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! :-)

Mixed

Some inspiration that I thought I would share:


Two great quotes that I came across today:


"Nothing is interesting if you're not interested." ~ Helen MacInness


Brilliant! Not something that many people understand or agree with, however true it is. I wish I'd known this quote a year ago. Could have probably used it to my advantage :-)


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This was in one of the responses, in Quora, to a question on God's invisibility: Read the full set of answers here, in case you're interested. 

The worst kind of leader is one who is despised and defied. 

Next is the one who is feared and obeyed.

Then the one loved and praised.

But the best kind of leader is the one whose existence is doubted,

who accomplishes all things, and the people say, "I have done it myself."

-- Tao Te Ching


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Moving on to less philosophical things, here's a nice set of slides on Social Media Strategy by @zaana. She has done a great job of collating data and ideas on the topic, with some cool pictures too


http://www.slideshare.net/zaana/strategically-social-plan-engage-act 


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Finally, I loved this article on the two flavors of passion for work - harmonious passion and obsessive passion. Via @gautamghosh


http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/08/why_your_passion_for_work_coul.html


In other words, I think it is all boils down to the philosophy of being engaged in work for inner happiness and yet being detached enough to pay attention to other dimensions of life. 

Future of Work

Future Work Skills 2020 - University of Phoenix

• Social intelligence: ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions
• Cognitive load management: ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques 
• Virtual collaboration: ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team

Work-Life Balance

Work-Life balance - for God's sake - is NOT about constantly interrupting your work with "life" (sadly means only non-work activities for many...) or vice versa. On the contrary, it is about focusing on one thing at a time and therefore doing it - whatever you are doing - well. 


So, when I'm at work, I want to minimize personal phone calls, emails and tasks and when I am home, I want to relax and think about personal things rather than attend an official phone call. Sometimes, when I'm enormously excited about an idea or a presentation or a project, I may tend to work on it during the weekend etc but then you can't let creative moments slip by and moreover who said only non-work activities constitute life? Similarly, if there is a personal emergency that needs to be catered to during work (office hours), then so be it. Exceptions are fine as long as they don't gradually get converted into something routine. 

Thought for the Day

I think It is crystal clear to me that one of the kindest (and easiest) things we can do to the world (and thereby make it a better place to live in) is to only - and consciously - take up a job that we really love and believe in. This will undoubtedly make the world a much better place to be in because if we are engaged in work that we really love and believe in, the world will have less politics, stress, negativism and unhappiness to deal with. Think about it and please do something about it if you can! 

Working in Heaven

I'm saying it. Working with a bunch of genuine, intelligent, humble, energetic, positive-attitude people means you are blessed.


In other words, what might it be like to work in Heaven? 


If you're a "realist", I know you might want to wake me up now. Please don't. I am already awake. This is was just a dream. 

The Dance of Work - Part 2

I first bored you to death with my Life and Dance analogy. Now, I march on regardless of how many bodies I've walked over and promise to bore you to further death with my Work and Dance analogy. If you're the kind of ubiquitous person who likes to be bored to death, get up and - I hope you like the pun - dance. Dance till you drop dead and save me from more blood on my hands. Wait a minute. Any idea what on earth I'm talking? I wonder if I happened to bang a delicate part of my head against something hard, without my own knowledge. Or maybe it was something I ate recently. Here's what I shall do - I'm going to look away and rotate my head vigorously, shut my eyes tight for a few minutes and take a few deep breaths. Once done, I'll come back and explain my profound discovery, "The Dance of Work". Get ready to think like never before.

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Taking off from where I left in the previous post, if the Dance Floor is Life, and we choose to focus on just Work (which comprises a significant part of life for many of us) for a moment, there are three kinds of people we'd find (in the way they approach work). 

1. People who like to switch on music of their choice and dance in solitude. In any case, they are oblivious to others who may be dancing with them and an audience who may be watching them dance. Their major intent may be to differentiate themselves, enjoy their work immensely and feel honestly satisfied with their performance and accomplishments.

2. People who insist on company while dancing (music may or may not be chosen by them). They may dance with a crowd or perhaps choose a single partner...but they essentially need more pairs of feet to accompany them. They rarely hear their own tunes and generally stick to a collaborative choice of music. Their major intent is to chug along the river of life and do reasonably well at work while managing their lives outside of work as well.     

