OK. I had that rare Twitter moment a while ago. Here it is. [Wondering how more and more Blog moments are now starting off as Twitter moments and then getting converted into the former]
Inspiration > Purpose > Passion > Insight > Vision > Pursuit > Solitude+Community > Hard Work > Creativity > Focus > Change > Inspiration. Full circle.
All we need to do is look for that one special inspiration that lasts a lifetime and gets converted into a strong and invincible purpose, making us passionate and insightful, leading us to a meaningful vision that we want to pursue no matter what while swinging between phases of solitude and amidst an equally passionate community of people and putting in a lot of hard work, being creative and focusing on the journey as if our life depended on it and ultimately ending up with a positive change from which another - new - inspiration is derived.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Do What you are Asked to!
Priceless! :-) Why does it make me howl with laughter? A little bit of nostalgia, shall we say....?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Curious Incident of the Lazy Blog-Reader in the Afternoon Time
I rarely use this blog to rant about things. I generally manage to avoid such posts except under extreme circumstances. The idea is to use the blog to share useful, nice and profound things that I discover and, of course, ideas - flash in the pan - that occur to me, provided they are worthwhile. But there are certain experiences that deserve to be ranted about. Especially if one is quite bewildered and can't get over it easily. This is one such post. Writing, as I must have mentioned before, is anyway cathartic. So, I am going to do this. Please don't read the rest of this blog post in case you're not the kind who is interested in human psychology and behaviour! ;-)
A regular reader of this blog who generally asks fundamental questions has always received my appreciation for his inquisitive nature and also my responses - however silly, ignorant or mortalish they might have been (what else can you expect from an ordinary mortal like me in response to questions like "Does God decide man's fate or does man decide his own fate?" etc). To set the context, in fact, there was one such discussion that happened on this blog some time back wherein I could only suppose certain things based on my mortal experiences but I finally decided to cut off the discussion because I was not able to give him the answer he expected and nor was I able to convince him about the reasons for my own perceptions. To my credit, he seemed stubborn and prejudiced and anyway you can't expect a debate on God/Fate/Free Will to come to an easy or quick conclusion.
This person decided to follow me on Twitter recently and bombarded me with one too many questions this afternoon but I decided to respond to them despite the fact that I was unwell and had to also balance it with some work. I did not have the heart to cut off the discussion despite the fact that I suspected we would only go around in circles given that he came into the discussion already convinced about something. As the conversation progressed, it became clearer to me that the queries or the arguments were just superficial and he either wanted a radical answer that he would not be able to cross-question or he wanted me to concede ignorance and then gloat over it (he makes "profound" statements like "I am the winner and the loser" if someone tells him they do not know the answer). If this wasn't clear before, let it be known now that I am human. I have no insight into how the Universe functions for me to give him a radical answer with proof that he will not be able to deny. I can only have a normal human conversation wherein I express my thoughts and experiences and try to reason around them or maybe sometimes use my intuition. And yes, I get angry too - when I have to face unreasonable and insensitive blokes.
More than everything else, all his arguments were shocking to me which was probably where the problem began. He said he did not believe in reading books and only believed in real-life experiences - now that is a highly provocative statement for a book-lover like me. Who said books don't talk about real-life experiences? Who said you can't learn from others' experiences and learnings via books? He finally conceded that he did not have the patience to read books! Then why say he does not "believe" in reading books, in the first place? Sample some more: He wants a Guru who knows everything under the sun and tells me he cannot call anyone who does not know everything a Guru! What can I do if his definition of Guru is different from that of the world? Am I supposed to be the martyr bridge between him and the rest of the world? He imagines that I am a preacher (God knows who told him that) and I should have a handle on my temper while he himself is apparently a "dreamer" and deserves to be lazy (like not wanting to read books and expecting people to drop all their work and health and answer all his confounded queries forever!) Oh....I could go on but I think I should try to keep this post short - ok, as short as possible ;-) - for your benefit. [Remember....the idea is to not present a fact file or a case in the court or to even defend myself but for this post to act as a mechanism to get my frustration out of my system! :-)]
Coming back to the story, after a lot of meaningless messages on Twitter he moved to email and started asking me more questions despite my telling him that I did not have any more time to answer his queries for the time being and that he must approach someone local or look up guides via Google for certain questions like how to use Twitter. Honestly speaking, I guess I had quite lost my patience by this time and was in no mood or state of health to explain things via mail to a person who anyway seemed to understand very little beyond what he already believed in and needed to be spoon-fed everything.
The last straw on the camel's back was this final email exchange. His 23287382973th question (ok....it was more like the 30th question) was "How to increase blog traffic?" as he wants to make a living writing a blog or something. I gave him an honest - and, actually, the only answer - I know. "Write extremely well" and the traffic will naturally increase. I also told him that I myself care a damn for blog traffic because I blog/write to share and learn. I finished it off by telling him that he could also tweet his blog posts in case he wants more people to look at them. I have heard of some more techniques to increase blog traffic but I have NEVER paid attention to them because that does not interest me in the least. I do not blog for the traffic. I told him as much in as many words. What does he do? Come back with the same question and insist that I answer it in a different manner since I am from the software industry! I actually did not get annoyed even after this! I simply went back to him and told him to search Google for "how to increase blog traffic" as a) I now knew him to be lazy and suspected that he would have not tried this approach in order to avoid the hard work of sifting through the results and b) I couldn't care less about learning the answer myself. And guess how our exceptional friend responds? He starts his response as follows: "Irritating." What an extraordinary display of courtesy to someone who spent hours responding to questions that in retrospect were not probably genuine! He goes on to say he knows how to do a Google search and I need not tell him about it! Wow! Bless his soul, people!
