Greetings to you this Monday Morning…
In today’s e-world, e-mail signatures are here to stay. Most people create signatures that go out with each email that they send. These signatures usually contain information such as designation of the person, phone numbers and website addresses.
However a lot of young people also have very funky lines as part of their email signatures. One very interesting email signature that I came across recently said “This too shall pass”. I was quite amused to read this line as part of an email signature. We don’t change email signatures daily, so having this kind of an email signature probably meant that this gentleman was anticipating his bad time to continue for quite some time and so he put it as part of his email signature.
On second thoughts, may be he wasn’t going through any bad time at all. The moment we think from this viewpoint, a new theory emerges which I think is very apt. We all go through good times and bad times. Having an expectation that only the good times OR only the bad times will continue is not realistic. If we are going through a bad time, this signature tells us to keep the faith and not give up hope. When times are bad, we tell ourselves frequently “This too shall pass”, so hang on there.
What is also interesting is that it helps to read this line even when the going is great. If life today is great, full of fun, excitement and opportunities, it helps to keep an eye on the line – “This too shall pass”. The intention is not to be pessimistic but to expect that there are a lot of factors beyond our control that can affect the good times. The dynamic industry, natural calamities, political instability, world terror or even something such as a road accident that can happen to anyone of us and affect us badly. So it helps to be prepared for some bad times. Let’s not get very complacent and careless because things are great today. Whatever situation you are in today, remember “This too shall pass”.
Have a great week…
Monday, September 19, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
Correctness Vs Effectiveness
Correctness Vs Effectiveness
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!
I could not write to you last weekend due to a demanding traveling schedule. I was in Goa for some work and my travel to Goa and back gave me my subject for this Monday email.
I traveled to Goa and back by air, and had to avail services of different airlines during travel (let me leave out the names of the airlines? ). As the flight staff gave safety instructions I noticed the emergency exit doors. The emergency exits had large red lettering that said "EXIT". In addition to having this in English, the doors also have the same word in Hindi.
Here is the interesting part – One airline had put up the word "Nikas" and the other had put up the word "Baahar". I noticed this difference and did a small dipstick survey on these words among some of my colleagues and acquaintances. My findings – All people whom I checked clearly knew the meaning of the word "Baahar" in Hindi, but a very few of them knew the meaning of the word "Nikas". I must add though that the technically correct word for Exit in Hindi is probably "Nikas" and not "Baahar".
However what is important is that when an emergency strikes, the sign on the door needs to be effective rather than correct. In whatever we do as part of our professions we need to know the purpose of doing it. There is a balance to be maintained in Correctness and Effectiveness, and at most times we would want to be more effective in doing what we want to rather than being only technically correct.
Have a great week…
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!
I could not write to you last weekend due to a demanding traveling schedule. I was in Goa for some work and my travel to Goa and back gave me my subject for this Monday email.
I traveled to Goa and back by air, and had to avail services of different airlines during travel (let me leave out the names of the airlines? ). As the flight staff gave safety instructions I noticed the emergency exit doors. The emergency exits had large red lettering that said "EXIT". In addition to having this in English, the doors also have the same word in Hindi.
Here is the interesting part – One airline had put up the word "Nikas" and the other had put up the word "Baahar". I noticed this difference and did a small dipstick survey on these words among some of my colleagues and acquaintances. My findings – All people whom I checked clearly knew the meaning of the word "Baahar" in Hindi, but a very few of them knew the meaning of the word "Nikas". I must add though that the technically correct word for Exit in Hindi is probably "Nikas" and not "Baahar".
However what is important is that when an emergency strikes, the sign on the door needs to be effective rather than correct. In whatever we do as part of our professions we need to know the purpose of doing it. There is a balance to be maintained in Correctness and Effectiveness, and at most times we would want to be more effective in doing what we want to rather than being only technically correct.
Have a great week…
Monday, August 29, 2005
Which face do we listen to...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
Last week a college student was referred to me by one of the line manager, with a request to assess her spoken English skills. To do this, it was essential to have her speak in English and I simply asked her to narrate a story. I did observe her English language skills as she told me the story but more importantly I though that I should share her story with you.
The young lady told me a story that she had read in the Sanskrit language as a school student, about a bird that had two faces but one body. I must admit that I cannot recollect the name of this bird. The story goes that the 2 faced bird once came across some tempting food grains lying on the ground near a hut. As soon as the bird saw it, one of face said "Wow. These grains look tempting. Let me go ahead and eat them". However the other face said "Don't eat it.it is very likely to be laced with poison by the humans staying in the hut. It may be a trap."The first face did not take any heed of the other, went ahead and ate the grains.
To its horror the grains were indeed poisoned. The bird died and along with it, both the faces died too.
The moral of the story, the young lady said, is that we all are like the bird. We all have two faces. One of them does things that are in our interest, while the other may not. However we need to understand that at a deeper level both of them are connected. They both enjoy the good fruits of positive actions and they both suffer the ill effects of negative ones.
What is important is - which face do we listen to?
Have a great week!!
Last week a college student was referred to me by one of the line manager, with a request to assess her spoken English skills. To do this, it was essential to have her speak in English and I simply asked her to narrate a story. I did observe her English language skills as she told me the story but more importantly I though that I should share her story with you.
The young lady told me a story that she had read in the Sanskrit language as a school student, about a bird that had two faces but one body. I must admit that I cannot recollect the name of this bird. The story goes that the 2 faced bird once came across some tempting food grains lying on the ground near a hut. As soon as the bird saw it, one of face said "Wow. These grains look tempting. Let me go ahead and eat them". However the other face said "Don't eat it.it is very likely to be laced with poison by the humans staying in the hut. It may be a trap."The first face did not take any heed of the other, went ahead and ate the grains.
To its horror the grains were indeed poisoned. The bird died and along with it, both the faces died too.
The moral of the story, the young lady said, is that we all are like the bird. We all have two faces. One of them does things that are in our interest, while the other may not. However we need to understand that at a deeper level both of them are connected. They both enjoy the good fruits of positive actions and they both suffer the ill effects of negative ones.
