Aa..ha! [Thinking Inside The Blog!]

Sea Ship....

2008-07-22T12:00:00.000+05:30

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Difference between Managers and Leaders...

Chetan Bhagat - Where is the Spark!

2008-07-21T11:57:00.000+05:30

Confession time. I haven't read any of Chetan Bhagat's books. Even though I've been intending to, for quite some time now. I somehow end up laying my hands on humor (Wodehouse) and mystery more than anything else when it comes to fiction. A friend just forwarded Chetan Bhagat's speech at Symbiosis, Pune and I think it is wonderful. :-) I've been more than inspired by the widely circulated speeches by Steve Jobs, Bill Watterson, Rowling, Subroto Bagchi and Randy Pausch in the recent past. And, I must say this speech belongs to the same category for me! :-)
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Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark? (Nimmy's comment: I actually cried when I thought of how Kareena or rather the character she played in the movie had got transformed from someone so alive and intense to someone so pale and drained!)

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement.
But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday?
They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.
Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. (Emphasis by me) Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.
Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you.

But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.
Disappointment’s cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release.

Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts , having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you.

In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty darn lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, you eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You.

Come (to my) Home (dear) Life...!

2008-07-21T08:43:00.002+05:30

Been listening to this song during the weekend and feel like I could go on listening to it forever.....awesome music, lyrics and voices. There's nothing like music. Nothing!

PS: What an amazing first line....! (Title of this post...)

The Curse of Growth...

2008-07-18T09:21:00.001+05:30

I am looking for books/articles/sources of information that narrate real and genuine stories of large companies that manage to be agile, efficient and effective. I am aware of "Who says Elephants can't dance?"...but are there any other worthwhile books to be read? And, btw, is "Who says Elephants......" a good book in this context? Thanks in advance for sharing your views. I am keen to learn how large organizations manage to grow and decentralize their operations and yet manage to retain a single inspiring vision, a wonderful connectedness, overall efficiency (cutting across processes and departments), and knowledge - undiluted and reliable - that flows through every node in the organization.

It's another thing that I've always believed that an organization that is high and genuine on vision and not a run-of-the-mill, crude profit-making machine should actually try and retain an optimal size rather than focus on growing to an enormous size and satisfying the stock market's whims and fancies. On a related note, I'd, for example, partially expressed my thoughts on MindTree's business strategy many years ago.

There's another very relevant and current example that I need to mention in this context. Though I've been a bit slow in terms of catching up with the latest business stories, a friend recently brought up the topic of Starbucks' current plight in one of our conversations. The very next day, I also, coincidentally, bumped into an article in HBR on Starbucks. The article opines that Starbucks' problems started when they went public and subsequently diluted their brand while trying to expand in conventional ways. Sad, eh?

PS: Kung Fu Panda is likely to shake his cute head in disagreement if he reads this post...."There is no such thing as the curse of growth!" he might say.... ;-)

Lion of a Vision!

2008-07-17T10:24:00.000+05:30

"Empower yourself with the highest, grandest and joyest vision that motivates and inspires you. Higher the vision, the more you will draw the positive, vibrant and dynamic energies required to live and fulfill that dream." - Zenyasi

Hallelujah!! The quote flows through me like a flash, from head to toe. I want to pursue such a vision....! When on earth do I start? When on earth do I realize my true potential? When?

Honestly....

2008-07-16T09:07:00.001+05:30

I can't tolerate manipulation. I can't tolerate manipulative people. Even if it is for a good cause that the manipulation is being resorted to. Something tells me it will simply not work in the long run...in fact, it is bound to backfire. It cuts off human bonds. I like straightforward inspiration and openness. I like honesty. I like people who speak their heart even if it is a frightful thing to do for them. The only exceptions being situations wherein you don't want to unnecessarily hurt someone who doesn't deserve to be. But most people today seem to think that being ruthlessly honest and straightforward is a drawback - in the corporate world, if not in one's personal life. People seem to tend to think it is a disability that the world will take undue advantage of.