Do you think I made a mistake asking him not to write to me again after reading this? Honestly. Go ahead, tell me. I feel immature putting this out on my blog....but I seriously will leave this post intact for two reasons. 1) It really is cathartic to write about such a horrendous experience and get it out of my mind. 2) I would be interested to know if I made any mistakes apart from the fact that I lost my patience somewhere in the middle and gave him undiplomatic answers or, well, maybe I actually put up with him for too long? Give me your piece of mind!
PS: I did post a few messages about this experience on Twitter a while back and someone came back and told me to suggest that this person look up "the blog zone". In case you - you know who you are - happen to be reading this post, you might be able to appreciate this suggestion - provided your laziness does not prevent you from looking up this portal and reading through it. There is no substitute for hard-work. Wait! Does that make me sound like a preacher? Maybe! OK, consider that sentence removed if so! ;-) God bless. Whew!
I can't believe that this kind of a thing can happen to someone who actually loves being asked questions, like yours truly! I seriously like being asked questions and engaging in stimulating conversations but only if the intention of the other party is to truly learn or discover something through the conversation and not just prove his own point or prove that there is no answer to his questions (!)...and only if it is a topic that I can actually comment on and only if I am not expected to drop all my other priorities and health and squeeze out the last drop of blood in my body to answer questions that appear lame to me! Enough. And, finally, at the risk of sounding very holy, apologies if this post seems to be written in bad taste and has contaminated the blogosphere...
A regular reader of this blog who generally asks fundamental questions has always received my appreciation for his inquisitive nature and also my responses - however silly, ignorant or mortalish they might have been (what else can you expect from an ordinary mortal like me in response to questions like "Does God decide man's fate or does man decide his own fate?" etc). To set the context, in fact, there was one such discussion that happened on this blog some time back wherein I could only suppose certain things based on my mortal experiences but I finally decided to cut off the discussion because I was not able to give him the answer he expected and nor was I able to convince him about the reasons for my own perceptions. To my credit, he seemed stubborn and prejudiced and anyway you can't expect a debate on God/Fate/Free Will to come to an easy or quick conclusion.
This person decided to follow me on Twitter recently and bombarded me with one too many questions this afternoon but I decided to respond to them despite the fact that I was unwell and had to also balance it with some work. I did not have the heart to cut off the discussion despite the fact that I suspected we would only go around in circles given that he came into the discussion already convinced about something. As the conversation progressed, it became clearer to me that the queries or the arguments were just superficial and he either wanted a radical answer that he would not be able to cross-question or he wanted me to concede ignorance and then gloat over it (he makes "profound" statements like "I am the winner and the loser" if someone tells him they do not know the answer). If this wasn't clear before, let it be known now that I am human. I have no insight into how the Universe functions for me to give him a radical answer with proof that he will not be able to deny. I can only have a normal human conversation wherein I express my thoughts and experiences and try to reason around them or maybe sometimes use my intuition. And yes, I get angry too - when I have to face unreasonable and insensitive blokes.
More than everything else, all his arguments were shocking to me which was probably where the problem began. He said he did not believe in reading books and only believed in real-life experiences - now that is a highly provocative statement for a book-lover like me. Who said books don't talk about real-life experiences? Who said you can't learn from others' experiences and learnings via books? He finally conceded that he did not have the patience to read books! Then why say he does not "believe" in reading books, in the first place? Sample some more: He wants a Guru who knows everything under the sun and tells me he cannot call anyone who does not know everything a Guru! What can I do if his definition of Guru is different from that of the world? Am I supposed to be the martyr bridge between him and the rest of the world? He imagines that I am a preacher (God knows who told him that) and I should have a handle on my temper while he himself is apparently a "dreamer" and deserves to be lazy (like not wanting to read books and expecting people to drop all their work and health and answer all his confounded queries forever!) Oh....I could go on but I think I should try to keep this post short - ok, as short as possible ;-) - for your benefit. [Remember....the idea is to not present a fact file or a case in the court or to even defend myself but for this post to act as a mechanism to get my frustration out of my system! :-)]
Coming back to the story, after a lot of meaningless messages on Twitter he moved to email and started asking me more questions despite my telling him that I did not have any more time to answer his queries for the time being and that he must approach someone local or look up guides via Google for certain questions like how to use Twitter. Honestly speaking, I guess I had quite lost my patience by this time and was in no mood or state of health to explain things via mail to a person who anyway seemed to understand very little beyond what he already believed in and needed to be spoon-fed everything.
The last straw on the camel's back was this final email exchange. His 23287382973th question (ok....it was more like the 30th question) was "How to increase blog traffic?" as he wants to make a living writing a blog or something. I gave him an honest - and, actually, the only answer - I know. "Write extremely well" and the traffic will naturally increase. I also told him that I myself care a damn for blog traffic because I blog/write to share and learn. I finished it off by telling him that he could also tweet his blog posts in case he wants more people to look at them. I have heard of some more techniques to increase blog traffic but I have NEVER paid attention to them because that does not interest me in the least. I do not blog for the traffic. I told him as much in as many words. What does he do? Come back with the same question and insist that I answer it in a different manner since I am from the software industry! I actually did not get annoyed even after this! I simply went back to him and told him to search Google for "how to increase blog traffic" as a) I now knew him to be lazy and suspected that he would have not tried this approach in order to avoid the hard work of sifting through the results and b) I couldn't care less about learning the answer myself. And guess how our exceptional friend responds? He starts his response as follows: "Irritating." What an extraordinary display of courtesy to someone who spent hours responding to questions that in retrospect were not probably genuine! He goes on to say he knows how to do a Google search and I need not tell him about it! Wow! Bless his soul, people!