What is important is - which face do we listen to?
Have a great week!!
Monday, August 22, 2005
The best seats are lying vacant...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
Yesterday I made a presentation to a group of over 100 students at a college in Mumbai. I make presentations at campus very often and I have frequently observed that a lot of students tend to leave the first few rows in the auditorium vacant and occupy seats from row 4 or 5, even if there are no guest reservations for the first rows (I don't see a reason, however I have seen this happen at a number of colleges).
What happens then, is that students who enter the auditorium late tend to just stand at the back (if there are no seats available at the back). Some students who arrive even later end up standing in the door trying to peep in to get a glimpse of what is happening inside. If they now have to get to the first rows its tough. According to me the first rows are the best seats. If you are sitting there, you get the best view of the matter being presented, get to hear clearly and understand everything that is said and get the first opportunities to ask questions to get all the information that you want. To get to these best seats now the people standing outside need to push their way through the students standing in the passageway and climb over those squatting on steps. They would unsettle all these folks and the late comers prefer to just stand where they are. In the bargain they end up getting a poor view of the proceedings. So what actually happens is that the best seats in the auditorium are actually lying vacant!!
Now, here is my take on this phenomenon.. (And I wonder if many of you would agree with this viewpoint). I would like you to assume that the best positions in your chosen field of work are actually lying vacant. If you have arrived early, you have to make sure that you take up one of the best positions rather than settling for Row 4 or 5. If you think you have arrived late (many times you can't control your time of your arrival), you need to understand that you will not go to these best positions unless you push your way through or climb over people who are simply squatting in the way. In the process you may unsettle some of them, but that is no reason for YOU to stand outside. I am sure you will agree that it is an absolute waste if the best positions anywhere are lying unoccupied and people are standing outside waiting to get a glimpse of the action.
Wouldn't you rather occupy the best seats rather than settle for anything less?I would like each one of us to believe that there are always vacant seats in the front and there is always room at the top.. someone needs to stand up and get there.
Have a great week.
Yesterday I made a presentation to a group of over 100 students at a college in Mumbai. I make presentations at campus very often and I have frequently observed that a lot of students tend to leave the first few rows in the auditorium vacant and occupy seats from row 4 or 5, even if there are no guest reservations for the first rows (I don't see a reason, however I have seen this happen at a number of colleges).
What happens then, is that students who enter the auditorium late tend to just stand at the back (if there are no seats available at the back). Some students who arrive even later end up standing in the door trying to peep in to get a glimpse of what is happening inside. If they now have to get to the first rows its tough. According to me the first rows are the best seats. If you are sitting there, you get the best view of the matter being presented, get to hear clearly and understand everything that is said and get the first opportunities to ask questions to get all the information that you want. To get to these best seats now the people standing outside need to push their way through the students standing in the passageway and climb over those squatting on steps. They would unsettle all these folks and the late comers prefer to just stand where they are. In the bargain they end up getting a poor view of the proceedings. So what actually happens is that the best seats in the auditorium are actually lying vacant!!
Now, here is my take on this phenomenon.. (And I wonder if many of you would agree with this viewpoint). I would like you to assume that the best positions in your chosen field of work are actually lying vacant. If you have arrived early, you have to make sure that you take up one of the best positions rather than settling for Row 4 or 5. If you think you have arrived late (many times you can't control your time of your arrival), you need to understand that you will not go to these best positions unless you push your way through or climb over people who are simply squatting in the way. In the process you may unsettle some of them, but that is no reason for YOU to stand outside. I am sure you will agree that it is an absolute waste if the best positions anywhere are lying unoccupied and people are standing outside waiting to get a glimpse of the action.
Wouldn't you rather occupy the best seats rather than settle for anything less?I would like each one of us to believe that there are always vacant seats in the front and there is always room at the top.. someone needs to stand up and get there.
Have a great week.
Monday, August 15, 2005
On independance day...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning and wish you a very Happy Independence day!
The real foundation of Progressive India…
During my recent visit to the US, I started reading the book “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. The book is indeed outstanding. Without any hesitation I would highly recommend it to everyone who wants to understand what it is going to take to survive in the new “flat” world. In no uncertain terms Friedman has clearly stated that not only individuals and Companies but also countries need to sit up and take note of the changing world if they have to survive in the new flat and complex world.
One of the important factors that he has researched in his book is National leadership. He writes
The real foundation of Progressive India…
During my recent visit to the US, I started reading the book “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. The book is indeed outstanding. Without any hesitation I would highly recommend it to everyone who wants to understand what it is going to take to survive in the new “flat” world. In no uncertain terms Friedman has clearly stated that not only individuals and Companies but also countries need to sit up and take note of the changing world if they have to survive in the new flat and complex world.
One of the important factors that he has researched in his book is National leadership. He writes
“Venture capitalist John Doeer once remarked to me “You talk to the leadership in China and they are all Engineers and they get what is going on immediately. The Americans don’t because they are all lawyers”. Added Bill Gates “When you meet Chinese politicians, they are all scientist and engineers. You can have a numeric discussion with them- you are never discussing “give me a one liner to embarrass my political rivals”. You are meeting with an intelligent bureaucracy”. WOW!!
Compare that now with our MPs and MLAs, whom we can vote to power. Barring a few top officials (thankfully) such as our present PM and President, I think we will pretty much struggle to identify highly educated politicians. Because we believe that politics is not for the educated. Just imaging - If your child were to grow up to become an engineer and tell you that he wants to contest the local public election, you would probably look at him as if you had seen a ghost. However there is need to change this way of thinking because unless we have the right people making decisions of National interest we would not progress to our potential.
In 1961 American President Kennedy had his vision for America – “To put a man on the moon”.
For us today the vision is - “To put every Indian boy and girl through school”. If we can do that we will do a great service to our country. So, will this happen overnight? Obviously, “NO”. Kennedy’s vision of putting a man on the moon had a 10 year timeframe. We can expect our vision to take even longer.