Both fiction and world history give us stories of heroes who were manipulatively clever with their enemies and of heroes who were honest, upright, simple and straight. The honest hero can sleep peacefully and does not have to worry about getting entangled in the threads of manipulation that are likely to form a web of distrust, confusion and falsehood. We have enough and more confusion in the world already! Why not make things easy and simple for ourselves? If the cause that we are fighting for is genuine and really worth it, being honest ought to yield positive results...tomorrow, if not today. Being honest will result in people trusting you throughout. Being manipulative will sow seeds of doubt in the minds of people you deal with (sooner or later) and make them suspect every move of yours. They begin to look for hidden agendas, blind spots and sudden curves. They become over-cautious thus spoiling the overall experience for everyone involved. Such situations do not bring forth genuine enthusiasm, trust and passion. Nothing great is ever achieved without an environment that makes everyone feel excited, enthusiastic, positive, trusting and passionate.

Say 'No' to manipulation. Go for honesty, transparency and simplicity. Please don't take the honest folks for granted. Instead, respect them for it. The world will be a simpler and happier place to live in! :-) Over and out.

KM and the World's Problems

2008-07-15T13:04:00.000+05:30

"Knowledge Management will not solve the problem of world hunger!"....like some folks fed up of being chased by overenthusiastic KMers, might say. ;-) But you know what? I would like to dare to suggest that KM may not definitely solve the problem of world hunger....but it may very well have been the very lack of KM mechanisms and environment that lead to world hunger! Doing something does not make the world more exciting than it is....but not doing it can leave the world a more difficult place than it would otherwise be. Makes sense or what? No? Let me tell you a story that made me think on these lines....

A few days ago, I was a passive participant in a group conversation that covered a plethora of topics which were not of great interest to me. Suddenly, a scientist (who was naturally inclined towards research) in the group mentioned something that caught my attention. He said he had spent a lot of time digging into the concept of horoscopes and had come to the conclusion that the (Indian) practice of seeking an alignment in the horoscopes of potential grooms and brides was dicey and unreliable. He went on to explain that the concept of horoscopes per se was convincing and he was quite inclined to believe that the relative movement of planets as well as the positions of planets at the time at which a person was born (Indian style of drawing a person's horoscope) seemed to have a mysterious say in the human's personality and destiny. So, where did he have a problem? He then said he explored the method/approach of comparing two horoscopes to find out whether there was an alignment or not and that was when he discovered that there were three key methods. Now, that's not what is meant to open your eyes. It may be obvious to you. What he said after that is what you might find thought-provoking. He said the results obtained on using the three methods are never the same. He said the outcome of following these approaches turned out to be different...and sometimes the opposite of each other! So, how do you know which one to believe? How do you know which one is 'right'? He went on for a while and strongly recommended listeners to take his finding into consideration and not believe the practice blindly because you simply don't know what's the right method. Sensible, I thought. Unless, as a layman, you somehow have the unbiased wherewithal to dig really hard and acquire the knowledge to find out what's the 'right' method...the so-called truth.

The conversation ended there, but it had me thinking for a while. Why was there more than one version of the "truth"? Why was there so much confusion? What is 'true' knowledge and how do you recognize it? Which of these three approaches would one decide on using and how? What was the origin/cause for such a situation?