Do you think I made a mistake asking him not to write to me again after reading this? Honestly. Go ahead, tell me. I feel immature putting this out on my blog....but I seriously will leave this post intact for two reasons. 1) It really is cathartic to write about such a horrendous experience and get it out of my mind. 2) I would be interested to know if I made any mistakes apart from the fact that I lost my patience somewhere in the middle and gave him undiplomatic answers or, well, maybe I actually put up with him for too long? Give me your piece of mind!
PS: I did post a few messages about this experience on Twitter a while back and someone came back and told me to suggest that this person look up "the blog zone". In case you - you know who you are - happen to be reading this post, you might be able to appreciate this suggestion - provided your laziness does not prevent you from looking up this portal and reading through it. There is no substitute for hard-work. Wait! Does that make me sound like a preacher? Maybe! OK, consider that sentence removed if so! ;-) God bless. Whew!
I can't believe that this kind of a thing can happen to someone who actually loves being asked questions, like yours truly! I seriously like being asked questions and engaging in stimulating conversations but only if the intention of the other party is to truly learn or discover something through the conversation and not just prove his own point or prove that there is no answer to his questions (!)...and only if it is a topic that I can actually comment on and only if I am not expected to drop all my other priorities and health and squeeze out the last drop of blood in my body to answer questions that appear lame to me! Enough. And, finally, at the risk of sounding very holy, apologies if this post seems to be written in bad taste and has contaminated the blogosphere...
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
A Real Jungle in a Concrete Jungle
It's amusing how most of us crave to live in a world different from the one that we actually happen to live in. I don't mean this in the literal sense but in the metaphorical sense. We'd love to escape the traffic jam we encounter every day, we'd love to experience silence and nature amidst the chaos at work, we'd love to run away from meaningless deadlines, the last-minute rush to finish something, mind-boggling tax-forms, lengthy procedures, office politics, annoying misunderstandings and what not! I'd bet that this dream of leading a different life remains just a dream for most people. We continue to chase routine like our lives depended on it and remain in the rut unable to take any physical action to exit the dangerous whirlpool of "civilized" and "modern" life. Some of us are lucky in the sense that we still manage to steal a few moments away from the daily despair and let our minds wander into something far away from it. I am not talking about day-dreaming but something on the lines below: Check out this view from the coffee place in my office.
What a riot! Bang in the middle of the city. Bang in the middle of one of Bangalore's busiest areas but difficult to recognize unless someone tells you! A sea of coconut trees and home to many local birds. Now, take a closer look.
According to me, the bloke who lives in that small house on the terrace of that 6-7 storey building in that somewhat large piece of coconut-tree filled land is one of the most fortunate blokes in Bangalore. I am almost sure the person who stays there is the security guard-watchman of the campus. What a view he'd have provided he doesn't always get distracted by thoughts of thieves! He is bound to have a wonderful breeze all day and night, spot flocks of birds flying overhead, and catch the twinkling skyline of the city at night if he wants a concrete (pun intended) change! He or at least his family would have their quiet moments and enjoy this "real" jungle in the middle of a concrete jungle! Believe me, if you take a look at the beautiful campus roads below, you'd understand what a perfect place this would be for early morning and evening walks! And, btw, the nearest building to this one, in the same campus, happens to be a library! That's the icing on the cake for you! :-)
OK...I think I'll leave you with this for now and see if I can catch more moments focused on this place when I take my tea and water breaks. Yow.
What a riot! Bang in the middle of the city. Bang in the middle of one of Bangalore's busiest areas but difficult to recognize unless someone tells you! A sea of coconut trees and home to many local birds. Now, take a closer look.
According to me, the bloke who lives in that small house on the terrace of that 6-7 storey building in that somewhat large piece of coconut-tree filled land is one of the most fortunate blokes in Bangalore. I am almost sure the person who stays there is the security guard-watchman of the campus. What a view he'd have provided he doesn't always get distracted by thoughts of thieves! He is bound to have a wonderful breeze all day and night, spot flocks of birds flying overhead, and catch the twinkling skyline of the city at night if he wants a concrete (pun intended) change! He or at least his family would have their quiet moments and enjoy this "real" jungle in the middle of a concrete jungle! Believe me, if you take a look at the beautiful campus roads below, you'd understand what a perfect place this would be for early morning and evening walks! And, btw, the nearest building to this one, in the same campus, happens to be a library! That's the icing on the cake for you! :-)OK...I think I'll leave you with this for now and see if I can catch more moments focused on this place when I take my tea and water breaks. Yow.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Preserving India's Knowledge
Almost three years ago, I posted about my discovery of the Bangalore-based FRLHT – Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions - and remember vividly that I was quite excited about it at that time. Now, three years of evolution or rotting (depending on the way you look at it ;-)) later, I followed the Twitter profile of a person (Mani) who happened to retweet one of my tweets (this is a distraction, nevertheless, in case you are curious what my retweeted tweet was about and are lazy to click on the link, let me tell you. It was about a KM product company – Trampoline Systems, if you want the name as well - that is adopting a crowdfunding approach to finance its future) and found something there that rang a huge bell in my mind and brought back memories of my spotting the FRLHT office bus. When I glanced through Mani’s recent Twitter updates, I was lucky enough to spot one of his tweets about the existence of an organization called CIKS - Centre of Indian Knowledge Systems! One look at the organization’s home page and I was mighty impressed by their projects, vision and achievements. Not surprisingly, as I glanced through the Trustees page, I realized that the key person behind FRLHT is one of the members of CIKS as well. That bell in my mind was spot on! Ding Dong! :-)
CIKS seems to focus on preserving India’s agricultural knowledge amongst other things and speaks of some inspiring and admirable project areas to help India’s rural population through well-designed programs. Most of the projects revolve around organic farming methods but I guess the scope and potential for expanding this concept is immense! Not many weeks ago, I was having a conversation with two of my friends about the possibility of using KM in non-profit ventures and for social benefits and we’d touched upon areas like Education, Agriculture, Health-Care and Infrastructure. CIKS is a brilliant example of what can be done in the agricultural arena. More so because of the rich agricultural history that India has. Even though the focus at present seems to be only on preserving conventional agricultural knowledge, it would be quite easy to extend it to facilitate sharing of knowledge across farmers, providing them with the platforms and practices to network, collaborate and innovate! If proven to be a success here, I can’t think of any reason why it can’t be replicated in the Education and Health-Care sectors as well. Speaking of Education, I am reminded of India’s traditional and inspiring Gurukul system.