If you are reading this email in India you can probably contribute by doing something. For one, if we can spare some funds we could help a rural Indian student to gain access to education in cities. You might have heard of the “Vidyarthi Sahayyak Samiti” an institution (Pune Phone: 25533631) that helps rural students to take higher education in Pune and people like you and me can for a small amount of money “adopt” a student and help his / her education under the earn and learn scheme. Even if each one of us does a small act as this it will go a long way in helping this vision.
When education is spread far and wide and is accessible to all, we can expect that the educated would contest the elections and the educated would vote and that would be a huge change. Let us please not call this a dream. Let us call this a vision. On this Independence Day, let us commit to helping the education of at least one Indian child each year…
Have a great week and a great independence day.
Regards,
Sudhanshu Pandit.
Monday, August 15, 2005.
Monday, August 8, 2005
Spiderman...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!
I must admit that I love to watch cartoon films………even now :-). Tom and Jerry are my perennial favorites and on a number of occasions Revati and myself are engrossed watching Jerry mouse as he makes Tom run around in circles before knocking him out cold. In my opinion, Tom and Jerry is creativity at its peak.
On the action front Superman and Spiderman are my favorites. Most of you would be aware that Spiderman made a lot of news recently when the movie set new records across the world on the box office and I am sure you took time off to see the movie. One of the most compelling and at the same time touching moments in the film is the death of Uncle Ben.
The very foundation of Spiderman is a statement by uncle Ben “With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility”. What a very powerful statement this is. As Peter takes on the mantle of Spiderman this advice guides him on the path of using his incredible powers in a very responsible manner. However in the real world as we look around us we will see so many examples of unashamed and irresponsible behaviour of powerful people. We don’t have to look far. In the context of our own city and country our corporators and ministers are supposed to be powerful people. They control the huge amount of money that is supposed to provide for public services. One look at our roads, public transport and other public services will convince us that all these public “servants” watched Spiderman only for its entertainment value. They threw away a great chance of understanding the real equation between power and responsibility. As we grow and take on positions of power, we should remember Spidey and more importantly Uncle Ben. Spidey used his powers, not in his self interest but in interest of justice. He used them for protecting and nurturing and not for destruction and control.
Spiderman may very well be fiction, but what he stands for is real stuff of solid substance and that is why he is such a hero to be emulated.
Have a great week!!
I must admit that I love to watch cartoon films………even now :-). Tom and Jerry are my perennial favorites and on a number of occasions Revati and myself are engrossed watching Jerry mouse as he makes Tom run around in circles before knocking him out cold. In my opinion, Tom and Jerry is creativity at its peak.
On the action front Superman and Spiderman are my favorites. Most of you would be aware that Spiderman made a lot of news recently when the movie set new records across the world on the box office and I am sure you took time off to see the movie. One of the most compelling and at the same time touching moments in the film is the death of Uncle Ben.
The very foundation of Spiderman is a statement by uncle Ben “With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility”. What a very powerful statement this is. As Peter takes on the mantle of Spiderman this advice guides him on the path of using his incredible powers in a very responsible manner. However in the real world as we look around us we will see so many examples of unashamed and irresponsible behaviour of powerful people. We don’t have to look far. In the context of our own city and country our corporators and ministers are supposed to be powerful people. They control the huge amount of money that is supposed to provide for public services. One look at our roads, public transport and other public services will convince us that all these public “servants” watched Spiderman only for its entertainment value. They threw away a great chance of understanding the real equation between power and responsibility. As we grow and take on positions of power, we should remember Spidey and more importantly Uncle Ben. Spidey used his powers, not in his self interest but in interest of justice. He used them for protecting and nurturing and not for destruction and control.
Spiderman may very well be fiction, but what he stands for is real stuff of solid substance and that is why he is such a hero to be emulated.
Have a great week!!
Monday, August 1, 2005
When Mumbai goes under water...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning !!
It is 23:55, Sunday Night as I send this out. I am writing this as I sit in a train traveling from Amhedabad to Pune – a journey which usually takes 13 hours, today would be taking over 24 hours. When Mumbai goes under water, you don’t need to be in Mumbai to feel the effects, you could be anywhere in the world. My heart goes out to people in Mumbai who have been severely affected by the unprecedented rains and the least I can do is pray that the rain gods offer respite to Mumbai and offer it SOON. What I went through (along with 14 of my colleagues), in the last 48 hours has been an absolutely wild experience. I definitely want to share this with you, of course provided you have the time to read. The sequence of events that have unfolded in the last 48 hours…
- Friday July 29 – 19:30 pm, Pune Railway Station : 15 of us board the Ahimsa express to Ahmedabad to visit the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute at Gandhinagar for recruitment. The plan is to start the Company presentation at 9:00 am on the next day. As I board the train I hear an announcement. The Mumbai rail link is cut off. The train will be diverted from a different route and may be late. I get worried, but can’t do much.
- Sat, July 30 – 9:00 am, (In the train): We should have started the presentation now- But we discover that we are 10 hours away from Ahmedabad and helpless. We are lucky to be born in an era of mobiles. A few calls and we are able to inform the college about our situation.
- Sat, July 30 – 21:00 hrs, Ahmedabad – Finally we are there, a whooping 12 hours behind schedule. What is really admirable is that nearly ALL students are there, waiting. They will attend the presentation from 21:15 to 22:00 and then they will take a two hour technical test on Computer Science subjects. Commendable.
- Sunday, July 31, 00:30 : My colleagues get down to the work of evaluating the test written by students. We should take an hour…that will be 1:30am when all students will assemble in the hall. At 1:30 am we declare the results… and are off to the hotel to hit the sack.Its been a long day. I look at the watch as I close my eyes. 2:30 am. I have a flight out of Ahmedabad to Mumbai at 7:00 in the morning.
- Sunday, July 31, 5:15 am: The alarm clock jolts me out of sleep. Need to move….Ahmedabad airport is 30 mins away. At 6:00 am, I am at the airport. That’s when the bad news starts coming in. First its only Flights to Mumbai being delayed. The next I hear is the Mumbai airport is closed. But flights will go.