I did not get all the answers but some of the things that occurred to me was that....
a) There was perhaps no centralized ownership, body, system, and mechanism to harness and manage this knowledge and that must have chiefly led to the existence of multiple and opposite approaches...causing the confusion that exists today. Knowledge creation? Yes. Management? No.

b) There was perhaps not enough and effective collective thinking and collaboration on merging the latter approaches and findings with the first-constructed method (Of course, let's not forget that ego and politics play a major role in such things. Sometimes it is really about lack of unbiased leadership and lack of a desire to get to the truth and be honest and sincere to one's profession. It is about safeguarding one's place under the sun. Thus, admittedly, the current situation may not quite be because of lack of collective thinking processes and mechanisms but because of the lack of an appropriate culture)

Anyway, I found myself gravitating towards the belief that the confusion today ought to be partly because of lack of KM practices! :-) And I then extended the same thought process into areas like religion. I found myself thinking about why there are so many religions even though most religions advocate the same noble things. Why is there no knowledge management and collective thinking when it comes to religions? Realistically speaking, is it possible at all to merge everything into one entity? But of course, the idea is not about avoiding variety and opposition but allowing it to emerge and then merge. It's like letting all the variety live together....letting all the rivers flow into one ocean. Speaking of which, I believe there has been an attempt to unify all religions into one...eh? I think I read about it somewhere....don't seem to be able to recall now...

And, hey, if you're reading this, thanks for letting me ramble.....yet again! :P

Mr.Mistake Comes Knocking Again...

2008-07-15T09:01:00.001+05:30

After reading a thoughtful post on Jack's blog, I rambled about mistakes here and here. If you happened to have tuned into those posts and introspected about your own mistakes and their repercussions, you may like this one from Steve Goodier. Some food for thought from Steve on there being no need to be Right all the time.

Rats, Rabbits, Hats, Habits....

2008-07-14T12:54:00.000+05:30

Anonymous - "A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls habits out of rats."

Hahahaahaa!! What an astonishing discovery! Must have been a serendipitous one that probably started off with some spoonerism. Tickles me. And, hey, did you notice that biting off a bit of the habit leaves us with the hat (and the rat in case it was the rat that did the biting)?

I know....you might now want to join the gang of 'pullers' and want to pull my life out of me. Relax. Pip-pip till the next post...! ;-)

"Cool Thinking"?

2008-07-10T08:32:00.000+05:30

A cool thinker neither thinks positively, nor negatively. He is simply balanced in his thinking. He strikes a practical balance between the two, after having clearly understood and analyzed the pros and cons of a situation. Such complete thinkers turn out to be great decision-makers and efficient managers. Think Cool! Think Complete! - Br. Sattvika Chaitanya

Agree. Makes complete sense - and actually inspires me - when it comes to most of the routine and mundane things....as in regular day-to-day life. But I believe there are times when it is a brilliant idea to refuse to acknowledge reality and do one's own 'unbalanced' thing or even the opposite of what is considered sensible. To put it bluntly, at times, it is an awesome idea to not be balanced, understanding and accommodating in one's thinking! Thinking positively, in a skewed way, about something that is generally considered impossible today can make it a reality tomorrow depending on how strongly skewed our thinking is ;-) (Think of airplanes). Only if the thinker passionately believes in it (despite all previous evidence and logical thinking pointing the other way) and cares two hoots for 'reality' do such miracles happen in life. The magic of life manifests itself only when we get a bit 'crazy' and forget 'reality' and how society would expect us to react to it.

Of course, such thinking may not always result in miracles and magic, but we at least have the extreme satisfaction of knowing we had a dream and gave it our all. And we are going to be happier we listened to our crazy little inner voice rather than settle for the boring and ordinary and then wonder till the very end if we could have probably pulled off something visionary or radically different.

Unusual Paradox

2008-07-07T11:52:00.000+05:30

It's been a long time since I spoke of Paradoxes. I haven't been bumping into them for a while now. So, I was a bit excited to come across one recently. It is about something that's, well, a bit gross. But I just can't help mentioning it because it is, nevertheless, a paradox. I will not be doing justice to my love for paradoxes if I don't record this on my blog. And moreover, it is about saving the environment....

