Thoughts...

Recent ideas and thoughts that I'd like to gather on this blog. 

Life, Psychology

When you compare, you lose your CORE. What you are left with is only mpa - madness, (self)pity or arrogance. Hint: CO-mpa-RE.

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Success 

The only situation in which you can blame yourself wholeheartedly for inappropriate results is when you hold the reigns. It's no use saying that the reigns are not in your hands. Sometimes, you need to realize the need to grab it and then grab it somehow (sigh...but how?) or shut up, dance to others' tunes and, ultimately, waste your time, effort and energy. 

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Life

Situations wherein one connects with nature, (or good human interpretations of nature like music, stories or art), a human being or a paradox are perhaps the only times in which one feels truly alive and aware. Not when one accomplishes something for that ceases to matter after a while, not when one gets an idea for that may become obsolete or change and evolve, not even when one learns something for one may have to unlearn that under different circumstances.

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Social, Relationships, Mentoring

Advice is plain ice. Insight is choco-nut delight or fruit-n-nut delight (as you like it).
Plain ice is free and can be dunked into anything and everything. Water, juice, coffee, tea etc. It treats everything as equal. A customized ice cream on the other hand needs effort, knowledge and patience and is consumed with relish. It is lovingly garnished with nuts and delivered one spoon at a time. 

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Psychology, Human Behavior, Conditioning 

To have an open mind is akin to standing in front of fast approaching waves on the sea shore. You must be prepared to withstand the worst onslaught. It may touch your feet gently and go away. It may wet you just a little or a lot. It may overwhelm you, knock you down and fill your mouth with water that you are likely to spit out in an instant. The thing to note, however, is that the grains of sand that stick to you drop off as you walk back home.    

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Sharing

When you genuinely share what you know - not because you want to teach others, not because you want to influence or manipulate others, not because you want to be acknowledged or praised, and not because you want to receive something in return but because you simply want to express yourself and connect with another mind - you can't really fathom the impact it has on others and what you yourself end up learning and earning from it.

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God, Life

One of the most common situations that people (rationalists) use to question whether God exists is to point their finger at seemingly nice people suffering or dying either too early or in an unfair manner. It can't possibly be that simple if there is no such thing as "the single truth". They might as well be questioning our knowledge of the intricacies of Karma, the existence of free will and its consequences and the complex interdependence of society.

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Leadership, Psychology, Human Behavior

Two familiar but always interesting things that caught my attention in a recent movie I watched.
a. Even the most challenging of tasks that the people concerned are skeptical of will begin to look appealing and worthwhile when a leader uses the right words - cleverly connected and genuine words - to inspire and encourage them. Underlying this simple truth is the more complex fact that the leader must have an uncanny knack of customizing the message in order for it to speak to a specific person in a specific context. The more reusable the message, as it flows down the hierarchy, the better! ;-) And, in the real world, there will, of course, be people whose minds need to be pried open.  b. The human ego can sometimes expand to a size that is bigger than the galaxy we live in and when it crosses a certain circumference area, it ceases to look awful and starts looking hilarious  

Being Human

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming." - Anonymous > Think about it if you happen to be a leader, parent, teacher or mentor! 

The Dawn of Realization

(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? ;-)

Leadership and the Gita

When we focus on the fruits of our effort, we are anxious and eager to see things happening and we want our ideas to materialize sooner than later. When we want things to happen quickly, we may be forced to preserve the status quo (instead of changing things or transforming things) because that is what meets with quick acceptance and approval. 

Leaders are those who do anything but preserve the status quo. "Leaders are NOT those who achieve within or despite the system but those who transform the system" (HT: Steve Denning). 

Krishna wants us to be Leaders....no wonder He asks us not to focus on the fruits of our effort but just do our duty! :-)

Leadership

Found this in an internal blog. Sharing it here. Credit to - Wayne Hays 


Extract:

Research conducted by Zenger & Folkman and published in their book "The Extraordinary Leader" revealed some interesting results. They found that leaders who were perceived as having at least one strength were rated significantly higher in their overall leadership effectiveness.  Leaders with no strengths but no clear weaknesses were rated lower than leaders with weaknesses but a few clear strengths.