- Sunday, July 31, 11:30 am: Nearly six hours into the wait, I hear the inevitable – All flights to and from Mumbai are cancelled. All rail links to Mumbai are snapped. TV screens are flashing incredible pictures of what is happening in Mumbai. I can’t believe my eyes. Balasaheb Thakery in a boat?. What in the world would be happening to the common man then?. I get back to reality. I need to get to Pune. My option is to take a bus with all my other colleagues in the evening to Pune. I call the travel agency. “The bus sir” he he says “goes through Mumbai”. I am scared now. I call my friends Nikhil Khanapurkar and Vivek Godbole, in Mumbai for an update. “It has been raining throughout the night”, they tell me. Now, even the bus is dangerous. Need a safer alternative.
- Sunday, 12:30 pm (Ahmedabad railway station): I am alone. All my colleagues are working in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. I was anyway not supposed to be there at this time so I have some band width to do something. I need to get 13 train tickets to Pune. Train departs in 4 hours from now. I meet Ismail Sheikh. He Promises to help me get past the long Queus for a nominal fee. I accept the offer. Lady luck smiles on me. I get all tickets – RAC. Should get confirmed soon says the official. “Rs 5600/- Sir”, he says. God, I don’t have that much cash on me. “No problem Sir, Indian Railways accepts VISA”. God bless VISA. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the tickets to be confirmed. I call Rishikesh – “Cancel the bus tickets, we will take the train” I tell him.
- Sunday, 15:30 (Ahmedabad Railway station): Wow, we will finally board the train to Pune. We enter the station……and discover – Train is 4 hours late. Damn. Back to the hotel. Lets get some rest. Two hours later I connect to www.indianrail.gov.in . All 13 tickets are confirmed. Phew !!!
- Sunday, 19:00 (Ahmedabad railway station): The train chugs in the station. We board. Train moves at 19:45. We should be in Pune in 24 hours, hopefully.
When Mumbai halts the country slows down. We in the train are lucky; we at least are getting to go home. In Mumbai, people no longer have homes. Their lives have been washed away by an unbelievable 36 inches of rainfall. They don’t have electricity, drinking water or food. But they are fighting. All they can do is hope……hope that the rain gods will offer respite.Have a great week!! And spare a moment to pray for Mumbai…
It is 23:55, Sunday Night as I send this out. I am writing this as I sit in a train traveling from Amhedabad to Pune – a journey which usually takes 13 hours, today would be taking over 24 hours. When Mumbai goes under water, you don’t need to be in Mumbai to feel the effects, you could be anywhere in the world. My heart goes out to people in Mumbai who have been severely affected by the unprecedented rains and the least I can do is pray that the rain gods offer respite to Mumbai and offer it SOON. What I went through (along with 14 of my colleagues), in the last 48 hours has been an absolutely wild experience. I definitely want to share this with you, of course provided you have the time to read. The sequence of events that have unfolded in the last 48 hours…
- Friday July 29 – 19:30 pm, Pune Railway Station : 15 of us board the Ahimsa express to Ahmedabad to visit the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute at Gandhinagar for recruitment. The plan is to start the Company presentation at 9:00 am on the next day. As I board the train I hear an announcement. The Mumbai rail link is cut off. The train will be diverted from a different route and may be late. I get worried, but can’t do much.
- Sat, July 30 – 9:00 am, (In the train): We should have started the presentation now- But we discover that we are 10 hours away from Ahmedabad and helpless. We are lucky to be born in an era of mobiles. A few calls and we are able to inform the college about our situation.
- Sat, July 30 – 21:00 hrs, Ahmedabad – Finally we are there, a whooping 12 hours behind schedule. What is really admirable is that nearly ALL students are there, waiting. They will attend the presentation from 21:15 to 22:00 and then they will take a two hour technical test on Computer Science subjects. Commendable.
- Sunday, July 31, 00:30 : My colleagues get down to the work of evaluating the test written by students. We should take an hour…that will be 1:30am when all students will assemble in the hall. At 1:30 am we declare the results… and are off to the hotel to hit the sack.Its been a long day. I look at the watch as I close my eyes. 2:30 am. I have a flight out of Ahmedabad to Mumbai at 7:00 in the morning.
- Sunday, July 31, 5:15 am: The alarm clock jolts me out of sleep. Need to move….Ahmedabad airport is 30 mins away. At 6:00 am, I am at the airport. That’s when the bad news starts coming in. First its only Flights to Mumbai being delayed. The next I hear is the Mumbai airport is closed. But flights will go.
- Sunday, July 31, 11:30 am: Nearly six hours into the wait, I hear the inevitable – All flights to and from Mumbai are cancelled. All rail links to Mumbai are snapped. TV screens are flashing incredible pictures of what is happening in Mumbai. I can’t believe my eyes. Balasaheb Thakery in a boat?. What in the world would be happening to the common man then?. I get back to reality. I need to get to Pune. My option is to take a bus with all my other colleagues in the evening to Pune. I call the travel agency. “The bus sir” he he says “goes through Mumbai”. I am scared now. I call my friends Nikhil Khanapurkar and Vivek Godbole, in Mumbai for an update. “It has been raining throughout the night”, they tell me. Now, even the bus is dangerous. Need a safer alternative.
- Sunday, 12:30 pm (Ahmedabad railway station): I am alone. All my colleagues are working in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. I was anyway not supposed to be there at this time so I have some band width to do something. I need to get 13 train tickets to Pune. Train departs in 4 hours from now. I meet Ismail Sheikh. He Promises to help me get past the long Queus for a nominal fee. I accept the offer. Lady luck smiles on me. I get all tickets – RAC. Should get confirmed soon says the official. “Rs 5600/- Sir”, he says. God, I don’t have that much cash on me. “No problem Sir, Indian Railways accepts VISA”. God bless VISA. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the tickets to be confirmed. I call Rishikesh – “Cancel the bus tickets, we will take the train” I tell him.
