Monday, September 24, 2012

Mobile-Mania

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(C) Bill Watterson - Calvin and Hobbes


This...is exactly why it is dangerous to rely on mobile phones for building nascent relationships. The imagined accountability of the person being called tends to infinity. Even amongst well-established relationships, if the people involved are unreasonable, highly demanding, psychologically challenged (unable to understand others' priorities, pressures, preferences etc) or paranoid, it leads to more misunderstandings than it leads to the strengthening of bonds. Not to forget, the icing on the cake of confusion are network issues, incorrect service provider messages, the mysterious reachability question, audio break-downs, over-reliance on the tone of the voice and no visibility of expressions and gestures. Ha ha ha. Did someone say we are better connected after the mass adoption of mobile phones? Tsk. Tsk. :-)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Informal Learning

Why content and formal training is not everything!

Objectivism, Collective Liberation

Food for thought.

Ayn Rand and how her thoughts have apparently impacted the world economy. But my fascination for Howard Roark's philosophy may never die.

The Dawn of Realization


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(C) - Bill Watterson


Knowledge is indeed paralyzing. You know anything that can change will change and that means you can rarely declare anything in a dead-sure way. You know there is no single truth and that means you can rarely anything in a dead-sure way. You know people can change their minds any minute with or without reason and that means you can rarely declare anything in a dead-sure way. You know what is meat for one man is poison for another and that means you can rarely declare anything in a dead-sure way.

If you zoom out for a bit and catch the world's compressed timeline, I guarantee (paradox, eh?) that you'll discover a clear pattern of people swinging from one extreme to the other at irregular intervals. What is inevitable change for some is annoying inconsistency for others because each of us thinks and operates at a different level and is in a different context. At any given point of time, there is a school of thought that believes deeply in something and another school of thought that dismisses the very same idea as absurd and impossible to accept. This holds good for almost every idea out there, be it religious, psychological, political, economical, commercial, social, medical and even the so-called scientific and mathematical ones.

In the last few days, for example, I have seen different people argue passionately for and against the same ideas. A leading business publication has two contradictory articles in the same edition, one that proposes leadership is replaceable and another that says it may be indispensable. With a lot of people arguing in favor of leading passionate lives, someone suddenly pops up and says passion may be dangerous. While many people believe that meditation is good for the mind and body, out comes someone, with data, to prove it can be dangerous. A scientific research proves that a particular food is good for health and another research says the same food can have harmful effects. A section of people believes a man is determined by his thoughts and another section believes it is better to just be.

For those holding on to both sides and playing a confusing tug-of-war on themselves, things are likely to be stressful after a while, unless they are crystal clear about the criteria to use for eventually adopting one of the views. Picking up one view and using it in moderation is a good strategy. Individual experimentation and openness to what emerges is a good strategy.

If you are a leader, being able to communicate your moderated approach and criteria may be critical. Not categorically declaring things means people may not take you seriously or may believe you are clueless. Therefore, they may not align themselves with what you need them to contribute to. However, let's not forget that these are dilemmas that arise only when talking about a certain category of perceptions, ideas and approaches. A leader would be expected, at the same time, to provide invariable and dependable support and commitment to a well-considered goal or value.

PS: I, honestly, did not start out with the intention of making this a dizzy-sounding article. I planned to stop after the first paragraph and look for something humorous to end it with. Look what I ended up writing! I'd rather settle for some ignorance and action.....for it is a blissful combination, uh? ;-)

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Learning


Tidbits

Tidbits:

“An odd thing, life. You never know where you are with it, do you?” #Wodehouse

For a perfect relationship: It takes a lot of practice, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of love, a lot of pain, a lot of regrets, a lot of honesty and truth... but most of all - a lot of respect. - Pravsworld

Remember what King Julien says: You must take the music inside of you, swish it around and spit it out of your tail. - Madagascar 

RT @Gauravonomics: When we become mindful of impermanence & interdependence, cause & consequence, it becomes difficult to get angry & stay angry at others

Self-quote:

Accelerated growth causes chaos because its origin = Greed + Desire to prove supremacy in speed + Unsorted disharmony of stakeholders (because such a disharmony can never be resolved in a short period of time) #Business

Words to remember - To cope with a multitasking, random, chaotic life-style. Slow. Conscious. Deliberate. Deep. Silence. Focus. Refocus.  #Peace

Sometimes, every single cell in your body might want to protest and scream out "Do you think I have traded my brain with a reptile?" but you must grit your teeth, take a deep breath, summon your better senses and muster all the energy within to smile and say something that you'd say to a gurgling baby. #People

In some imaginary worlds there is only one, solitary, unchangeable, fixed, immovable and obvious answer to every question. I'd hate to be a part of such a world. #People

In a large organization, the only way to be truly happy at work and make profound progress every year is to find a Mentor who is committed to help you succeed. Only way. #Organization #Success 

For a family to be happy, healthy and enthusiastic, it, arguably, needs a minimum of one humorist, one nutritionist and more than 50% optimists. #Family #People 

When a strong belief is not inter-spaced with the right amount of introspection, honesty, humility and respect for others' freedom and right to learn through experimentation, we have seemingly intelligent jerks..... #People 


Mark Twain