This may be a nasty and disgusting thing for people who don't know India or, in other words, for people who are not used to such things. It is a common sight, here, to see men attend to nature's call in public (disgusting...even if it happens to be an isolated corner or away from the pavements and traffic). Sick. Unpardonable and gross. Shoot them down is my unilateral suggestion. (My temper is rising. Need to come back to the paradox thing lest I forget what I am writing this post for). There have been many attempts to build public rest rooms to prevent such a criminal treatment of the environment and not to forget the embarrassment to the other people on the road. But most of these places charge a small sum of money for usage, especially in bus stands, parks, tourist spots etc. (Of course, in some places, there is no charge.) So, where is the paradox now? Would you have thought of this? I recently came across an article which says, in TN, there apparently is a place where they have decided to pay money (the same small amount) to the people who use the rest room rather than dirty public places!!! I think the guys who thought of this idea need to be garlanded and celebrated for life. Brilliant. You want the environment to be clean and healthy, then don't ask them to pay in order to keep it that way.....instead, you pay them for listening to you! :-)

Trains, Trees and Challenges!

2008-07-04T09:28:00.000+05:30

Got this from a friend. Awesome. Love it. Adore it. :)

Challenges are like trees seen through a running train. As you approach them they grow bigger, once you pass them they become smaller! So never be afraid of them.

Child -> Adult and Adult -> Child

2008-07-03T16:24:00.000+05:30

It pains me to see children who behave like (most) adults, that is, minus the innocence, naivety, silliness, mirth, playfulness, curiosity, courage, blind confidence, lack of botheration about what others will say or think etc. And, ironically, it also pains me to see adults who have forgotten how to 'be' or don't believe in 'being' a child..... :-(

Flash in the Brain

2008-07-03T16:19:00.000+05:30

"Anything is OK....just as long as you accept it as it is and figure out how to deal with it....err....either before it is too late or, in certain cases, even as it changes." - Nimmy :-)

The Story of Adversity

2008-07-02T15:43:00.001+05:30

Like anything in life, it is only when you are faced with adversity that you find out what you are truly made of. - Dr Sattar Bawany

Studying how we respond when we are subjected to adversity can surely be a shocking or blissful (or perhaps even boring) revelation of our true selves and how we have 'brought ourselves up'! :) I guess how we respond during our growing years depends on how much we learn to and draw upon our native wisdom and inspiration and how much we are influenced by our family, friends and advisers. How we respond to adversity as we grow much older depends on how much we have learned from our previous approaches and experiences and, further on, how much time we spend thinking about what's the 'right' and 'happy' way to face adversity....

I guess the response to adversity can be categorized or generalized even while considering that the context keeps changing....we have the shameful "i want to run away" escapism, the cool "don't worry, be happy" attitude, the brave "i shall not let this get to me" way, the casual "this is life...it had to happen" style, the methodical "i'll analyse this thing and crack it even if it takes time" approach, the controlling "what the hell is happening here" style, the creative "i'll handle this my style" stuff, the wise "ok. it's over. nothing. learn. move on. dont let it happen again" method, the humble "i need some help" resignation, the challenging "hah. you're nothing. give me more" attitude, the intrigued "why did this have to happen?" attitude, the confused "eh? oops? what?' incompetence, the blank and ignorant "really? i did not know" character, the admirable "laugh. see the humor in it. it's not so serious actually" style.....whew!! OK. I am tired of generalising. Hey, actually, that's another style of facing adversities....the weak "I am tired. No more." attitude.... ;-)

I guess there are many more generalisations that one could list down. But each of us is probably habituated to and known for one or two dominant styles (that may be difficult to shake off!). What's your style?

Post from the Past

2008-07-01T15:45:00.000+05:30

I revisited some of my old posts...with the intention of taking a quiet walk down memory lane, finding something amusing or inspiring and generally exploring my past introspections....

Out of the dozen odd posts I had the time to revisit, there was this old post written three years ago that brought some light into my eyes and made me wish I'd be inspired to the same extent once again (but I don't remember the context in which I wrote the post...must have probably read something inspiring or may have been fortunate enough to experience a sudden burst of energy and wisdom on that day)

Radically Conservative

2008-07-01T15:18:00.001+05:30

Mark Twain - "The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them."