3. People who like to dance for an audience and use their feedback to energize themselves further. They might either want to dance alone (more often than not) or dance with a team. They might also choose a tune that the audience prefers rather than choose something that they alone like. Their major intent is to be recognized, rewarded and appreciated for what they do.

Let's leave out the people who are not a wee-bit interested in 'work' and are intent-less wanderers. 

Okay. So what? In the recent corporate annual celebration that I was a part of, I watched a lot of people being awarded/rewarded for their loyalty, performance on the job, values, problem-solving skills, innovation etc. While watching the proceedings inspired me to stretch myself (especially the innovation and values awards) I couldn't help but think about those that belong to the same category/categories but missed out on the awards by a hair's breath for various reasons. Some reasons are pretty obvious and may be wrapped and bundled under a blanket labelled 'Unlucky'. A manager who does not make a special effort to put her worthy team-member in the limelight. The employee's role being a back-stage (non-customer facing or non-sales) one that hardly gets the attention it deserves. Dirty Department, Management or HR politics. And so on. 

But what I have been thinking about are the subtler aspects of such a situation. Many a time, I've observed that the people who belong to the first category deserve to be recognized for their good work but tend to be ignored simply because they are in an isolated spot and are performing in solitude or doing a so-called 'thankless' job (especially when it is not a customer-facing role which, by the way, may by default put the person in the limelight). Also, in a more dangerous scenario, organizations assume that such people will always be happy because they are intrinsically motivated. There will, however, come a time when such a person takes a break and looks around and realizes he has been dedicated and successful but has received no reciprocation whatsoever and begin to feel horribly cheated. The second category will also look for appreciation and recognition but they may be equally happy just getting along with the stream of people, receiving regular pay-hikes and incentives. The third category of people may, arguably, be able to take care of themselves as their focus is anyway on the audience and on gaining appreciation. 

Two twitter moments in this regard for me were:

"The corporate world reserves most of its respect, recognition & rewards for the people who make the money or fight a fire."

"The people who persevere are sometimes forced to do nothing but persevere. But it ought to be better to die persevering rather than give up and live a dead life?" 

Wow. Just realized that this post has actually turned out to be somewhat gloomy! I do feel strongly about such things - Justice, Fair play, Politics, Perfection and what not. Sigh. 

Entrepreneurship is perhaps the closest answer to many of these questions. Be the change you want to see!~

The Dance of Life - Part 1

Subjecting oneself to a different experience is almost always eye-opening if not enlightening. Actually, I am so glad I did something different yesterday. More often than not, I hate parties, crowds and noisy places. I find most of them to be a meaningless affair, not that I look for meaning in everything around me. ;-) But there are some occasions when I manage to stay sane in such an environment and engage myself in a few constructive or hilarious conversations. (My life, I suspect, swings largely between two key, yet paradoxical, dimensions of life - philosophy and humor). There are also a few rare occasions when I discover that I am in a mood to actually tune into the heart-beat of the crowd and feel its however meaningless or mindless excitement. 

I'd however be lying if I say the same thing about organizational events. To be passionate about one's work, it is not enough if one just loves the domain or function one is in but should also be able to identify with the organization's objectives and feel its pulse. A meet to celebrate annual achievement in business brings together various divisions of the organization, its leaders and its complete - live - story. These are the times when one gets to see the whole picture, the near future, connect the dots, be inspired by those in the limelight and so on. While I enjoy the overall experience of understanding the organization better and stepping deeper into its alleys and junctions, I generally prefer to scoot when the party reaches its end and people shift to the 'pure entertainment' mode. Going back to where I started, which I fortunately had the sense to put down in writing so I don't forget, yesterday was an exception. (Poor imitation of Woody Allen, I know)

I was lazily digging a fork and spoon into some regular rice grains and veggies when I noticed that people were warming up to the loud dance music that was being played in the conference room. There was a small wooden dance floor waiting for people to tap their feet on it (or perhaps stomp their feet on it). As usual, one person took the initiative and started responding to the music and gradually a huge crowd joined him and was soon swinging away in various directions in utter disharmony. I decided to join the small group of people who were watching the scene with rapt attention and amusement and soon enough some ideas popped into my suddenly awakened analytical mind. I thought the dance floor, interestingly enough, reflected our lives in so many ways. At least for me, it had a lot to teach.