There is an urge to come back and look into this at length and expand on the ideas…..but what do you think?
Managing Relationships
A good post on managing relationships from Steve Goodier.
Notes: T - trust, R - respect, A - Affection, V - vulnerability, E - emotional intimacy, L - laughter
Notes: T - trust, R - respect, A - Affection, V - vulnerability, E - emotional intimacy, L - laughter
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Sweetness and Light
Well, even if I happen to be a bit infrequent with my blog posts at times, I am glad some people think this blog can serve the purpose of spreading sweetness and light! :-) Take a look at the message below. I received a mail from Hemanth requesting me to put this up for those interested in contributing. Meanwhile, I explored the Anand Charity website and was impressed by their projects and the people behind it! May their tribe increase and inspire!
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My name is Hemanth Sampath, a volunteer for a non-profit organization called Anand Charity (www.anandcharity.org). Anand Charity was founded by Indians representing stellar academic institutions such as IIT, Kellogg, Wharton, Johns Hopkins University and multi-national companies such as Qualcomm, Shell, and McKinsey & Company. Anand Charity was founded with the aim of identifying and providing need based financial support to organizations involved with health care, primary education and disaster management in India. We have six active projects in different parts of India. Some of our current projects include providing assistance to:
• A school that offers vocational training to mentally challenged students in Rajasthan
• A school in Uttar Pradesh for building a kitchen that serves 250 students
• A village in Andhra Pradesh for building a well to ease drinking water problems
We have been able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time since our founding. We would like to bring about further change. We are currently running a fundraiser (called “Change for $5”) to help us support more development projects in India. We believe that $5 can go a long way – it can buy textbooks for a student for one year or provide food and drinking water for a person affected by a disaster or buy a daily meal for children in a school.
We would like your kind help in spreading the word about Anand Charity and the fundraiser. Your blog is extremely well written and read. A mention about Anand Charity, its mission, its current projects or the fundraiser would immensely benefit us. It would allow us to reach out to and touch more underprivileged people. We would be very indebted to you for your help.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for your time, consideration and support.
Best regards,
Hemanth
hemanth.sampath@anandcharity.
Anand Charity - http://www.anandcharity.org
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Monday, August 31, 2009
A Guest Post on Creativity
Now, this is a first for Aa..ha! [Thinking Inside the Blog] :-)
Some one has written in offering to put up a special guest post here. I simply do not have any reason to refuse the offer however much I may consider this blog to be my territory - read a loony-bin of sorts. And especially so because the post happens to be on one of my favourite topics - creativity! :-) Donna has written a lovely post on how to encourage creativity in others and her every thought resonates with me! Emphasis mine!
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How to Encourage Creativity in Others
The work of the creative and curious has consistently led society to innovation and progress. Guglielmo Marconi invented the radiotelegraph system after tinkering with Heinrich Hertz’s radio wave discovery. Andy Warhol’s paintings and prints of celebrities and Coke bottles led to the popularization of pop art.
Unfortunately, creativity has become too linked with an elite few instead of encouraged in the masses. Not everyone knows how to express creativity, but everyone has the capacity to be creative. Just think of children and their imaginative qualities: an empty refrigerator box can become a space ship, a stick a sword, and a bed sheet a superhero’s cape. However, somewhere between childhood and adulthood, uninhibited creativity becomes taboo as people become more obsessed with fitting in than standing out. Many people are afraid to express their creativity out of fear of being deemed childish or weird, but as creative thinking leads to better problem solving, it is truly in the best interest of society to lift the unspoken ban on originality.
The first step to accomplishing this is to be encouraging. Team leaders and teachers should make it known that inventiveness is expected. After all, it is easier to do things the way it’s always been done than to come up with something new and exciting, so creative thought must be encouraged for it to happen.
Creativity should also be accepted to alleviate the insecurity many feel about expressing their “weird” ideas. Naturally, not all creative thinkers will contribute valuable and feasible ideas, but the impossible and fanciful thinkers should not be punished, ridiculed, or ignored. Their ideas may be laughable at the time, but with the advance of technology and social growth, those ideas may suddenly become viable. Traditional animators may have disregarded those who suggested that computers would someday do most of their work, but now computer animation has become the norm.
All too often, innovators often find themselves butting heads with those resistant to change, and they shouldn’t. Originality should be easy to bring to the public and new inventions and movements should not be shot down before it has had a chance to prove itself. If the world is ready, the movement will proper. If not, it will simply die out. Creativity should be subject to the natural course of judgment and application without the premature critical bludgeoning from traditionalists.