Not the first time I have quoted the one and only Mark Twain.......This statement of his is, I believe, the bare truth! Wondering if this thought of his was considered radical at that time? ;-) Now you know why some geniuses who weren't understood by society were stated to be 'ahead' of their times... :-)

Fighting the 'right' battle...?

2008-06-30T13:25:00.001+05:30

Umm!! Makes me think....

"Ideas within companies are like people within companies. It doesn't matter how good thy are, there has to be a cultural fit or else it's a complete waste of time; you're just fighting a losing battle." - Hugh Macleod

Note: From here

No point wasting energy fighting a battle that we know we are most probably going to lose sooner or later....because we are flowing against the current! On the other hand, if we are someone blessed with an enormous sense of purpose, determination, courage, intelligence and so forth, we could most certainly continue without batting an eyelid and by deriving energy from within ourselves, for sooner or later the one who wins is the one who perseveres! (Hehheee! :-)). So, what the hell am I trying to say here? We adopt the latter approach...this is the crux.....only if the consequences are worth it, or in other words, the sense of purpose referred to is something to be proud of.....or perhaps worth dying for!

This one's a related previous post of mine....

Thoughts on Thoughts

2008-06-27T19:33:00.000+05:30

Every moment, you have a choice....to create a thought or destroy a thought in you. - Swami Chinmayananda

I suspect it's hard to be 'thoughtless'. There's always something that our minds must be feeding on. But there are certain situations when we just experience the moment (spiritually) and do not think (analyse, judge, understand, compare) about it - maybe, when we are with a loved one, amidst nature, playing with a child and so on. Are these the moments when we feel one with everything in the world and fall in love with life? Are these the moments when we feel true joy? I'd, ironically, think so. Which means I am not dismissing thoughts. Experiences (as referred to here) make us forget we are mortals...they take us to a much higher level of consciousness. But thoughts take us through everyday life and cater to our fundamental human nature. And, it looks like we do need thoughts, or perhaps a higher version of thoughts, to tell us the difference between things we experience spiritually and things we only think about.

Thoughts can create. Thoughts can destroy. Powerful thoughts can hinder default experience. E.g: People who don't feel one with nature are probably thinking overtime. But like most spiritual leaders tell us, we can learn to master our thoughts and create or destroy them by beckoning our higher self. We can shape our thoughts to be constructive and creative rather than destructive. We can determine them and in turn see positive results flow through our life rather than let the thoughts take over and shrug as if we are helpless. Making that choice to entertain the right kind of thoughts though is quite challenging and requires us to work really hard at the spiritual level.

Talking of thoughts, I must bring up something that's been on my mind for your consideration. However primitive, naive and unintelligent this may sound, I think there is some merit in what I am about to mention. I think even unexpressed thoughts of people around us (apart from our own thoughts) influence our life - I believe thoughts have so much power that they affect us even if they've not been directed at us with the intention of influencing us. Thoughts perhaps result in vibrations around their owners and probably 'interact' with the thoughts of other people and tend to build on or modify or destroy each other depending on which of the thoughts are dominant/stronger. I read somewhere that the Universe knows not what is good or bad....it just takes in all the thoughts that come to it and processes it without any bias whatsoever. Which is why you have all sorts of things happening in the world. And as popularized by Paulo Coelho, the universe simply conspires to help you achieve whatever you want - wherein I'd like to add - irrespective of whether it is 'good' or 'bad' for you. It just means your thoughts have to be the strongest if you want to achieve what you want. Nothing else should be able to penetrate your thought vibrations!

