others …grab the books if you relate to these.
Best wishes again, for the year.
Navyug
1. The Power of Simple.
"A simple message that everyone is a leader - no matter what they do or who they are. Adopt simple ideas and tools (that actually work) to help people and organizations get to world-class. And living a simple life. Simple, is so powerful. Success will come from Simplicity!"
2. Be So Good That They Can't Ignore You.
"Life favors the devoted. The more you give to life, the more life sends back. It's just not possible for you to be great at what you do, always reaching for brilliance and standing for excellence and not win in the end. Life is always fair in the end. Trust it!"
3. Be Unreasonable.
"Don’t be so scared of failure a that you fail to dream. Don't be so reasonable and practical and sensible that you refuse to seize glorious opportunities when they show up. Push the envelope. And know that every outstanding piece of human progress was achieved through the heroic efforts of someone who was told that their idea was impossible to realize. The unreasonable souls fight the urge to be ordinary!"
4. Are You Jokeable?
"The best among us don't take themselves too seriously (no one else will take you seriously if you take yourself too seriously). They do their best and then let go, letting life do the rest. Life has its own intelligence. So be jokeable. Relax. Yes, go for world class. But blend that drive with a sense of amusement. Hold on to life with a loose grip. And know that life was never meant to be an ordeal. It was meant to be pure joy!"
5. Stop Trying So Hard.
"It is important to let life lead you. If you have tried everything possible to realize an outcome and it just hasn't worked out as planned, stop trying so hard. Maybe nothing's wrong. Maybe the timing is not right. Maybe what you wanted is not in your best interests. And once you let go of what you thought was best, space is created for something even better to arrive. Because every ending ushers in a brand new beginning. Life will always lead you to a place that's better!"
6. Your Team's Only As Good As You.
"Your team will never be greater than you are. You set the standard to which all can rise. Each finger affects the strength of the hand. Forget blaming others- that's just excusing yourself. And it all starts with your inner world. You can't help in the building of an excellent organization until you commit to becoming an excellent person. External leadership begins with internal mastery!"
7. You'll Know When You Know.
"No one gets to world class without a relentless devotion to not giving up. All acts of heroism were accomplished by human beings who refused to lose. They just wouldn't let go- no matter how bad or impossible things looked. But sometimes, you just get to a point where you just know it's time to change strategy. It's not about losing hope. It's about trusting life. You just know. Trusting that there's something better waiting for you. Do your best and let life do the rest!"
8. Be Unpopular. Leadership Isn't a Popularity Contest.
"Businesses that try to be all things to all people end up being nothing to anyone. You need to stand for something. You need to play ferociously. Passionately. Emotionally. To get to world class. Or don't play at all. Great leaders fearlessly make tough calls. They speak their truth. They run their own race, making the right decisions and worrying little about public opinion. They are courage in action. Extraordinary leadership is a balance between being tender yet tough, compassionate yet courageous, part saint and part warrior, friendly yet firm. Being a leader isn't about being liked. It's about doing what's right!"
9. Whatever Happened To Commitment?
"We live in a world seduced by the easy. Nothing comes for free. There are no free lunches. The best things in life require sacrifice and devotion. Each of us must pay the price. And the more we pay, the more we will receive. Great lives just don't occur out of the blue. They are crafted and built, block by block, day by day. Give your best and the best will come to you. Guaranteed!"
10. Live An Intense Life.
"Live like there is no tomorrow, achieve the best within yourself and love like you really mean it. Do your part to elevate the world. Live with intensity. Sure we need to enjoy the journey, tread lightly and balance our courage with striking kindness. But do it all with rare passion, with bravery and with a sparkle in your eye. Do it with intensity. All of the great ones do!"
11. Getting What You Want While Loving What You Have.
"Enjoy the view from where you are at. Savor how far you have come. Be grateful for where you are along the journey that is your life. Live in the moment. But also remember that with the gifts that reside within you come great responsibilities. We must continually walk toward our fears and make more of our lives. We must constantly play a bigger game and use our creative talents to do, be ad see more. So love what you have. And then go for what you want. Enjoy the climb up the mountain. But never take your eyes off the summit!"