- Sunday, 15:30 (Ahmedabad Railway station): Wow, we will finally board the train to Pune. We enter the station……and discover – Train is 4 hours late. Damn. Back to the hotel. Lets get some rest. Two hours later I connect to www.indianrail.gov.in . All 13 tickets are confirmed. Phew !!!
- Sunday, 19:00 (Ahmedabad railway station): The train chugs in the station. We board. Train moves at 19:45. We should be in Pune in 24 hours, hopefully.
When Mumbai halts the country slows down. We in the train are lucky; we at least are getting to go home. In Mumbai, people no longer have homes. Their lives have been washed away by an unbelievable 36 inches of rainfall. They don’t have electricity, drinking water or food. But they are fighting. All they can do is hope……hope that the rain gods will offer respite.Have a great week!! And spare a moment to pray for Mumbai…
Monday, July 25, 2005
Getting connected...Again...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
Hello everyone. I am back online …after being away for a few weeks.
First of all – My heartfelt thanks to all those who wrote to me saying that you missed my emails. It was a great feeling to read each of those emails. Each email affirmed my feeling that five years of Monday mails had done a lot of good to me…and that I must strive much harder to be at it consistently. This week, I don’t have any particular inspiration or learning to share with you…just a few lines to get connected again.
The last few weeks have been demanding in terms of time and work pressure. However what also made a difference is the fact that I was on the move for quite a few weekends in the recent past. Traveling can be fun and more than that a tremendous learning opportunity. I must consider myself to be very fortunate to have got an excellent opportunity to travel extensively and visit some wonderful places this month. I was in Atlanta, beginning July 05 and later I visited California.
I think the greatest learning in itself was the travel experience. I went through delayed flights / nearly missed flights / mixed up seat numbers / damaged and lost baggage / extra additional security procedures / misplaced computer notebooks and apartment keys and declined credit card transactions at airports - all in a matter of 10 days. The most bizarre incident, that I must share, happened at the Paris airport where the flight could not take off as there was one “additional” passenger on board. Well it was a wacky situation to have one “standing” passenger in a plane possibly because of an error on part of the airline staff.
How could that happen? I thought “It happens only in India”. This perception that “It happens only in India” was proved wrong then and on a few more occasions. The airline officials resolved it finally by offloading the last passenger who had boarded. As luck would have it, the last passenger on board was an Indian lady traveling with her friend and 3 children. After 2 hours of debate and discussion she agreed to travel by the next flight and deplaned. The flight was about to move when realization struck to her co-passengers that THEIR passports were with HER and now she was in Paris and they were sitting in a plan to go to the US. Boy…It was indeed an “out of the ordinary” moment. Once again we were in a “STOP” situation to locate her and get the passports. I just wonder what would have happened to this lady if some security search in Paris would have revealed 5 passports in her bag :-).
I believe that most travel experiences are a learning in some sense. As we invest more time in moving around, seeing new places, meeting new people and seeking new experiences we collect small bits and pieces of knowledge that eventually go a long way in adding to what we traditionally call as “wisdom”. That’s one reason why most people who we think are “wise”, have either a lot of gray hair or no hair. They seem to have invested years in becoming wise.
Have a great week!!
Hello everyone. I am back online …after being away for a few weeks.
First of all – My heartfelt thanks to all those who wrote to me saying that you missed my emails. It was a great feeling to read each of those emails. Each email affirmed my feeling that five years of Monday mails had done a lot of good to me…and that I must strive much harder to be at it consistently. This week, I don’t have any particular inspiration or learning to share with you…just a few lines to get connected again.
The last few weeks have been demanding in terms of time and work pressure. However what also made a difference is the fact that I was on the move for quite a few weekends in the recent past. Traveling can be fun and more than that a tremendous learning opportunity. I must consider myself to be very fortunate to have got an excellent opportunity to travel extensively and visit some wonderful places this month. I was in Atlanta, beginning July 05 and later I visited California.
I think the greatest learning in itself was the travel experience. I went through delayed flights / nearly missed flights / mixed up seat numbers / damaged and lost baggage / extra additional security procedures / misplaced computer notebooks and apartment keys and declined credit card transactions at airports - all in a matter of 10 days. The most bizarre incident, that I must share, happened at the Paris airport where the flight could not take off as there was one “additional” passenger on board. Well it was a wacky situation to have one “standing” passenger in a plane possibly because of an error on part of the airline staff.
How could that happen? I thought “It happens only in India”. This perception that “It happens only in India” was proved wrong then and on a few more occasions. The airline officials resolved it finally by offloading the last passenger who had boarded. As luck would have it, the last passenger on board was an Indian lady traveling with her friend and 3 children. After 2 hours of debate and discussion she agreed to travel by the next flight and deplaned. The flight was about to move when realization struck to her co-passengers that THEIR passports were with HER and now she was in Paris and they were sitting in a plan to go to the US. Boy…It was indeed an “out of the ordinary” moment. Once again we were in a “STOP” situation to locate her and get the passports. I just wonder what would have happened to this lady if some security search in Paris would have revealed 5 passports in her bag :-).
I believe that most travel experiences are a learning in some sense. As we invest more time in moving around, seeing new places, meeting new people and seeking new experiences we collect small bits and pieces of knowledge that eventually go a long way in adding to what we traditionally call as “wisdom”. That’s one reason why most people who we think are “wise”, have either a lot of gray hair or no hair. They seem to have invested years in becoming wise.
Have a great week!!
Monday, April 11, 2005
18 Seconds…
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
As I waited at the red light on University road on my Yamaha RX-100, I watched the timer next to the red light, clock down - 40-39-38-17-36……the timer told me how long I had to wait for the light to turn green. It was noon and the sun was beating down badly…
Traffic was sparse, with hardly anyone out on the road. There were hardly a couple of vehicles waiting next to me for the light to turn green… There was no traffic cop either.