Apart from the strength of our thoughts, what I've expressed above also makes me believe in the importance of the company we keep, the discussions and debates we indulge in, what we read and react to, how much we help others and want others' happiness (which in turn determines their thoughts towards us) and so on and forth. The world moves on the wheels of thoughts (except those that are too weak to survive)......sooner or later, I am sure a thought is either converted into action or modified/changed, or merged with another thought or destroyed. What thoughts enter our mind may not be completely controlled by us. But the choice of what we do with it and how we treat it is ours...! The good news maybe that, progressively, the way we treat the thoughts that come to us will then allow us to determine which new thoughts will be allowed to enter and be processed and which will be shooed away right at the doorstep of our minds?

How might we strengthen our thoughts and entertain the right kind of thought? Perhaps through deep introspection and reading (and listening to) people who help us introspect by provoking us in a positive way.

KM is not for all organizations....

2008-06-27T17:31:00.001+05:30

If you're passionate about Knowledge Management, I think one of the most important things that you need to find out before joining an organization is whether they are really serious about KM and whether they believe KM is as important as selling what they produce. (Why? Because KM helps make better products, sell more products more convincingly and serve customers better once the products are sold).

If they don't find the time to think and discuss what needs to be done to manage knowledge and if they don't mind dragging it along in whatever pathetic shape it is in because they think selling per se is more important (And this philosphy simply means KM will go nowhere because selling per se will always be considered more important than KM) and if they don't want to utilize their intelligence to set up a smart KM system (people, process and technology) and if they don't want to motivate their knowledgeable employees to share, collaborate, learn and reuse as much as they motivate them to perform as individuals and make money for the organization, KMers are bound to be bugged at the end of the day.

Find an organization that believes in KM (at least understands the why if not the what and the how), packs a solid punch into the role, is ready to put a team behind the face of KM, associates KM with its core business activities and tracks KM activities as much as it tracks its Profit and Loss report or its Assets and Liabilities report. Which is why reporting knowledge assets as part of the A&L report may be a good way to get started....

World Song

2008-06-25T13:23:00.000+05:30

Zeph pointed me to this wonderful video on YouTube. It is oh so adorable! Brimming with happiness and enthusiasm for life....! :-) How I wish I'd had an opportunity to join them when they danced (ok, if you like accuracy, moved a leg or two in a haphazard manner) in India. How could Matt miss out Bangalore? :-(

More on Mistakes...

2008-06-23T10:20:00.001+05:30

Here we go...so, what are the other thoughts I want to share with ya folks on the theme of Mistakes?

- All of us have made mistakes and will make mistakes in future as well. There's no escaping it. However, how we and others around us react/respond to the mistakes we make determines how much we learn, enjoy and experience life as we move on. Sometimes, we forgive ourselves for our mistakes but people around us don't. Handling such a situation could be tricky as it is less under our control and more about others' perceptions and attitudes. Sometimes, it may even result in a loss of trust in us, and that means we must work doubly hard to set things right. Succumbing to the pressure when in such situations can only make things worse. (Having an understanding and encouraging family (friends, colleagues) therefore may make a world of difference) In this context, I must share some verses I came across in an old Tamil song that touched my heart - When you do something inappropriate, if you do it unknowingly, it is a mistake. But if you do it knowingly, it is 'wrong'. When you make a mistake, you must look back and learn from it. And when you do something 'wrong', you must correct yourself and learn from it. In Tamil, these verses are an alliteration and rhyme as well - so, it sounds a lot more awesome when narrated in Tamil than in English. And I think one of the most unfortunate things about how others react to our mistakes is based on their interpretation of whether we made a mistake or did something 'wrong' and also about how much it affects them at a personal level. When it affects someone at a personal level, emotions take over and logic or understanding take a lower seat.

- Here's the KM angle to it - if a 'Mistakes' graph were to be plotted - with the number of mistakes that one makes on the Y axis and Time/Learning on the X axis - the area and the shape/direction of the graph would depend, among other things, on the balance that one draws between learning on one's own....by trial and error....and learning from others. Learning from others and through observation certainly helps the graph move in the downward direction with progress on the X axis. But sometimes making a mistake becomes essential to learn something in totality - and a lesson learnt thus is more effective and closer to one's heart as it comes through personal experience and not a belief in something outside of our own experience. The self-learning approach may also lead to a surprise discovery.