12. Do You Play?
"As adults, we stop playing once we assume the responsibilities of life. It doesn't have to be that way. Make the time to play. Find the time to be a little reckless and silly. Be imaginative at work and bring curiosity back to your days. Get back to that sense of wonder you knew when life was all about make-believe, riding your bike and enjoy every second of this journey called living. Adults are nothing more than deteriorated children!"
13. Revere Great Design.
"Human beings need mystery to be happy in life. If life is bland, we experience no joy. Good design adds to that mystery. It makes life interesting. It connects the artist that resides within each of us. It surprises us. "
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Play the Game
We are told to take our Profession seriously, to take our Work seriously, to take our Boss seriously, to take our Career graph seriously and the Brand that we are working for, seriously. I cant disagree. I used capitals for all the “sacred cows” in the previous sentence. Its good advice. Only, its incomplete.
Now suppose that your Job was actually a game..a sport…perhaps chess, perhaps cricket or any other? Imagine if you were to get out of bed everyday and longed to get to the arena to whack the ball out of the stadium. Imagine, after having tried one’s best, if it didnt work out the way we would have hoped, we went home and slept peacefully saying "its only a game". Picture all getting together to intimidate the competition, team meetings full of plotting and scheming. Try thinking like Andy Grove of Intel, who used to say to his troops "its nothing personal, just go out and kill them!". Imagine if work was so much fun and inclusive that one didnt have to agonize over work-life balance: when work was life and life was a great life. Imagine if you could take a day off just to get better at the game.
Many years ago, I noticed that the publication Business World had a byline which said "Play the Game". It struck a chord and has stayed with me ever since. Isnt all that we do everyday and embroiled in, not "sport"? And if it doesnt feel like sport, are we perhaps in the wrong job, wrong profession?
Decide, if you want to be a Tendulkar or a Harsha Bhogle on the team. Both are very good at their jobs and we can see that both enjoy their work immensely. While the world needs both the Tendulkars and the Harshas I tell our new hires at QAI that we need the Tendulkars (whom we watch) and its he whom we respect. That we already have a Harsha (whom we hear) in the team. And that they need to go out and get some runs on the board (or wickets). That its infinitely more difficult to be a player in the middle, than commenting from the stands. Earn our respect, get out there yes, its a tough organisation to work for. And yet at the end of the day, remember its only a game. Tomorrow, we get another shot.
Lets try and view our job as a sport…If we are lucky, our sport will also have Purpose and make the experience even more satisfying. If we are not that fortunate, then lets work really hard to get real lucky.
To me, if my job had all the elements of a sport and also Purpose I would be really thrilled.
It does, and I am.
What about you?
Now suppose that your Job was actually a game..a sport…perhaps chess, perhaps cricket or any other? Imagine if you were to get out of bed everyday and longed to get to the arena to whack the ball out of the stadium. Imagine, after having tried one’s best, if it didnt work out the way we would have hoped, we went home and slept peacefully saying "its only a game". Picture all getting together to intimidate the competition, team meetings full of plotting and scheming. Try thinking like Andy Grove of Intel, who used to say to his troops "its nothing personal, just go out and kill them!". Imagine if work was so much fun and inclusive that one didnt have to agonize over work-life balance: when work was life and life was a great life. Imagine if you could take a day off just to get better at the game.
Many years ago, I noticed that the publication Business World had a byline which said "Play the Game". It struck a chord and has stayed with me ever since. Isnt all that we do everyday and embroiled in, not "sport"? And if it doesnt feel like sport, are we perhaps in the wrong job, wrong profession?
Decide, if you want to be a Tendulkar or a Harsha Bhogle on the team. Both are very good at their jobs and we can see that both enjoy their work immensely. While the world needs both the Tendulkars and the Harshas I tell our new hires at QAI that we need the Tendulkars (whom we watch) and its he whom we respect. That we already have a Harsha (whom we hear) in the team. And that they need to go out and get some runs on the board (or wickets). That its infinitely more difficult to be a player in the middle, than commenting from the stands. Earn our respect, get out there yes, its a tough organisation to work for. And yet at the end of the day, remember its only a game. Tomorrow, we get another shot.
Lets try and view our job as a sport…If we are lucky, our sport will also have Purpose and make the experience even more satisfying. If we are not that fortunate, then lets work really hard to get real lucky.
To me, if my job had all the elements of a sport and also Purpose I would be really thrilled.
It does, and I am.
What about you?
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