I watched the timer again……22-21-20-19-18…As it hit 18, a motorcycle whizzed past me. The young man on the bike exhibited NO respect whatsoever for the system…
And worse, he paid the price. He completely misjudged the traffic coming on from the right side of the intersection. They had the green light and so it was their right to move on…He raced a few meters ahead of me…… A moment later I heard the screeching of rubber on hot tar as drivers made desperate attempts to halt and then… “WHAM” one loud “BANG”… .He survived, but probably lost 4 weeks recovering from whatever happened to him.
18 seconds of patience would have made a big difference.
How often we see people beating the system. My experience reminded me of what I read in one of Zig Ziglar’s book. He writes “Entrepreneur Claudio Claravolo, a Psychiatrist from Italy cashed in big time on a mandatory seat belt law. He invented a “security Shirt” a simple yet devious design. It was a white Tee Shirt with a diagonal black stripe designed to deceive the Police into believing that the driver was wearing a seat belt. The inventor and the drivers who wore it fooled the law but ultimately they fooled no one but themselves and the first collision proved this clearly.
Systems and rules are built not to hold us back but to help us. Without a red light or a divider strip there would only be chaos but also no one would cross the intersection. It is necessary to respect the red light not only for safety but also for movement of traffic.
The next time we get this urge of beating the system, let us remember the young man who lost 4 weeks trying to save 18 seconds.
Have a great week !!!
As I waited at the red light on University road on my Yamaha RX-100, I watched the timer next to the red light, clock down - 40-39-38-17-36……the timer told me how long I had to wait for the light to turn green. It was noon and the sun was beating down badly…
Traffic was sparse, with hardly anyone out on the road. There were hardly a couple of vehicles waiting next to me for the light to turn green… There was no traffic cop either.
I watched the timer again……22-21-20-19-18…As it hit 18, a motorcycle whizzed past me. The young man on the bike exhibited NO respect whatsoever for the system…
And worse, he paid the price. He completely misjudged the traffic coming on from the right side of the intersection. They had the green light and so it was their right to move on…He raced a few meters ahead of me…… A moment later I heard the screeching of rubber on hot tar as drivers made desperate attempts to halt and then… “WHAM” one loud “BANG”… .He survived, but probably lost 4 weeks recovering from whatever happened to him.
18 seconds of patience would have made a big difference.
How often we see people beating the system. My experience reminded me of what I read in one of Zig Ziglar’s book. He writes “Entrepreneur Claudio Claravolo, a Psychiatrist from Italy cashed in big time on a mandatory seat belt law. He invented a “security Shirt” a simple yet devious design. It was a white Tee Shirt with a diagonal black stripe designed to deceive the Police into believing that the driver was wearing a seat belt. The inventor and the drivers who wore it fooled the law but ultimately they fooled no one but themselves and the first collision proved this clearly.
Systems and rules are built not to hold us back but to help us. Without a red light or a divider strip there would only be chaos but also no one would cross the intersection. It is necessary to respect the red light not only for safety but also for movement of traffic.
The next time we get this urge of beating the system, let us remember the young man who lost 4 weeks trying to save 18 seconds.
Have a great week !!!
Monday, April 4, 2005
A touching story...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
Food, Clothing and Shelter are our basic needs and I am sure that if you happen to be reading this email these basic needs are taken care of in your case. However there are plenty of fellow humans who are not as fortunate. They are still struggling to satisfy even these basic needs.
On many occasions, you would have observed in places such as restaurants, cafeterias and dining rooms people waste considerable amount of food. It is sad that we don’t value and respect the food we receive.
Irving Cramer, a representative of MAZON appeals to all such people to be more considerate. MAZON is a Jewish response to hunger-an organization that collects money to feed hungry people. Irving Cramer tells this story:-
“In a kindergarden classroom, the teacher once asked the children, “How many of you had breakfast this morning?”
About half the students raised their hands.
The teacher then asked those who did not raise their hands, “Why didn’t you eat breakfast today?”
Some said that they got up too late and didn’t have time, some said they were not hungry in the morning and some said that they did not like the food served to them. All students gave an answer except one little boy. “And why didn’t you have breakfast today?” the teacher asked him.
“Because” he replied, “it wasn’t my turn”.
“It wasn’t your turn?” asked the teacher, “What does that mean?”
“Well,” said the boy, “there are five kids my family. But we don’t have enough money to buy enough food so that everybody can eat breakfast everyday. We take turns eating breakfast and today it wasn’t my turn.”
Food, Clothing and Shelter are our basic needs and I am sure that if you happen to be reading this email these basic needs are taken care of in your case. However there are plenty of fellow humans who are not as fortunate. They are still struggling to satisfy even these basic needs.
On many occasions, you would have observed in places such as restaurants, cafeterias and dining rooms people waste considerable amount of food. It is sad that we don’t value and respect the food we receive.
Irving Cramer, a representative of MAZON appeals to all such people to be more considerate. MAZON is a Jewish response to hunger-an organization that collects money to feed hungry people. Irving Cramer tells this story:-
“In a kindergarden classroom, the teacher once asked the children, “How many of you had breakfast this morning?”
About half the students raised their hands.
The teacher then asked those who did not raise their hands, “Why didn’t you eat breakfast today?”
Some said that they got up too late and didn’t have time, some said they were not hungry in the morning and some said that they did not like the food served to them. All students gave an answer except one little boy. “And why didn’t you have breakfast today?” the teacher asked him.
“Because” he replied, “it wasn’t my turn”.
“It wasn’t your turn?” asked the teacher, “What does that mean?”
“Well,” said the boy, “there are five kids my family. But we don’t have enough money to buy enough food so that everybody can eat breakfast everyday. We take turns eating breakfast and today it wasn’t my turn.”