You're not the one playing the music, but you still decide to respond to it through your dance. Incidentally, what is it about free-style spontaneous dancing that demonstrates that no one could possibly enjoy life the way you do? :-) What next? The music keeps changing constantly and does so unannounced. You have plenty of options. You're either immersed and happy enough to adapt to the change, followed by a change of dance-style to suit the new music & rhythm while still enjoying yourself, Or you could complain or scream at no one in particular (or everyone around) about the change of music and make a fuss and generally be annoyed, Or you could let it stun you enough to sadly freeze you to the spot. Think about it. And then, you could choose not to enter the dance floor at all and simply watch things from outside and still be happy. It's simply a choice we make. 

Getting back to the dance floor, if you're watching from outside, you'll find it to be an absolutely diverse and versatile environment. Dancing dinos. Dancing mice. Dancing peacocks. Dancing clowns. Dancing tortoises. Dancing ostriches. But they are all participating in the Dance of Life in the first place....doing it in their own unique way and, what's more, genuinely enjoying themselves. Some of them on the dance floor inspire 'outsiders' to join them through their sheer energy and enthusiasm while there are others who make an explicit effort to drag and cajole others to join the fun. Once on the dance floor, you may have other insensitive participants stepping on your toes or even nudging you out but those are to be tackled accordingly. You either move to a different and more comfortable place, or just ignore the interruptions as long as you can or perhaps nudge your way back in or maybe send out a friendly or hostile warning to the intruder. ;-) If you're tired or need to focus elsewhere, it's always OK to take a break and get off the dance floor and return when you feel up to it. The really dominant and ambitious ones wave to the person playing the music and ask for a specific tune. If you're one of the participants and don't like the new tune, the game gets more complicated. You can either deal with it on the same dance floor or maybe even create another whole new floor for yourself! Whew. I think this brings my analogy to a safe and logical end. 

The Dance of Work - Part 2. Coming next.

Innovators Need Patience...

Leading an innovative initiative:


Check out this simple but useful article from Innovation Tools. Be prepared for rejections, objections, ridicule, sarcasm and what not. Prototypes are important. Get the right people to work with you. Sell the idea. 

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.

Happiness at Work

There's an interesting discussion going on about happiness and especially happiness at work on Linked In. Research apparently indicates that 60% of happiness is due to genetic make-up and circumstances (fulfillment of basic needs) put together and 40% due to what we choose to think and do. Read the full article and some responses (including mine) here. So, are you at least 40% happy? ;-)

Aa..ha!

A few days ago, I rambled about how we (most of us) lead our lives....how we cram as much as possible into our lives and run like we are chased by pack of wolves and at the same time pulled by a team of wild horses. (How is that for helping you imagine the speed?) I opined that we'd probably lead fuller lives if we were to take life at a natural pace rather than pretend to be Mike Schumacher all the time (unless we were competing in a F1 race). But I wanted to hear from others on their own experiences as well....

Now, I am not claiming that what I said has a direct connection with the concept of achieving more by doing less. But I believe that digging a bit deeper and examining my subconscious thoughts very much suggests that. Anyways, here's the story that inspired this post. Yesterday, as I read the last page of the book 'Being Digital' by Nicholas Negroponte and subsequently peered into my bookshelf to decide which book to read next, the book I finally ended up opening was not quite what I had in my mind prior to finishing Being Digital. I'd earlier decided to pick up one of 5 books that were extremely beckoning. But I finally ended up pulling out the book "Living the 80/20 way" by Richard Koch. It was only after I flipped through the book did I realize that it had a connection with my recent post on the modern lifestyle. My grip on the book tightened and the corners of my mouth twitched as I began to think that I was being presented with answers to some of the questions I'd posed. I got quite excited about reading the book and am wondering if it'll indeed help me take off from where I left (in my post) and provide me with some valuable food for thought. I'll let you know. And I'll be honest; I'll not claim that the book is just what I needed now in order to defend what seems like terrific intuition at this point of time. :-)

PS: If you happen to have read this book, I guess you might want to say something to clear my mind. :-)

Gallop? Sprint? Trot? Jog? Walk?

