Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Happy Chemicals in KM :-)



How to get a good D.O.S.E of the Happy Chemicals through KM. 

D-O-S-E: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphin. Don't ask. It just occurred to me. (All right, I came across the first three in many articles. Did a little bit of research and discovered the last one) 

Dopamine: When you find the knowledge asset you were looking for in the content sharing platform. Also, when you get a reward for writing the most popular asset in the repository - The reward chemical 

Oxytocin: When you discover, interact and bond with colleagues who have similar/complementary ideas or share your areas of interest via the social networking platforms - The trust chemical 

Serotonin: When you are the most favorite expert or most voted for expert in the expertise locator. When people approach you for help knowing that you have what it takes - The importance chemical 

Endorphin: When pain is replaced with happiness; When you solve a problem with the help of a knowledge asset someone shared, an expert you discovered or colleagues you connected with in the content and people platforms - The pain to pleasure chemical 

But, to start with, you need the action chemical:  

Adrenalin: When you present your thoughts and learnings in a meeting or write a blog to share your knowledge - The action chemical 

Service



I wonder if Life is but a desperate effort on our part to run between success (I define it here as 'pursuing an activity that seems meaningful, ethical and joyous to your mind and spirit - following your bliss - and sharing your gift with the world') at one end and a sense of belonging (feeling the oneness that is so often talked about in spirituality) at the other. 

The distance, methinks, is formidable for many. It is hard to imagine someone obsessed with ideas paying close attention to people and relationships. It is equally hard to imagine a compassionate person pursuing ideas with a zeal that ignores social consequences of any sort. 

There is one powerful exception though; A lot of wise people keep telling us that the best and surest way to find happiness is by serving others (not limited to conventional ideas). H'm. See the point? It reduces the distance between success and sense of belonging to zero. 

Belief



Buddha is quoted thus: "Don't believe everything you read". Abraham Lincoln also apparently warned people to not believe everything on the Internet. I don't know; Lincoln was the one quoted in that poster I saw on the Internet. 

Logically speaking, how could we anyway believe everything we read? Just when you had permanently concluded that laughter is good for health, some researchers come out of their isolated offices and tell you that your organs might get ruptured or displaced if you laugh too much. 

Just when you were sure that deep introspection is what might make you a better human being, some psychologists warn you about the side effects of deep thinking. Who wants to be a better human being but, at the same time, slightly insane? (Makes you wonder how they arrived at such a conclusion without thinking too much). 

Not a single so-called Universal truth is left untouched or unchallenged. There are many ways to use rational thoughts to either construct or destroy the same case. People, meanwhile, simply choose what they want to believe and ignore everything else. 

What next? We must simply wait for Mark Twain to tell us (via the Internet, of course) to start believing everything we read. That way, we'll take ourselves less seriously and life will be a lot more fun. 

Social Media



Disclaimer: Please ask your mobile service provider to activate your sense of humor before reading further.
Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, including you, except Yours Truly is merely and purely coincidental.

Selfies, sunsets, babies and cats
Some bouquets and a few brickbats

Like, comment or lazily lurk
Fool around, think a bit or just burp

Boast a bit or somewhat less or a lot
Declare whether life is cool or hot 

Birthdays, weddings, parties and all
Trips to everywhere, now on the wall

What was for lunch and what for dinner
Who is the saint and who the sinner

Sports, movies, politics and religion
What to embrace and what to shun

Obsess about an idea or a cause   
And garner some passing applause

Share nonsensical poetry 
Indulge in honest or random flattery 

Talk about this; talk about that
Go around in circles; say Howzzat 

Wonder what the heck is happening
And quit the whole damn thing 

Is your sense of humor intact? *Peace*
Please continue what you were doing.

The T&C of Life

Going past a huge cemetery is somewhat like a situation wherein you see the Terms & Conditions of an essential service (life, in this case) - but you don't really read everything; you just scroll down the page. 

But when you see a mortuary van on its way inside, you are reminded of the inevitability of the 'I agree' check box, irrespective of whether you really do agree or not. There is no way out.

Extending the metaphor, here's food for thought:

Do we dwell so much upon the T&C that we never reach the check box or realize its existence?

Do we jump, skip and hop across the T&C without a care and land on the check box with a jolly shout?

Do we read a bit of the T&C, get psyched out and surrender at the altar of the check box? 

Songs that Life Sings



Life has it all. Think about it; The most fascinating thing about life is life. 

It might play its million songs in the shuffle mode and give you just about everything - surprises, shocks, sobriety, success, serenity, serendipity or stimulation. 

It might play the same old song again and again in a loop and make you think you'd rather be dead (pessimist) or wonder how to get obsessed (optimist) with that one song. 

It may also, occasionally, play plenty of customized play-lists giving us the illusion of control.