Jun 20

Celebrating Success – A Way of Life!

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I am a huge believer in celebrating success – celebrating accomplishments. After all what is the point of succeeding if we do not have the time, inclination or opportunity to take a moment to celebrate it!

I love doing it and its rubbed onto my wife and daughters where the whole family finds every opportunity to celebrate accomplishments. After all, these celebrations give a meaning to the hard work that goes in towards achieving virtually anything – nothing worth doing is really easy.

Celebrations also set the platform to launch the next target accomplishment. Its very much like trekking up a mountain peak despite all the adversities. Would it not be wonderful to stand on the pinnacle for a while and enjoy the beautiful sights all around that the summit provides you – soak it in .. after all you have earned it. View it, feel exhilarated by it and then set out for the next goal which will provide you with greater accomplishment and a nicer view.

In my field sales days I spent years in a software company where the ritual of celebration was taken very seriously. As a rep walked in with a purchase order, he would ring a cow-bell that was suspended in the office lobby – brilliant stroke.

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Jun 15

First Among Equals: Effort or Attainment

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I have mentioned this in one of my previous posts … I do not cease to be impressed by the kids these days. They are intuitive, articulate and down right smart!

My 14 year daughter and I are out on our scouting/hiking trail over the weekend, the Singapore sun was beating down on us but fortunately the breeze was holding – so it was okay! Before she could get into one of her teen tantrums on ‘how the weather sucks’, I decided to engage her in conversation. She loves a spirited chat and I reckoned it was the best way to keep her mind off the heat!

“What is more important, effort or attainment?”, she blurted out. She went on to say that her projects in school were being graded on those two parameters. I chided her on what she thought was more important and she said, “effort definitely. If the effort is in place, attainment will follow.” What better way to set expectations with the term results due just round the corner!

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Jun 11

Oops! We have Solved the “Wrong” Problem!

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We have become very efficient in living in a world filled with instant gratification where every external stimulus deserves an immediate (almost in a nanosecond) response!!! Just look around and see people with their iPhones, blackberries, in discussion sessions – eager to speak, to respond, almost itching to do so..

Its amazing to observe how people instead of ‘listening’ are actually mentally rehearsing their own lines while someone else is talking, just waiting for the other person to conclude what they’re saying.

I have come across many situations where talented, result oriented individuals and groups get together to study a situation and define the underlying problem. Being a part of the instant gratification ‘culture’ & faced with tight deadlines, they often define the problem, well … ‘wrongly’!!! Continue reading »

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Jun 08

Why put ANY effort when you do not know the WHY?

Workskills, World 1 Comment »
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Kids are smart these days. I cannot make my daughters do ANYTHING unless they know WHY they need to do it and WHAT they will gain if they do so?

I do not blame them because there is a perfectly good reason why they ask these questions. No task or initiative that consumes time and energy should really be done unless the people involved know the ‘Why’ (the reason why they need to spend time doing the task) and the ‘What’ (the foreseeable outcome of the task).

Sounds like a no brainer.. right? Any doubts, check with the first kid you meet on your way home! However skeptical you are, there is always a Why & What to everything. What matters is – Do you look for it?

Increasing Curiosity in the Workplace

Most employees go about doing their tasks because they are told to do so. Naturally this leads to at best mediocre passion, Continue reading »

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Jun 02

In Need of an Inspiration…

Case Studies 25 Comments »
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In one of my recent intercontinental flights, I happened to watch Clint Eastwood’s Invictus. I have since etched in my mind this memorable exchange between Matt Damon’s Francois Pienaar character, the captain of Springboks rugby team and President Nelson Mandela, brilliantly played by Morgan Freeman. President Mandela invites Pienaar for tea after a dismal performance by the Springbok’s against England one year ahead of the Rugby World Cup. He asks Pienaar, “What is your philosophy of leadership. How do you inspire your team to do their best”. Pienaar, the natural leader says, “I lead by example. I do not expect my team to do anything that I am not prepared to do myself.” President Mandela keeps probing, “How could your team be made to do better than what they think they can do? Perhaps it is through inspiration … by inspiring each individual to greatness where nothing less will do – by using the work and success of others. To build our nation we need to exceed our own expectations.”

President Mandela delivers ‘the inspiration’ to Pienaar in the form of a Victorian poem he had read while in prison. Francois Pienaar and his team respond to the President’s challenge by winning the World Cup for South Africa! President Mandela uses the same inspiration to stand tall, extract a nation from the throes of post apartheid infighting and transform it into a developed nation of equal opportunity for people irrespective of cast, color or creed! Both individuals demonstrate incredible Continue reading »

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