One particular story in the Warrior of Light makes me introspect about my work life so far. Actually, I am just thinking aloud here. Helps one realize things at times. There was a five-year time period (when I was with my previous employer) when I simply buzzed my way through every single day. I behaved like an ant out to collect a dozen years' ration in one short summer. I behaved like I had to achieve everything possible in those five years. I read, I wrote, I acted upon quite a lot of what I read, I evangelized, I overloaded myself, I worked in office, I worked at home, I worked during the weekends, I volunteered for almost everything, I cooked up ideas one after another....both mundane and magnificent (or so I thought ;-)), I tried everything possible, I invented something (that was definitely a pleasure), I churned out hundreds of power point presentations for the interested, amused, indifferent, and irritated audiences alike, wrote a few verbose white papers, presented at conferences and what not. In short, I ate, drank, and breathed KM. There was little else in my life. I don't know about tangible rewards I received as a result of all the obsession I had with work (and anyways, that was truly not what was on my mind when I ate, drank and breathed KM) but I did enjoy the journey and felt like I did something really significant for those 5 years. At times, there were those little voices (mainly friends' voices) which were telling me to not make my life so KM-centric but I guess I did not bother. Because I was enjoying myself. And honestly, I even felt guilty when I took short breaks away from KM unless those breaks were intended to help me come back to KM with a bang!

And then things unexpectedly changed. I put everything I had into one consulting assignment and then ended up in a state where I badly needed a break lest I suffer terribly for lack of mental and physical rest. So, I went ahead and took the longest 'break' ever and de-focused from KM for a long while. I think it was needed though initially I felt guilty about it. I wasn't in touch with all the KM feeds and articles and blogs that were screaming at the top of their voices....I ignored them to my own surprise. Somewhere inside, I felt that I would be able to bounce back and did not have to worry. The Warrior of Light calls it "Resting between battles". True. Every Warrior needs it. There are so many contradictory messages in modern times....people today - especially in the world of business - believe that life is one big race with minimal pit stops and breaks. 'Don't stop; you shall be run down if you do' is the mantra. I am not so sure. I think this is not the approach to take if we want to experience a fuller life. If we don't stop we don't even have the time and the wisdom to think about whether we are going in the right direction....whether we are doing the right thing and whether we are doing it right...whether we are doing everything that our heart wants us to do or just heading towards one goal that may not really matter at the end of the day. It may be true sometimes that we are doing the right things and doing it right, but despite it being so....we ought not to let ourselves make it too long a run. There needs to be a REAL break that consciously takes us away from the path we were pursuing for a while. Also, when we come back, assured that we are indeed doing what we want to really do, the breaks and a slower, more gradual approach gives, I believe, greater joy.

I think modern life has conditioned us too much towards accomplishing everything in 1/10 th of a lifetime. I don't think that's good. Savouring the journey rather than galloping like mad, thinking through things, rejoicing achievements (small and big), rewarding oneself....these are probably better ways of enjoying not just the run towards the goal but also life in general. We need to draw a line between laziness and a gradual and thoughtful approach towards our goals. The world around us may run like a mad animal....so it makes things tougher for the people who want to think about life and enjoy the 'little' joys it provides....but it is just a matter of confidence, conviction and faith before we learn to not let the rest of the world condition us.

End of rambling a.k.a introspection. I would love to hear your experiences and thoughts on this one. I really want to hear more stories that weigh the pros and cons of a fast life versus 'natural' (rather than slow) life. Will you please share some of your stories? :-)

Bill Brilliant/Wonderful Watterson

If you're a regular here and come here for reasons that I would ideally like people to come here for, then I guarantee you that you'll thank me profusely for this link.

http://tomyfriendswithlove.blogspot.com/2008/01/speech-by-bill-watterson-kenyon-college.html

What an awesome speech. No different from all his other speeches/writings. I admire this man from the bottom of my heart. What talent, what an attitude, what an approach towards life, what self-confidence, what values, what sincerity, what honesty, what insight, what an inspiration! And of course, what awesome 'work'! :-)

To some people, his attitude and approach towards life might border on the selfish but that's most certainly not the case. People who stick to their values are almost always misunderstood in this ruthless world. Bill simply stands for his values and is perhaps not diplomatic about the way he deals with conflicts on this front.