To maximize the creative potential of the masses, creativity must be freed of its association of being childish and bizarre. Only then can we hope to unlock the trove of brilliant ideas that lies within each person.
This post was contributed by Donna Scott, who writes about the online bachelor's degree. She welcomes your feedback at DonnaScott9929 yahoo.com
============================================
Some one has written in offering to put up a special guest post here. I simply do not have any reason to refuse the offer however much I may consider this blog to be my territory - read a loony-bin of sorts. And especially so because the post happens to be on one of my favourite topics - creativity! :-) Donna has written a lovely post on how to encourage creativity in others and her every thought resonates with me! Emphasis mine!
====================================
How to Encourage Creativity in Others
The work of the creative and curious has consistently led society to innovation and progress. Guglielmo Marconi invented the radiotelegraph system after tinkering with Heinrich Hertz’s radio wave discovery. Andy Warhol’s paintings and prints of celebrities and Coke bottles led to the popularization of pop art.
Unfortunately, creativity has become too linked with an elite few instead of encouraged in the masses. Not everyone knows how to express creativity, but everyone has the capacity to be creative. Just think of children and their imaginative qualities: an empty refrigerator box can become a space ship, a stick a sword, and a bed sheet a superhero’s cape. However, somewhere between childhood and adulthood, uninhibited creativity becomes taboo as people become more obsessed with fitting in than standing out. Many people are afraid to express their creativity out of fear of being deemed childish or weird, but as creative thinking leads to better problem solving, it is truly in the best interest of society to lift the unspoken ban on originality.
The first step to accomplishing this is to be encouraging. Team leaders and teachers should make it known that inventiveness is expected. After all, it is easier to do things the way it’s always been done than to come up with something new and exciting, so creative thought must be encouraged for it to happen.
Creativity should also be accepted to alleviate the insecurity many feel about expressing their “weird” ideas. Naturally, not all creative thinkers will contribute valuable and feasible ideas, but the impossible and fanciful thinkers should not be punished, ridiculed, or ignored. Their ideas may be laughable at the time, but with the advance of technology and social growth, those ideas may suddenly become viable. Traditional animators may have disregarded those who suggested that computers would someday do most of their work, but now computer animation has become the norm.
All too often, innovators often find themselves butting heads with those resistant to change, and they shouldn’t. Originality should be easy to bring to the public and new inventions and movements should not be shot down before it has had a chance to prove itself. If the world is ready, the movement will proper. If not, it will simply die out. Creativity should be subject to the natural course of judgment and application without the premature critical bludgeoning from traditionalists.
To maximize the creative potential of the masses, creativity must be freed of its association of being childish and bizarre. Only then can we hope to unlock the trove of brilliant ideas that lies within each person.
This post was contributed by Donna Scott, who writes about the online bachelor's degree. She welcomes your feedback at DonnaScott9929 yahoo.com
============================================
Friday, August 28, 2009
Weekend Introspection
Here are some profound - even if I say so myself - things that occurred to me, and I shared on Twitter (I am @nimmypal), in the recent past. Would be glad to see your comments and hear about your related experiences, if any.
Even clear, consistent, persistent, passionate and desperate communication will not change the mind of a prejudiced man. (I wonder if smart people who realize this stop wasting their energy and go on to do better - other - things in life)
There are 3 kinds of people. Those who: are slaves of their conscience, don't know it exists & occasionally acknowledge its existence. (Ironically, the slaves - the first lot - are, I believe, the happiest in the long run)
In personal matters, the truth is elusive to everyone except yourself. Even if you share all the facts. So, be your own "final" adviser. (Makes one consider how critical it is to parent children to think independantly)
If you behave like there is nothing left for you to learn, you will definitely learn no more. Every new idea will see you as an obstacle. (...and adopt a different route depriving you of the joy of many more accomplishments in life)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
KM World 2009
Dear Blog-Friends,
I was thrilled to receive a free invite - apparently as a consequence of being a long-time KM babbler...er, I mean, blogger - to KM World 2009 at San Jose. Well, as luck and all other (un)concerned entities would have it, it doesn't look like I can make it. I find it hard to digest that I can't go to such a popular and well-known conference, especially after having received a free invite. I will have it known - to no one in particular - that I am quite fond of attending conferences and think it is a perfect environment for me to get inspired and develop my ideas in! Read "If you happen to conduct a conference on KM or any other topic of interest to me, please do invite me. I promise to share whatever I know and spread whatever I learn at the conference" Anyway, if I want to avoid slipping into despair and further craziness such as exhibited above, I need to ignore this cruel twist of fate and hope I get to go next time around and move on with whatever is left of life.
So, here we are, what? Can't you see I am quite happy and ready to get my knowledge and learning from elsewhere? Thank God for Twitter, Blogs etc. Hmmph. OK. Ranting apart, here's the real good news
a) If you're going to the conference, you can avail a $200 discount for being a reader of this blog :-) [Finally, being a patient and optimistic reader of this blog has paid off, eh? All's well that ends well] - Here's the message I received:
Here is a discount URL for your readers:
http://tinyurl.com/mfmn2h
It automatically calculates a $200 discount for your readers. It also includes a free expo pass option!
They can also sign up just for a free expo pass at this link:
https://secure.infotoday.com/forms/default.aspx?form=kmw2009&priority=BLG10
b) The other good news - If you're going to the conference, you now know I am not going to be there to skew any sort of metrics related to participants' sanity. Enjoy!