- Not letting mistakes scare one, or make one feel ashamed, ignorant, or insecure I guess is critical if one wants to move on with life and achieve something in the long run. In the past, I have let mistakes I made dictate and prevent me from moving forward and that has been a greater regret than anything else. But, ironically, making the mistake of letting a mistake dictate has itself been a realization that I have learned from and have been able to work on in certain cases.

- I have nothing much to say about mistakes that are tragical in nature......my heart weeps for such situations and people involved in them. Sadly, many a time, I believe the situation ends up on a tragic note, not because of the mistake itself but in fact because of the reaction of the people involved. I wish people (including myself) were more sensible, tolerant, patient and forgiving in such circumstances. This is where a spiritual orientation helps.

- Controlled enthusiasm and passion for the activity may, I suspect, reduce the chances of one making mistakes. The right kind of guidance and encouragement will, of course, prevent mistakes from being made and moreover facilitate easy recovery from mistakes. Absence of an Ego in people around you will prevent them from pointing out mistakes repeatedly and saying "I told you so!". Count yourself lucky if you have such a family/friends!

Hey, where am I going with this? No idea, actually. Random ramblings. Let me stop here before I make the mistake of "Paralysis through Analysis!" but let me end with something positive ;-)

- End of the day, let's not be afraid of mistakes, making mistakes, and the consequences of making mistakes. Let's have the confidence and the attitude to learn from our mistakes and move on with even more enthusiasm and a determination to conquer those mistakes! Let's neither defend our mistakes nor glorify them! Let's share our mistakes with others so it helps them as much as possible! :-) We perhaps need the maximum strength when we go through the initial phases of learning, which is where we tend to make the most number of mistakes and the most horrible of mistakes! :-)

Mistakes...

2008-06-20T16:22:00.003+05:30

Aaaahhh! I said this (ref: first line) a bit too early. The swing has moved again. But this time, it's not "my work". This introspective post is from Jack's blog....I like it and can relate to it quite a lot because I have been working towards overcoming my fear of traffic (India's traffic, I must specify) for the past few weeks. And I must say, I can see quite a lot of improvement only because I first decided to take the plunge and drive through it and subsequently kept at it despite making mistakes. Though Jack mentions only the name of the book and not the author, I was happy with myself for recognizing that it was Eknath's writing immediately after reading through the excerpt in the post. And not the least because Eknath shares a large number of stories that reflect his grandmother's teachings.

PS: I think I'll come back and share some personal thoughts on mistakes in the next post...worth thinking and considering if one wants to improve one's quality of life....and well, there is quite a bit of association between mistakes and knowledge management! :-)

PS2: Just noticed that Bill has also linked to Jack's post and added something really awesome to it - about developing the habit of learning something new and not being ashamed of ignorance if one intends to get rid of it. Go read this one as well! :-)

Changing Gears

2008-06-20T13:33:00.001+05:30

I'm going high on humorous posts of late! And, I love it! Especially after the heavy dose of philosophy and idealism over the past few weeks. Akin to changing the blogging gears?! Meanwhile, read about the little brat who wanted to change gears for her father, literally. :-D

A cousin's daughter (3-year old) who is reputed to be capable of destroying galaxies with her fearless retorts and even physical prowess (biting and lashing out at people who got in her way) was home for a day and I nervously kept an eye on the fragile and delicate things in my room lest they be reduced to their atoms. But, very soon, I forgot about preserving my things and started enjoying her antics. She made faces at herself in the mirror, walked in a style that was a strange combination of a gymnast's and a stylish Indian movie hero's, moved with the speed of a cheetah and so on. But what really amused me no end was her dad's narration of something that happened when he was learning to drive. He was apparently having a difficult time trying to coordinate everything amidst the ruthless traffic and our little friend silently observed her dad for a while and then said something that would have never ever occurred to any of us. She looked at him and confidently suggested that he concentrate on just keeping his legs on the pedals (clutch, brake and acc) and holding the steering wheel and that she could take care of changing the gears. After a pause, she went on to assure her dad that she already knew how the gear had to be moved..."Like this and like this, right?"