It's clear that he's gone through quite a struggle in his life before achieving whatever he has. He still is misunderstood by people. But he remains what he is irrespective of what has happened or is happening to him. But it's not a battle between him and the rest of the world. There are some people who think alike or at least strive to think alike and thus the existence of a huge fan-following. Most importantly, he is happy with himself. He made it big and that's, fortunately, a rare sign of the existence of justice and sanity in the world. There are probably many more people like him who are though unsung heroes who did not really make it 'big' but what's important is that they mostly died happy or are happy (why kill all of them poor things? ;P)

Sometimes, I end up thinking that life in an organization can be no different from what the organization plans/wants it to be like, however much I try to change things or make a difference. The focus will be on money and short-term profits alone. Some aspects of an organization allow for genuine - meaningful - creativity, passion and positive impact on the society and you're lucky if you've been able to find some leg-room in such areas of the business. Otherwise, reading Bill's writings (some direct and some via Calvin and Hobbes) undoubtedly gives hope to those that want to go beyond mundane (or should I say mindless) money-making. You can do what you want to genuinely do, be happy and maybe make it 'big' and influence others positively too.

PS: While on Bill, a recent Calvin-statement that I came across made me smile thoughtfully "Nothing seems to change everyday but one day, all of a sudden, everything is different" I think I got it verbatim....but there may be a slight difference in the usage of the words. Will double-check soon...

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Copying the full speech out here just in case the other Blog link decides to change or disappear...

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REAL WORLD BY ONE WHO GLIMPSED IT AND FLED- Bill Watterson, Kenyon College Commencement,May 20, 1990

I have a recurring dream about Kenyon. In it, I'm walking to the po st office on the way to my first class at the start of the school year. Suddenly it occurs to me that I don't have my schedule memorized, and I'm not sure which classes I'm taking, or where exactly I'm supposed to be going. As I walk up the steps to the post office, I realize I don't have my box key, and in fact, I can't remember what my box number is. I'm certain that everyone I know has written me a letter, but I can't get them. I get more flustered and annoyed by the minute. I head back to Middle Path, racking my brains and asking myself, "How many more years until I graduate? ...Wait, didn't I graduate already?? How old AM I?" Then I wake up.

Experience is food for the brain. And four years at Kenyon is a rich meal. I suppose it should be no surprise that your brains will probably burp up Kenyon for a long time. And I think the reason I keep having the dream is because its central image is a metaphor for a good part of life: that is, not knowing where you're going or what you're doing.

I graduated exactly ten years ago. That doesn't give me a great deal of experience to speak from, but I'm emboldened by the fact that I can't remember a bit of MY commencement, and I trust that in half an hour, you won't remember of yours either.

In the middle of my sophomore year at Kenyon, I decided to paint a copy of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" from the Sistine Chapel on the ceiling of my dorm room. By standing on a chair, I could reach the ceiling, and I taped off a section, made a grid, and started to copy the picture from my art history book.
Working with your arm over your head is hard work, so a few of my more ingenious friends rigged up a scaffold for me by stacking two chairs on my bed, and laying the table from the hall lounge across the chairs and over to the top of my closet. By climbing up onto my bed and up the chairs, I could hoist myself onto the table, and lie in relative comfort two feet under my painting. My roommate would then hand up my paints, and I could work for several hours at a stretch.

The picture took me months to do, and in fact, I didn't finish the work until very near the end of the school year. I wasn't much of a painter then, but what the work lacked in color sense and technical flourish, it gained in the incongruity of having a High Renaissance masterpiece in a college dorm that had the unmistakable odor of old beer cans and older laundry.

The painting lent an air of cosmic grandeur to my room, and it seemed to put life into a larger perspective. Those boring, flowery English poets didn't seem quite so important, when right above my head God was transmitting the spark of life to man.

My friends and I liked the finished painting so much in fact, that we decided I should ask permission to do it. As you might expect, the housing director was curious to know why I wanted to paint this elaborate picture on my ceiling a few weeks before school let out. Well, you don't get to be a sophomore at Kenyon without learning how to fabricate ideas you never had, but I guess it was obvious that my idea was being proposed retroactively. It ended up that I was allowed to paint the picture, so long as I painted over it and returned the ceiling to normal at the end of the year. And that's what I did.

Despite the futility of the whole episode, my fondest memories of college are times like these, where things were done out of some inexplicable inner imperative, rather than because the work was demanded. Clearly, I never spent as much time or work on any authorized art project, or any poli sci paper, as I spent on this one act of vandalism.