Why were leaders with no weaknesses but no clear strengths perceived to be less effective?  The authors suggest they lack a redeeming quality, skill, or ability.  They may not be ineffective at anything, but they are also not terribly effective at anything.  A focus on building strengths will help improve overall effectiveness and as most of us have heard, individual development plans should include optimizing strengths.

That leads to the natural next question, "how do I develop an existing strength?"  Peterson & Hicks (Development First, Strategies for Self-Development) offer some suggestions.

• Seek experience in new, complex situations.  Force yourself to face challenges that push your limits.
• Spend time with experts.  Benchmark yourself against others you feel are experts in the area.  Watch what they do and continue to push your own performance.
• Cross-train.  Pursue learning in related areas and search for synergies, connections, and parallel ideas.
• Share the wealth by teaching others.  Others will benefit from your expertise and teaching requires that you deepen or stay sharp in your expertise.

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Needless to say, three of these points are things that KMers and KM tools attempt to enable! ;-)

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

Both - working with limited & adequate human resources involves stretching yourself. Limited human resources means stretching your capacity for work & efficiency. Adequate human resources means stretching your capacity for leadership & planning.

Leadership Paradox

To be a better leader, give up authority.

From HBR. Of course!

Extract:

....We call such practices “mutualism.” It involves measuring workers not against revenue or other numerical goals, which we have observed to be ineffective as motivational tools, but against qualitative values such as trust, responsibility, and innovation. And it implies that leaders don’t dictate vision or strategy; instead, they enable employees to create a common vision through, for example, off-sites for discussion of strategic issues and regular feedback and education. Hitting numerical goals has been the natural outcome.

Leading with 'Silence'

Yet another inspiring message from pravsworld. Boils down to a lot of silence...and I just love silence! Though I am not sure I am able to ignore all the noise when it matters most....and I am also not sure I listen as much when I happen to be silent...at least not as yet. Hours of - inner- silence should ultimately lead to the sharpening of one's listening skills, I hope.

Aa..ha! Simple...!

One of those simple Aa..ha! moments. Routine stuff. Nothing earth-shattering. But it feels good when it just flows out of nowhere and makes a lot of sense. I put it out as a tweet but want to record it here as well.

A person who does not believe in the meaning, goodness and significance of what he is doing can never possibly do a great job of it.

I think it's an important thing not just from the perspective of what we want to do as individuals and how we believe we can make our lives more exciting and worthwhile...but also from the perspective of management and leadership.

Social Intelligence

Zeph pointed me to this wonderful resource - not surprisingly, from HBR - on Social Intelligence that Dan Goleman is now working on. It has a video, an article and a quick summary of the parameters of Social Intelligence. I found it to be fascinating, motivating and exciting. Thanks to my work roots - KM and Collaboration. I think this will find great use in the field of KM & Collaboration...as a framework for enabling such a culture. Social Intelligence is not just required in leaders but also in every employee if one is looking to nurture a culture that is rich in knowledge management and collaboration.

Here is the table (Summary of the SI parameters) that HBR has on the home page of the link that I've provided above. You can watch the video and read the full article on following the link.

Empathy	Understand what motivates other people, even those from different backgrounds? Are you sensitive to their needs?
Attunement	Listen attentively and think about how others feel? Are you attuned to others’ moods?
Organizational Awareness	Appreciate your group’s or organization’s culture and values? Understand social networks and know their unspoken norms?
Influence	Persuade others by engaging them in discussion, appealing to their interests, and getting support from key people?
Developing Others	Coach and mentor others with compassion? Do you personally invest time and energy in mentoring and provide feedback that people find helpful for their professional development?
Inspiration	Articulate a compelling vision, build group pride, foster a positive emotional tone, and lead by bringing out the best in people?
Teamwork	Encourage the participation of everyone on your team, support all members, and foster cooperation?