Just in case you do use this opportunity to save $200 please do leave a comment here and ask for David White at the conference if you want to thank the person who decided to give this blog's readers a discount. :-) And it goes without saying that I'd love to know what knowledge you acquired or shared at the conference.
PS: Caveat: I am somewhat tired of people saying the KM is not about technology and that KM must satisfy a business need and that KM is all about the culture and that KM is not content management, among other things. Without wanting to sound blunt, I think we've beaten these things to death and they are obvious to most of us unless we indicate otherwise. I suspect that, more often than not, it is not that we don't believe these ideas but that we find it hard to get the rest of the organization to tow our line. Also, most of the time, people just stop at these high level statements. They don't elaborate and explain the why or how. Let's start talking about the "how". Let's start looking at fresh and unconventional ideas to realize the benefits of KM. Let's start getting into the details. Let's have case studies of how business needs were met. Or let's simply listen to those who are ready to talk about these things. :-)
I was thrilled to receive a free invite - apparently as a consequence of being a long-time KM babbler...er, I mean, blogger - to KM World 2009 at San Jose. Well, as luck and all other (un)concerned entities would have it, it doesn't look like I can make it. I find it hard to digest that I can't go to such a popular and well-known conference, especially after having received a free invite. I will have it known - to no one in particular - that I am quite fond of attending conferences and think it is a perfect environment for me to get inspired and develop my ideas in! Read "If you happen to conduct a conference on KM or any other topic of interest to me, please do invite me. I promise to share whatever I know and spread whatever I learn at the conference" Anyway, if I want to avoid slipping into despair and further craziness such as exhibited above, I need to ignore this cruel twist of fate and hope I get to go next time around and move on with whatever is left of life.
So, here we are, what? Can't you see I am quite happy and ready to get my knowledge and learning from elsewhere? Thank God for Twitter, Blogs etc. Hmmph. OK. Ranting apart, here's the real good news
a) If you're going to the conference, you can avail a $200 discount for being a reader of this blog :-) [Finally, being a patient and optimistic reader of this blog has paid off, eh? All's well that ends well] - Here's the message I received:
Here is a discount URL for your readers:
http://tinyurl.com/mfmn2h
It automatically calculates a $200 discount for your readers. It also includes a free expo pass option!
They can also sign up just for a free expo pass at this link:
https://secure.infotoday.com/forms/default.aspx?form=kmw2009&priority=BLG10
b) The other good news - If you're going to the conference, you now know I am not going to be there to skew any sort of metrics related to participants' sanity. Enjoy!
Just in case you do use this opportunity to save $200 please do leave a comment here and ask for David White at the conference if you want to thank the person who decided to give this blog's readers a discount. :-) And it goes without saying that I'd love to know what knowledge you acquired or shared at the conference.
PS: Caveat: I am somewhat tired of people saying the KM is not about technology and that KM must satisfy a business need and that KM is all about the culture and that KM is not content management, among other things. Without wanting to sound blunt, I think we've beaten these things to death and they are obvious to most of us unless we indicate otherwise. I suspect that, more often than not, it is not that we don't believe these ideas but that we find it hard to get the rest of the organization to tow our line. Also, most of the time, people just stop at these high level statements. They don't elaborate and explain the why or how. Let's start talking about the "how". Let's start looking at fresh and unconventional ideas to realize the benefits of KM. Let's start getting into the details. Let's have case studies of how business needs were met. Or let's simply listen to those who are ready to talk about these things. :-)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Sustainable KM
I like the way Andrew has collated and packaged some very sensible ideas and approaches and labeled them as "sustainable KM". Embed KM, let it emerge from the bottom, let change manage itself....and more such gems inside. (But what scares me quite a bit is "Local solutions, Global blindness")
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Are you this Frog?
From PravsWorld: http://pravstalk.com/give-it-a-shot/
===========================================
Question: There are 3 frogs on a leaf. If one of them decided to jump off the leaf into the water, how many frogs are there left on the leaf?
Answer: THREE
Why?
The frog only DECIDED to jump! It didn't!
Dreaming of a personal accomplishment, most people make the mistake of waiting...
- Waiting until they've been trained
- Waiting till someone say's they are ready
- Waiting till they have the proper tools
- Waiting till they're better
- Waiting till they're hired
- Waiting till they've been given the assignment
Ponder over this, my friends. Are you not unlike the frog; who decides to do this, decides to do that, but ended up not doing any?
In life, we have to make many decisions. Some easy; some hard. Most mistakes are not made by wrong decisions; Most mistakes are made due to our inability to take a right decision at the right time.
We have to live with the consequences of our decisions. And that is RISK.
==========================================================
Croak. Jump. Dive.
===========================================
Question: There are 3 frogs on a leaf. If one of them decided to jump off the leaf into the water, how many frogs are there left on the leaf?
Answer: THREE
Why?
The frog only DECIDED to jump! It didn't!
Dreaming of a personal accomplishment, most people make the mistake of waiting...
- Waiting until they've been trained
- Waiting till someone say's they are ready
- Waiting till they have the proper tools
- Waiting till they're better
- Waiting till they're hired
- Waiting till they've been given the assignment
Ponder over this, my friends. Are you not unlike the frog; who decides to do this, decides to do that, but ended up not doing any?
In life, we have to make many decisions. Some easy; some hard. Most mistakes are not made by wrong decisions; Most mistakes are made due to our inability to take a right decision at the right time.
We have to live with the consequences of our decisions. And that is RISK.