I rolled around and bumped into a few objects as I laughed. Children....!!!

I thought I thaw a cockroath!!

2008-06-18T14:17:00.001+05:30

Yesterday morning, I woke up to see a dying cockroach (on second thoughts, was it just intoxication or perhaps a new form of insect dance?) . (S)he was on her/his back - rotating, partially revolving and generally vibrating in multiple directions at the rate of ~32 shakes per minute. Doesn't sound particularly pleasing, I know....but well, honestly, I have to admit that the sight did make me sigh in relief. Hold on, please, before you report me to the Blue Cross. I have some good reasons why, apart from the fact that I do perhaps tend to talk about such things in a light manner due to my being a cartoon & animation freak.

The aforementioned cockroach had been troubling me quite a bit for some days now. No idea from where (s)he came and no idea how (s)he grew into such Goliath proportions. That reminds me, I need to check my food supplies and maybe my wardrobe supplies as well!! I first spotted him (sorry, don't feel like making life difficult for myself and say him/her every time....let's assume it's a him from now on) on the curtains just behind my iPod dock....and was terrified he may decide to dock himself there forever. Then, I spotted him scampering across the room many a time, running under the bed, dancing around the chair, hiding near the washing bag and so on and forth. The story was, you could say, akin to Looney Tunes' Tweety (the bird) spotting Sylvester (the evil cat) every now and then (the latter intending to gobble up the former on every occasion) and saying "I thought I thaw a Puthy Cath!!". Any more such cockroach spotting and I would have certainly started waking up in the middle of the night to say "I thought I thaw a cockroath!"

Anyway, I am not sure if he (the cockroach, I mean....I have introduced so many characters in here that you may have forgotten the original story and its hero) was trying to explore every bit of my room in order to decide how many of his relatives and friends he could possibly invite into the room. So, after having seen too much of him and feared the growth of his community, I was beginning to hope that I would see the last of him and his long and frantically inquisitive antennae. Which brings me back to the episode yesterday morning. As the cockroach shook from antennae to tail (insect-tail), I looked on, unable to believe what I was seeing (sturdy creatures like cockroaches are not so easily vanquished, you know). It finally dawned upon me that this was a golden opportunity to send him packing. So, I advertised and beckoned to brave family members to help transport the cockroach to the outside world. As one family member who volunteered to do the job, however, took her own sweet time to finish the task at hand and begin the proceedings, I politely informed her that I did not believe that the situation was one wherein she was a doctor and the cockroach a patient that had an appointment with her and would therefore willingly wait till her arrival. She dismissed my wonderful analogy with a wave of the hand and then armed the same hand with a mean-looking broom from somewhere and entered my room, ready for the battle. To her credit, she won the battle but in the process, applied the broom over quite a few things in the room, much to my controlled dismay. As I saw the last portion of the giant cockroach disappear into the world outside, I returned from where I was hiding and went about my routine with a smile and a song on the lips. Though, I did not continue singing through the day as the victory was soon forgotten. But, if destiny had been kinder to me, I believe I would have woken up today and started singing the same or maybe a more melodious song if I'd recalled the fact that there would be no more intrusions from the cockroach. Destiny, however, had other plans. It imitated the recently ousted cockroach's behaviour. Things turned upside down. This is how. When I opened the bathroom door this morning, a cockroach, very similar to the one described above, was menacingly poised near the sink. Needless to say, it will take a while before the situation sinks in. And hey, just a minute, I thought I thaw a cockroath!!.