Monday, March 21, 2005
Riding a bicycle...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
I am sure most of you would agree that learning to ride a bicycle was avery exciting activity as children. Some of my earliest memories areassociated with this activity. I remember my elder cousin sisters helpingme. First they got me a small bicycle with "supporting" wheels."Supporting" wheels are wheels that are attached to the center of the mainwheel at an angle such that they will touch the ground if the bicycletilts to one side. The wheels supported me if required. Eventually I was comfortable riding that bike with supporting wheels until one of my sisters got them removed. I was scared to ride the bicycle without the supporting wheels, but she reassured me that she would hold on to thebicycle from behind and not let me fall. After some persuasion, I finally agreed and off we went. She ran alongside holding on to the seat of the bicycle, balancing me whenever I needed. I was soon enjoying this and a few rounds into this activity she just let go of the seat. I realized her absence immediately and it was quite unsettling. The result also was obvious. I went a few meters and "bang", I was lying flat on the ground with the cycle over me. I sure was upset. My sister let go of me when I was banking on her. She had let me down and Iwas annoyed with her.
It was only with time and age that I understood the importance of what she did. She let go of me not because she wanted me to fall but because she wanted me to ride. From a dependent and hesitant cyclist, she wanted me to become independent and skillful at riding the bicycle. She knew that Ihad to be on my own some time and she trained me for that.At most stages in life we take on one of the roles in the combination of amentor-mentee, a senior-junior, a supervisor-subordinate or a teacher-student. If you happen to be the senior remember that it is partof your responsibility to let go of your junior at the right time for his good and if you happen to be the junior, remember that someone you were banking on has let go of you NOT to make you fall but to make you ride; independently and skillfully.
Have a great week!!!
I am sure most of you would agree that learning to ride a bicycle was avery exciting activity as children. Some of my earliest memories areassociated with this activity. I remember my elder cousin sisters helpingme. First they got me a small bicycle with "supporting" wheels."Supporting" wheels are wheels that are attached to the center of the mainwheel at an angle such that they will touch the ground if the bicycletilts to one side. The wheels supported me if required. Eventually I was comfortable riding that bike with supporting wheels until one of my sisters got them removed. I was scared to ride the bicycle without the supporting wheels, but she reassured me that she would hold on to thebicycle from behind and not let me fall. After some persuasion, I finally agreed and off we went. She ran alongside holding on to the seat of the bicycle, balancing me whenever I needed. I was soon enjoying this and a few rounds into this activity she just let go of the seat. I realized her absence immediately and it was quite unsettling. The result also was obvious. I went a few meters and "bang", I was lying flat on the ground with the cycle over me. I sure was upset. My sister let go of me when I was banking on her. She had let me down and Iwas annoyed with her.
It was only with time and age that I understood the importance of what she did. She let go of me not because she wanted me to fall but because she wanted me to ride. From a dependent and hesitant cyclist, she wanted me to become independent and skillful at riding the bicycle. She knew that Ihad to be on my own some time and she trained me for that.At most stages in life we take on one of the roles in the combination of amentor-mentee, a senior-junior, a supervisor-subordinate or a teacher-student. If you happen to be the senior remember that it is partof your responsibility to let go of your junior at the right time for his good and if you happen to be the junior, remember that someone you were banking on has let go of you NOT to make you fall but to make you ride; independently and skillfully.
Have a great week!!!
Monday, March 14, 2005
Every soldier is important...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
My colleagues and I are definitely not in the army but we are at war -which can be termed as - "A War for Talent", and that is what the current IT industry is all about. The business of recruiting can be made very exciting by perceiving it as a war and not simply as a job.Last weekend I participated in a "battle", i.e. "mega" recruitment event - and I call it "mega" only because of the scale at which the preparations happened. We rented an entire college in Mumbai, leased out a large Volvo bus for 50 "soldiers", managed our risk by traveling in different vehicles and on different days and before doing all this, carefully planned thecomplete execution of the "battle".Like in any battle, the "army" was divided into "units" that were assigned specific responsibilities and each unit, headed by a "unit leader"consisted of "soldiers" who knew where exactly they were to be positioned and what exactly each of them was supposed to do. Each one of them may not have known the details of the whole "battle", but each soldier'scontribution was extremely important. A blunder by any one of them was very likely to affect the overall success of the "battle".
You could actually be in the army, or you may be part of a softwareproject delivery team. You could be a teacher in a school or a salesperson in some company. If you look at your business as a war to be won,you would be occupying the position of a "General", a "unit leader" or probably a "soldier".A General may plan his battle brilliantly but its success depends as much on the execution by the soldier in the battlefield as on the planning by the General.
Remember that we all have a part to play in a larger objective and Every Soldier is Important.
Have a great week!!!
My colleagues and I are definitely not in the army but we are at war -which can be termed as - "A War for Talent", and that is what the current IT industry is all about. The business of recruiting can be made very exciting by perceiving it as a war and not simply as a job.Last weekend I participated in a "battle", i.e. "mega" recruitment event - and I call it "mega" only because of the scale at which the preparations happened. We rented an entire college in Mumbai, leased out a large Volvo bus for 50 "soldiers", managed our risk by traveling in different vehicles and on different days and before doing all this, carefully planned thecomplete execution of the "battle".Like in any battle, the "army" was divided into "units" that were assigned specific responsibilities and each unit, headed by a "unit leader"consisted of "soldiers" who knew where exactly they were to be positioned and what exactly each of them was supposed to do. Each one of them may not have known the details of the whole "battle", but each soldier'scontribution was extremely important. A blunder by any one of them was very likely to affect the overall success of the "battle".
You could actually be in the army, or you may be part of a softwareproject delivery team. You could be a teacher in a school or a salesperson in some company. If you look at your business as a war to be won,you would be occupying the position of a "General", a "unit leader" or probably a "soldier".A General may plan his battle brilliantly but its success depends as much on the execution by the soldier in the battlefield as on the planning by the General.
Remember that we all have a part to play in a larger objective and Every Soldier is Important.
Have a great week!!!
Monday, February 28, 2005
Shall we dance...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
I visit the theatres occasionally and in most cases only after reading movie reviews knowing what I am going to witness. This weekend however I walkedinto E-Square knowing nothing about what I was going to see and I must say that "Shall We Dance?" was worth every moment that we spent there. Starring Richard Gere and J Lo, "Shall We Dance?" is definitely not amovie for folks who love suspense and action. And while I do not intend to share any more details about the movie, what struck me in the movie is the fact that so many of us hold ourselves back from so many actions because we think that they are not in line with our age or our social and professional standing. This is so true in real life too. We are often ashamed of doing so many things and in the bargain we miss out on so many moments of joy.As children we hardly have any inhibitions, however as we grow up we keep adding them to ourselves. These inhibitions prevent us from doing so much.