It's surprising how hard we'll work when the work is done just for ourselves. And with all due respect to John Stuart Mill, maybe utilitarianism is overrated. If I've learned one thing from being a cartoonist, it's how important playing is to creativity and happiness. My job is essentially to come up with 365 ideas a year.If you ever want to find out just how uninteresting you really are, get a job where the quality and frequency of your thoughts determine your livelihood. I've found that the only way I can keep writing every day, year after year, is to let my mind wander into new territories. To do that, I've had to cultivate a kind of mental playfulness.
We're not really taught how to recreate constructively. We need to do more than find diversions; we need to restore and expand ourselves. Our idea of relaxing is all too often to plop down in front of the television set and let its pandering idiocy liquefy our brains. Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery-it recharges by running.You may be surprised to find how quickly daily routine and the demands of "just getting by: absorb your waking hours.

You may be surprised to find how quickly you start to see your politics and religion become matters of habit rather than thought and inquiry. You may be surprised to find how quickly you start to see your life in terms of other people's expectations rather than issues. You may be surprised to find out how quickly reading a good book sounds like a luxury.

At school, new ideas are thrust at you every day. Out in the world, you'll have to find the inner motivation to search for new ideas on your own. With any luck at all, you'll never need to take an idea and squeeze a punchline out of it, but as bright, creative people, you'll be called upon to generate ideas and solutions all your lives. Letting your mind play is the best way to solve problems.For me, it's been liberating to put myself in the mind of a fictitious six year-old each day, and rediscover my own curiosity. I've been amazed at how one ideas leads to others if I allow my mind to play and wander. I know a lot about dinosaurs now, and the information has helped me out of quite a few deadlines.A playful mind is inquisitive, and learning is fun. If you indulge your natural curiosity and retain a sense of fun in new experience, I think you'll find it functions as a sort of shock absorber for the bumpy road ahead. So, what's it like in the real world? Well, the food is better, but beyond that, I don't recommend it.

I don't look back on my first few years out of school with much affection, and if I could have talked to you six months ago, I'd have encouraged you all to flunk some classes and postpone this moment as long as possible. But now it's too late.Unfortunately, that was all the advice I really had. When I was sitting where you are, I was one of the lucky few who had a cushy job waiting for me. I'd drawn political cartoons for the Collegian for four years, and the Cincinnati Post had hired me as an editorial cartoonist. All my friends were either dreading the infamous first year of law school, or despondent about their chances of convincing anyone that a history degree had any real application outside of academia.

Boy, was I smug.

As it turned out, my editor instantly regretted his decision to hire me. By the end of the summer, I'd been given notice; by the beginning of winter, I was in an unemployment line; and by the end of my first year away from Kenyon, I was broke and living with my parents again. You can imagine how upset my dad was when he learned that Kenyon doesn't give refunds.Watching my career explode on the lauchpad caused some soul searching. I eventually admitted that I didn't have what it takes to be a good political cartoonist, that is, an interest in politics, and I returned to my firs love, comic strips.

For years I got nothing but rejection letters, and I was forced to accept a real job.
A REAL job is a job you hate. I designed car ads and grocery ads in the windowless basement of a convenience store, and I hated every single minute of the 4-1/2 million minutes I worked there. My fellow prisoners at work were basically concerned about how to punch the time clock at the perfect second where they would earn another 20 cents without doing any work for it.It was incredible: after every break, the entire staff would stand around in the garage where the time clock was, and wait for that last click. And after my used car needed the head gasket replaced twice, I waited in the garage too.

It's funny how at Kenyon, you take for granted that the people around you think about more than the last episode of Dynasty. I guess that's what it means to be in an ivory tower.

Anyway, after a few months at this job, I was starved for some life of the mind that, during my lunch break, I used to read those poli sci books that I'd somehow never quite finished when I was here. Some of those books were actually kind of interesting. It was a rude shock to see just how empty and robotic life can be when you don't care about what you're doing, and the only reason you're there is to pay the bills.Thoreau said,
"the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

That's one of those dumb cocktail quotations that will strike fear in your heart as you get older. Actually, I was leading a life of loud desperation.

When it seemed I would be writing about "Midnite Madness Sale-abrations" for the rest of my life, a friend used to console me that cream always rises to the top. I used to think, so do people who throw themselves into the sea.

I tell you all this because it's worth recognizing that there is no such thing as an overnight success. You will do well to cultivate the resources in yourself that bring you happiness outside of success or failure. The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, this is obviously where I was going all along. It's a good idea to try to enjoy the scenery on the detours, because you'll probably take a few.