==========================================================
Croak. Jump. Dive.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
E2.0 Forces
I liked reading this post. A nice way of summarizing the WIIFM factors - the driving forces - when it comes to Enterprise 2.0 deployment! Learning, Impact (Performance), Recognition, Camaraderie and Compensation. Honestly, none of these points is a revelation - a surprise ingredient - as I happened to comment on the author's blog as well. But there's something nice about the way the post has been written, especially the introduction and the identification of two schools of thought.
Extending my thoughts on this topic a bit, most people are likely to be convinced to adopt E2.0 for the impact it has on their performance, for the potential recognition it might fetch them and contextual incentives and compensation declared by the organization. Ironically, people who come for the impact, recognition and money don't believe in giving as much as they do in taking. Arguably, people who adopt E2.0 for the learning and camaraderie are those who enjoy sharing/giving as much as they enjoy taking/using the knowledge others provide. And I believe this is exactly why promoters of E2.0 (or KM) take the extreme position of altruism based promotion or the opposite of it - because most people need to understand (altruism) or understand (we'll help you be selfish) this language respectively! What do you think?
Extending my thoughts on this topic a bit, most people are likely to be convinced to adopt E2.0 for the impact it has on their performance, for the potential recognition it might fetch them and contextual incentives and compensation declared by the organization. Ironically, people who come for the impact, recognition and money don't believe in giving as much as they do in taking. Arguably, people who adopt E2.0 for the learning and camaraderie are those who enjoy sharing/giving as much as they enjoy taking/using the knowledge others provide. And I believe this is exactly why promoters of E2.0 (or KM) take the extreme position of altruism based promotion or the opposite of it - because most people need to understand (altruism) or understand (we'll help you be selfish) this language respectively! What do you think?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bullet Points for Peace! ;-)
Nice stuff....10 Principles for Peace of Mind.
====================================
1. Do Not Interfere In Others’ Business Unless Asked (On the contrary, I am so much against interfering in others' lives that I am sometimes considered indifferent! ;-))
2. Forgive And Forget (I learned this many years back but I wish I'd learned this even earlier)
3. Do Not Crave For Recognition (Hum. Haw.)
4. Do Not Be Jealous (I'd find it difficult to not feel jealous of someone who lives in an absolutely scenic place...amidst nature. I'd find it difficult to not feel jealous of people who get a plethora of learning opportunities - training programs, workshops, conferences, good mentors and teachers etc. I'd find it difficult to not feel jealous of people who can sing really well. Sigh)
5. Change Yourself According To The Environment (Tough one!)
6. Endure What Cannot Be Cured (Possible when one has faith in oneself and in God!)
7. Do Not Bite Off More Than You Can Chew (I am yet to learn this)
8. Meditate Regularly (I try...)
9. Never Leave The Mind Vacant (Rarely...)
10. Do Not Procrastinate And Never Regret (Aah...well...)
====================================
1. Do Not Interfere In Others’ Business Unless Asked (On the contrary, I am so much against interfering in others' lives that I am sometimes considered indifferent! ;-))
2. Forgive And Forget (I learned this many years back but I wish I'd learned this even earlier)
3. Do Not Crave For Recognition (Hum. Haw.)
4. Do Not Be Jealous (I'd find it difficult to not feel jealous of someone who lives in an absolutely scenic place...amidst nature. I'd find it difficult to not feel jealous of people who get a plethora of learning opportunities - training programs, workshops, conferences, good mentors and teachers etc. I'd find it difficult to not feel jealous of people who can sing really well. Sigh)
5. Change Yourself According To The Environment (Tough one!)
6. Endure What Cannot Be Cured (Possible when one has faith in oneself and in God!)
7. Do Not Bite Off More Than You Can Chew (I am yet to learn this)
8. Meditate Regularly (I try...)
9. Never Leave The Mind Vacant (Rarely...)
10. Do Not Procrastinate And Never Regret (Aah...well...)
Friday, July 17, 2009
The World of Wodehouse and Knowledge Management
What-ho! What-ho! Jolly good day, today being a Friday and all that, what? Last week, during a bored moment, I impulsively told Tweeple who cared to listen to my babblings that it would be dashed nice to hit upon a good idea for a blog post. A fellow KM enthusiast @Kirti responded immediately and suggested that I write something about Wodehouse and KM..…as in, draw some connections between these two awe-inspiring topics. Now, connecting the seemingly unconnected is always an absorbing exercise! You, quite often, might come away wondering if you have some hitherto undetected supernatural powers within you. Of course, the euphoria doesn’t normally last very long but even a few seconds of the aforementioned delusion is good for the aspiring soul, don’t you know?
Where were we? Yes…so, the idea excited me and things looked oojah-cum-spiff for a while but somewhere in my mind I had an inevitable and lurking concern that I’d not be able to do justice to the topics. To write about Wodehouse, one needs to be in one’s element both in the use of language as well as in the employment of one’s sense of humor and to write about KM one needs to be what is the word I am looking for, Jeeves? No…not inspired…something that goes beyond inspiration and ventures into the context and current relevant experience, if you get my drift, which I was not so sure of.
Anyway, the initial excitement led me to making some quick notes on the potential connections between the two topics and then sharpening a broken pencil tip. [Wish someone would invent a brain-sharpener and make it a free download thingy, what?]
OK. I guess you’ll clearly see through my meaningless ramblings and discover my attempt to avoid hitting the nail on the head if I continue this preamble any longer. So, let’s take the supreme risk of looking into my random thoughts on how the Master and his works may be linked with the fascinatingly versatile field of knowledge management.