Do organizations today have the purpose, intent, motivation and time to pursue such skills? Or will most business leaders trash this as rubbish and fluffy?

Ills of the Corporate World - Aftermath of Lehman and AIG

Do we do anything much beyond reading such articles from HBR, Wharton, McKinsey and perhaps Business Week? Knowing is different from accepting. Knowing is different from doing. The unilateral pressure to increase profits can only spell more disaster.

CANTrol....

I think this is extremely sensible advice; especially for parents. From www.dailyom.com

Resisting the Urge to Control
Imposing Your Will On Others

The right to make your own choices is a precious one. We grow when we have the freedom to decide our own paths and determine what makes us happy. Yet there are those who are inclined to try and control others. They may be driven by insecurity, envy, fear, or the need for power. These people are deeply critical of themselves in their own minds, and underlying that critical nature is unhappiness. Their need to feel sure-footed and secure is quenched by controlling those around them, whether they are friends, colleagues, or even pets. However, nearly everyone has found themselves imposing their will upon others at one time or another.

Trying to impose your will on others can be tempting for many reasons. You may feel that your way is the best way or that you have a keener insight into the direction their life should be taking. But, in imposing your will, you are indirectly saying, “I want to control you.” Even when you have the best of intentions, others may end up resenting you for your actions. It is always helpful to remember that it is possible to influence people and change their behavior through education or example without imposing your will on them.

If you’ve caught yourself being a bit bossy on a regular basis, make a note of it. Write down what the situation was and why you acted the way you did. You may have pushed a friend to try something new, because deep inside you wanted to try it yourself but were feeling hesitant. Or you may be unjustly interfering with work teammates, because you aren’t sure of their abilities. Next, make an effort to understand and accept their preferences and ways of doing things. It can feel natural to impose your will when you feel that you “know best.” But there is a freedom to trusting others to find their own methods and joys, even when they might differ from yours. Sometimes the best course of action is to step back and relinquish control. You may, in doing so, see everything from a different point of view.

Sea Ship....

"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...

Ideas on Leadership...

Check out Stan's wonderful collection of slides on Authentic Leadership.

I loved the PICKLES idea in particular....

P - Passion
I - Integrity
C - Communication
K - Knowledge
L - Love
E - Empowerment
S - Service

KM, Innovation & Family! ;)

Discovered this via Techaid. Cool stuff, I think! (What else if we're talking about Google?) Google Sets is another manifestation of Web 2.0....i.e. collective thinking/perception....

I typed in Knowledge Management and Innovation and see what Google Sets returned! :)
Was pretty glad to find leadership, organizational learning, strategy, change management and human resources in the list. Goes a long way to show that these aspects are perceived to have a strong association with KM and Innovation! Yeah! Thank you, Google!!

knowledge management

innovation

leadership

collaboration

marketing

intellectual capital

creativity

management

mind map

organizational learning

strategy

technology

communities

change management

human resources

I then played around a bit and typed Knowledge Management and Collaboration and got a slightly different set.....interesting 'game'! Now, tell me what you discovered! :)

Leadership

Found a good slide-deck on Leadership on Slideshare....

Leader is a Follower

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. - Ralph Nader

What a wonderful statement, this. Ironically, most people in today's organizations would never ever want to be a leader if this is what real leaders will be held accountable for. They'd rather be control freaks who get to be the ultimate authority on things that matter...and of course, grab as much fame as possible! Sad! :(

Leaders Wanted...!

Haven’t been reading as much as I’d like to, of late. :(

So, it felt mighty good to peep into a few of my pending newsletters this morning.

Not disappointed. Found something good on Leadership here.

In a nutshell, the author says employees who are not motivated blame lack of inspiring leadership (I agree wholeheartedly. What’s more, I think even those who are motivated gradually get pushed in the other direction when they consistently suffer from ‘leaders’ who aren’t inspiring). The author says Leaders that can be inspiring are those who are enthusiastic, optimistic and encouraging, sell the benefits, tell stories that make an impact, and actively engage their team in everything that they do (participative management).