I still haven't drawn the strip as long as it took me to get the job. To endure five years of rejection to get a job requires either a faith in oneself that borders on delusion, or a love of the work. I loved the work.Drawing comic strips for five years without pay drove home the point that the fun of cartooning wasn't in the money; it was in the work. This turned out to be an important realization when my break finally came.

Like many people, I found that what I was chasing wasn't what I caught. I've wanted to be a cartoonist since I was old enough to read cartoons, and I never really thought about cartoons as being a business. It never occurred to me that a comic strip I created would be at the mercy of a bloodsucking corporate parasite called a syndicate, and that I'd be faced with countless ethical decisions masquerading as simple business decisions.To make a business decision, you don't need much philosophy; all you need is greed, and maybe a little knowledge of how the game works.

As my comic strip became popular, the pressure to capitalize on that popularity increased to the point where I was spending almost as much time screaming at executives as drawing. Cartoon merchandising is a $12 billion dollar a year industry and the syndicate understandably wanted a piece of that pie. But the more I though about what they wanted to do with my creation, the more inconsistent it seemed with the reasons I draw cartoons.Selling out is usually more a matter of buying in. Sell out, and you're really buying into someone else's system of values, rules and rewards.The so-called "opportunity" I faced would have meant giving up my individual voice for that of a money-grubbing corporation. It would have meant my purpose in writing was to sell things, not say things. My pride in craft would be sacrificed to the efficiency of mass production and the work of assistants. Authorship would become committee decision. Creativity would become work for pay. Art would turn into commerce. In short, money was supposed to supply all the meaning I'd need.

What the syndicate wanted to do, in other words, was turn my comic strip into everything calculated, empty and robotic that I hated about my old job. They would turn my characters into television hucksters and T-shirt sloganeers and deprive me of characters that actually expressed my own thoughts. On those terms, I found the offer easy to refuse. Unfortunately, the syndicate also found my refusal easy to refuse, and we've been fighting for over three years now. Such is American business, I guess, where the desire for obscene profit mutes any discussion of conscience.

You will find your own ethical dilemmas in all parts of your lives, both personal and professional. We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.Many of you will be going on to law school, business school, medical school, or other graduate work, and you can expect the kind of starting salary that, with luck, will allow you to pay off your own tuition debts within your own lifetime.

But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble.Reading those turgid philosophers here in these remote stone buildings may not get you a job, but if those books have forced you to ask yourself questions about what makes life truthful, purposeful, meaningful, and redeeming, you have the Swiss Army Knife of mental tools, and it's going to come in handy all the time.
I think you'll find that Kenyon touched a deep part of you. These have been formative years. Chances are, at least of your roommates has taught you everything ugly about human nature you ever wanted to know.With luck, you've also had a class that transmitted a spark of insight or interest you'd never had before. Cultivate that interest, and you may find a deeper meaning in your life that feeds your soul and spirit. Your preparation for the real world is not in the answers you've learned, but in the questions you've learned how to ask yourself.
Graduating from Kenyon, I suspect you'll find yourselves quite well prepared indeed.

I wish you all fulfillment and happiness.
Congratulations on your achievement.
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Politics...!

Gurteen packages one of the discussions triggered off by me in an online community - a long time ago. Some bitter and unavoidable truths about politics in life....

HBR Again...

Went back to this month's HBR for some insights and thought-provoking stuff. The article on storytelling was not as enchanting as I'd hoped it would be. The core message is that a story needs to be true (from both the teller's and audience's perspectives), and true to the moment and mission.

Read another article on Simplicity-Minded Management and came across something that appealed to me. ConAgra's CEO apparently announced a particular year's goals to be simplicity, accountability and collaboration and made these three constitute 50% of the criteria for managerial performance. Maybe my experience is limited but I've rarely seen or heard of such aspects being given importance. And even if there are some such parameters, the number-targets normally override those. Finally, even in organizations where there is an effort to focus on softer aspects, subjectivity (largely unfair in today's Dilbert world) never deserts the performance appraisal scene. Wonder how ConAgra handled it....the article, unfortunately, doesn't go into the details....

Gawd!!!!!!!!! In splits....