Random thought #1: When I read Plum’s (Wodehouse) perfect and hilariously creative use of English, the first thing that comes to my mind is how good his personal knowledge management strategies ought to have been. He knew his words, similes, metaphors, idioms and grammar better than anyone else I can think of at this moment. His writings are so effective that they transport us to the world that the characters of his book live in and make us laugh and chuckle along with them. Personal knowledge management in this case, according to me, is largely attributable to Plum’s passion + hard work + discipline + natural talent for humor. If you’re looking for a take away, here it is – managing your personal knowledge and strengths is a surefire way to success! [As if you didn’t know that! Bah!]
Random thought #2: Most of Plum’s novels have amazingly sophisticated and knotty plots that somehow magically sort themselves out right at the end of the story (perhaps on the very last page!). The last page turns out to be, in many of his books, where the main character attains the much-awaited nirvana/enlightenment (as in, overcomes his/her challenge). What goes into the first 200 odd pages prior to the climax are the beautifully weaved pieces of the context - each bit of which serves to adorn the overall story, add its own unique flavor and lead the story to its delightful climax. There’s nothing superfluous. There’s nothing omitted. It’s oh-so-perfect and comes to you at just the right pace with maybe some rare exceptions. What am I driving at? When knowledge is shared or tapped into, in my humble opinion, the aforementioned approach is a fantastic one to keep in mind. I love quotes and the insights that they give away on a platter but when it comes to finding solutions to some real life situations, I think the context and how it is fit into the overall ‘story’ is what makes knowledge sharing an effective activity/process. The take-away: Remember that sharing knowledge or even simple communication is not just about saying what happened but also sharing the “why” and then adding just the right amount of feelings, emotions and musings to it.
Random thought #3: Now, this one, I think, will almost certainly take the cake. Be ready to raise an eyebrow or two and let the lips twitch a bit. Jeeves, the miracle man who solves all of Bertie’s and his friends’ problems, I suspect, was a staunch believer of knowledge management concepts that we KMers try really hard to promote. No wonder he was and continues to be such a big hit. Wipe that skeptical look off your face, will you? No, I am not talking about the search engine (AskJeeves). A closer look at Jeeves’s methods will, no doubt, prove me right. Consider these facts: (Thanks to @Kirti for reiterating Jeeves’s importance in the context of this topic) 
1. He stays connected with a mind-boggling number of peers. He knows a cook here, a valet there, a chauffeur somewhere and what not (And these are the people who supply him with the information that later turns out to be critical for success)
2. He attends the monthly valet meetings and is up-to-date with the stories that other valets share about their respective employers. The community that Jeeves is a part of even publishes a book with queer facts about their employers (and it is, if I remember right, mandatory for everyone in the community to share and publish these facts)
3. His intentions are supreme. He really wants to save his employer from getting into complex situations. He even wants to save Bertie’s friends when he knows they mean a lot to Bertie
4. He generally gets something in return from Bertie. Sometimes tangible and sometimes intangible (Bertie stops wearing that repulsive pink tie, for example) but Jeeves never really uses his knowledge for the purposes of getting something in return! He uses it because it is there to be used and he knows Bertie needs it. The returns come simply because Bertie is so generous and know Jeeves deserves the best
5. He doesn’t make a big deal of his knowledge. He doesn’t jump around and boast about the intelligence he possesses (Unfathomable for those who know Jeeves). He doesn’t pretend to be a savior but merely says it is his pleasure to help his employer. That makes him so very approachable and gets him the respect he so deserves!
6. He has a head that sort of juts out at the back. In other words, a peculiarly shaped head is apparently something of significance in this context
7. He is suspected to consume a lot of fish which in turn is suspected to be responsible for enviable mental growth
8. The 6th and 7th points, obviously, are not directly or, for that matter, indirectly related to KM concepts but I don’t think anyone is going to object to their inclusion in this list. These points will, hopefully, put the other 5 points in perspective. ;-) [This should undoubtedly prove my vegetarianism. I don’t eat fish. And my head doesn’t jut out at the back]
==========================================
In other related news, I recently heard about some bloke pretending to be Harry Potter on Twitter. Prompts me to imagine how it would be if Bertie and Jeeves had blogs and twitter accounts!
Bertie would be frustrated with Twitter’s 140 character limitations and prefer to use blogs to explain his predicaments to Jeeves. His tweets would be on the following lines:
@Jeeves I say, Jeeves. Check this link [blog post] out, will you? This is a dashed what is the word I am looking for, don’t you know? I am dashed if I know… [Message truncated]
But, on the other hand, Twitter would be just right for Jeeves. [Another example of how he can adapt himself to the latest KM tools!] He’d simply have to tweet things like:
@Bertie Very Good, Sir.
@Bertie I endeavor to give satisfaction, Sir.
@Bertie [Raised eyebrow] This is indeed disturbing news, Sir.
@Bertie Shall I pack your clothes, Sir?
@Bertie Here’s your b. and s. Sir. *
(*b. and s. = Brandy and Soda)
Like I am now fond of saying, Plum is God’s answer to boredom, depression, climate-change, terrorism and war. Remind me to add KM to that list. That’s all for now, folks. Two Tinkerty tonks, three Toodle-oos and one Pip-pip!
PS: I tried. I really tried. But my sense of humor seems to have gone on a long vacation to Timbaktu. Pshaw! Tchah! Wish it would take me as well next time around. I need a nice delightful break in some alien land especially after writing this long post. For now, I shall probably thank God that the weekend is almost here and take a walk [If you’re an alien, send me a DM on Twitter and we’ll negotiate on the rates for the vacation]
@nimmypal’s_sense_of_humor Looking for you. Please come back. You’re needed.
Note: Wikipedia on Wodehouse, Wikipedia on Knowledge Management
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