PS: Enthusiastic, Optimistic and Encouraging? – That certainly sounds like the fire signs - Leos, Aries and Saggis - would make good leaders. ;)

High Performance Entrepreneur

One of the books that I am currently reading is The High Performance Entrepreneur by Subroto Bagchi (of Mindtree Consulting). To start with, I find the book to be a very easy and intuitive read. Bagchi’s narration sounds effortless and is more like a story/conversation rather than an accumulated capsule of advice (which many people are loath to listen to). While the entire book is certainly worth talking about, I’d like to – in this post - quote some of the persuasive statements that Bagchi makes in the chapter on getting good people and keeping them. They are really worth your time and I think if teams understand and follow these aspects well, life in an organization would be so much more effective and fulfilling. In most cases, I do not have anything much to add to the statements….

“Nothing binds people better than trust, freedom, accountability and stretch”

“Once the people know that the system does not play favourites, most of the problems are prevented from happening” (….if it is true that the organization does not play favourites or for that matter dirty politics, then it is important to do everything to ensure transparency……which, in turn, is what will help employees trust and understand that such immoral elements are absent in the organization)

Bagchi believes in five things for managing high-performance professionals – a performance management system that everyone understands, communication with evangelical regularity, feedback capturing via outside support, development of leadership, and support network for leaders.

Bagchi says some interesting things about a certain category of outstanding people – He says they need to be understood, nurtured and valued and goes on to add that they’d be most interested in stretch goals, freedom, constant communication, encouragement in risk-taking and a strong peer group. He reiterates the importance of a strong peer group in the case of a start-up environment.

There was one particular paragraph that struck a resonant note in me. “If the founding team has figured out everything and all it needs is a bunch of order-takers, why should brilliant people take the risk of working in a start-up? People seek inclusion in strategy and problem-solving. Towards this, you have to constantly inform them of issues, problems, opportunities and concerns. For this, they must have access to information at all times – even when it is inconvenient” (I believe that this is quite true even in established companies. A manager who believes that his reportees are there to just take orders will soon run out of luck and reportees. The more competent and impatient the reportees, the sooner they will attempt to run away for such a manager will never ever be respected)

Bagchi quotes Ashok Soota’s interesting ‘information’ principle that says 95% of the people must get access to 95% of the information 95% of the time. Bagchi minces no words to say that despite there being good reasons for secrecy/privacy, competent people hate an environment of secrecy. I’d like to tie up two aspects here and point out that absence of communication can very well be interpreted as an environment of secrecy.

Collaboration and Leadership

Read a C&H strip today wherein Calvin’s dad says “If anything works in this world, it’s because one of us took charge”. Boy, he may have not spoken a truer word!

It’s difficult to sell the concept of collaboration to some because they aren’t patient enough to go that route, are not able to see its benefits, don’t have the people skills required to think and work together, are self-centred, are over-confident about their own abilities, would rather let their own accomplishments shine than end up sharing credit with others for an ultimately better result etc. It’s easy to sell collaboration to some because they are so lazy that they’d rather a lot of other people do the work while they just pop into the crowd once in a while and make others believe they have a role to play, are just plain uninterested and would rather not take any ownership and let others do all the work while they quietly relax in the background, believe they don’t have what it takes so they’d rather watch others work etc.

In the sessions wherein I’ve introduced the concept of collaboration, once I’ve attempted to convey the benefits of collaboration and pointed out the constraints that it operates under, I’ve always loved to point out the paradox of collaboration. Collaboration is wonderful when people are good at it and understand the intricacies of how to think and work together, but all said and done, there needs to be a leader who occupies the post at the steering wheel whenever that is called for.

I’d like to pass on Calvin’s dad’s message to any of us who mistakenly assumed collaboration helps avoid such ownership. Collaboration is essential; it is amazing; it is challenging; and it delivers wonderful results when done the right way. Leadership is inevitable, if results are to be achieved.