The Power of Us

Collective thinking. Collaboration. Terms used loosely more often than not. Produces best results only when people understand that everyone who participates could potentially contribute to a significant extent. How effective each participant's contribution is in reality often depends on the people dynamics within the team. It is up to each person in the team to make it possible for the others to do their best. Appreciation, encouragement, acknowledgement, sincere effort to understand counter points, absence of blame games, absence of self-promotion, absence of demeaning others' efforts & intentions.....these are what will make a collaborative effort worth it. An effort to educate participants about the power of collective effort followed by a true attempt to make it easy for everyone to participate and contribute can make a lot of difference to the outcome. We need people who are not just passionate and dedicated but also make an effort to understand the big picture, strive for mutual benefits and are true to their conscience.

The Zing in Consulting

I don't think there are many things that equal the joy that one experiences when one gets to apply one's knowledge and creativity (in one's area of interest and expertise) to overcome a challenge or solve a problem faced by another entity (individual or organization) and the latter genuinely wants to crack it. :) Cool. The joy that one gets when solving one's own problems are definitely on this map-of-joy, but it still is a different ball-game altogether as the emotions vary in such a circumstance and emotions can sometimes create roadblocks and change perceptions and capabilities. Ya?

Team-work that worked for the team....

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." - Peter Drucker

This quote rings a loud bell in my mind. Actually, it rings so many bells that it feels like a musical experience. Wind chimes, what? Now, if you happen to hear warning bells, you better pay heed to them. Because, here’s another of my stories. But this one’s very memorable and close to my heart and related to work, if that makes any difference.

My previous organization was a small and sweet place and I was given all the freedom in the world to run the KM show therein. And how I enjoyed it! After a year of baby steps and small but exciting discoveries, I had the complete confidence and aspiration to propose an Intranet. After a few initial hiccups, we were given the go-ahead. It felt like I was let off into a fascinating forest where it was completely up to me to climb up the right trees, pluck the right flowers and fruits and avoid the snakes and wild animals. A team of 7 was formed (including yours truly). 5 of these were ‘kids’ almost straight out of college but with the determination to get going in life. For the first time in my life, I was to lead a team that would perhaps look up to me for setting the direction and solving problems on the way. I was determined to not let them down while trying to rub off my excitement about seeing our Intranet materialize. Apart from the team per se, we had no significant resources at our disposal. We had to settle for freeware when it came to development tools and the like and we were determined to make the best use of what was available.

The zeal with which we went after it was to be seen to be believed. We ate, drank, and breathed the Intranet from then on. We were off to a shaky start for we knew not whether we were doing the right things and we knew not what was in store down the line. But as we decided to take things as they came, we found ourselves chasing our dream with increasing confidence. The brainstorming sessions we had were amazing. I learned my basics of brainstorming there. Good harmony, occasional brain waves, combination of multiple ideas, acceptance, subsequent exploration, awesome laughter et al. The requirements were gathered from various corners of the organization, our own ideas on what the Intranet should be like were pooled in, the overall design was created and a couple of technical experts from other parts of the organization pitched in to help us identify the right tools and start the development. Frequent meetings ensured we were always in tune and identified and resolved problems on the fly. Every milestone was celebrated in style. Misunderstandings and under-performance definitely crept in at times but were dealt with - sometimes dusted off easily and sometimes through a painful process. And well, we stepped on a few important toes as well. But nothing seemed to matter more than seeing the Intranet come alive.

7 odd months later, we were ready to show the world what we were capable of. We were trusted and allowed to follow our own path all along, though, we did invite some of the middle managers to take a peek when we completed some sections on the Intranet. But, the final presentation was more or less a grand revelation of a secretive effort. I can still recall the excitement that we had when we unveiled the Intranet to the organization’s senior management. It was a wonderful feeling when the man who mattered the most stood up and clapped at the end of the presentation. I felt extremely proud to have been a part of such a team. I had never felt as glad as that as a team member before and, unfortunately, haven’t felt that proud again as a team member till date. That, to my mind, was a team in the real sense – Together, Everyone Achieved a Miracle.

Hmm. Apologies! I broke into a long story when all I had to do was communicate this -> After the presentation, we stepped out and shared our joy with a good friend of mine and said something to the effect that we couldn’t believe that we’d done so well. To which my friend asked “Do you know why?” and then answered it himself before we could say anything “Because you were not managed! Nobody interrupted you in your dream journey.”

At that time, I seriously did not see the full merit in what he said. But later, I knew he was quite right. :) What we were ‘reel’ing under was a labour of love and there were no –depending on the way you look at it - villains/comedians/multiple directors in it. ;)