Sometimes we might impulsively feel like walking out in the first rains or playing football in the muck. We might feel like playing "Gulli-Danda"with kids in the neighborhood or shouting ourselves hoarse on some mountain top. We might feel like dancing on upbeat music but feel that we would look real funny.we might feel like singing on stage but are afraidthat we would make a fool of ourselves. And we would have done all this as small children without a second thought. Isn't it true that as we grow old we tend to pick up so much of excess baggage in form of these inhibitionsthat we cannot be free to enjoy moments of simple and genuine joy? So the next time, when you feel like making paper boats and setting them afloat in puddles formed by rainwater or when you feel like flying a kite or when you feel like dancing to a new track with younger folks around, don't hold back. Just go ahead and shed your inhibitions.The next time when someone asks you "Shall we dance?" and you feel likeit, don't hesitate, or better still you can take the lead and encourage others to enjoy the simple moments of joy by going ahead and askingthem.... "Shall we Dance?"
Have a great week!!!
I visit the theatres occasionally and in most cases only after reading movie reviews knowing what I am going to witness. This weekend however I walkedinto E-Square knowing nothing about what I was going to see and I must say that "Shall We Dance?" was worth every moment that we spent there. Starring Richard Gere and J Lo, "Shall We Dance?" is definitely not amovie for folks who love suspense and action. And while I do not intend to share any more details about the movie, what struck me in the movie is the fact that so many of us hold ourselves back from so many actions because we think that they are not in line with our age or our social and professional standing. This is so true in real life too. We are often ashamed of doing so many things and in the bargain we miss out on so many moments of joy.As children we hardly have any inhibitions, however as we grow up we keep adding them to ourselves. These inhibitions prevent us from doing so much.
Sometimes we might impulsively feel like walking out in the first rains or playing football in the muck. We might feel like playing "Gulli-Danda"with kids in the neighborhood or shouting ourselves hoarse on some mountain top. We might feel like dancing on upbeat music but feel that we would look real funny.we might feel like singing on stage but are afraidthat we would make a fool of ourselves. And we would have done all this as small children without a second thought. Isn't it true that as we grow old we tend to pick up so much of excess baggage in form of these inhibitionsthat we cannot be free to enjoy moments of simple and genuine joy? So the next time, when you feel like making paper boats and setting them afloat in puddles formed by rainwater or when you feel like flying a kite or when you feel like dancing to a new track with younger folks around, don't hold back. Just go ahead and shed your inhibitions.The next time when someone asks you "Shall we dance?" and you feel likeit, don't hesitate, or better still you can take the lead and encourage others to enjoy the simple moments of joy by going ahead and askingthem.... "Shall we Dance?"
Have a great week!!!
Monday, February 21, 2005
The point of no return...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
As you read this email, you will be probably be convinced that watching the sea and visiting the beach is my favorite activity, whenever time permits. After sharing with you my "learnings" from the sea at the Worli sea face in Mumbai, Kovalum in Trivendrum and the Marina beach in Chennai I am sharing with you my most recent encounter with the waves at a place called Kashid on the western coast. A break from the "routine", I spent the weekend at Kashid with a few colleagues. Kashid is a small village that boasts of a couple of good weekend resorts and a lovely beach.
As we headed for the beach in the morning, I checked with the local resort manager about the tide movement. "Its low tide now" He warned. "The beach here is very safe, and going in the water is OK, but be careful. Don't go in too far. The sea can be dangerous".Yes, the sea can be dangerous and we know it well. There are so many instances that we have read of people being sucked into the sea during low tide. Even mature and responsible people who know the potential danger have been unable to judiciously decide where to stop.
They are unable to identify what I am terming as the "point of no return". Going beyond the"point of no return" can be very dangerous and in many cases fatal too.While the sea provides only one such example, there is a "point of no return" in everything that is potentially harmful or is likely have a negative impact on our lives. It may not take long for an occasional smoke to become a daily routine or a monthly drink to become a weekly matter or for that matter an occasional white lie to become a usual way of avoiding a confrontation.
While most of us would agree that it is OK to experiment,we have to be careful and alert while experimenting with something that could potentially be harmful. We have to carefully watch and judiciously decide where the "point of no return" lies. In such situations, at all costs, we must avoid going beyond the "point ofno return" because even if we do get a chance to return, the journey back will be extremely difficult and very painful.
Have a great week!!!
As you read this email, you will be probably be convinced that watching the sea and visiting the beach is my favorite activity, whenever time permits. After sharing with you my "learnings" from the sea at the Worli sea face in Mumbai, Kovalum in Trivendrum and the Marina beach in Chennai I am sharing with you my most recent encounter with the waves at a place called Kashid on the western coast. A break from the "routine", I spent the weekend at Kashid with a few colleagues. Kashid is a small village that boasts of a couple of good weekend resorts and a lovely beach.
As we headed for the beach in the morning, I checked with the local resort manager about the tide movement. "Its low tide now" He warned. "The beach here is very safe, and going in the water is OK, but be careful. Don't go in too far. The sea can be dangerous".Yes, the sea can be dangerous and we know it well. There are so many instances that we have read of people being sucked into the sea during low tide. Even mature and responsible people who know the potential danger have been unable to judiciously decide where to stop.
They are unable to identify what I am terming as the "point of no return". Going beyond the"point of no return" can be very dangerous and in many cases fatal too.While the sea provides only one such example, there is a "point of no return" in everything that is potentially harmful or is likely have a negative impact on our lives. It may not take long for an occasional smoke to become a daily routine or a monthly drink to become a weekly matter or for that matter an occasional white lie to become a usual way of avoiding a confrontation.
While most of us would agree that it is OK to experiment,we have to be careful and alert while experimenting with something that could potentially be harmful. We have to carefully watch and judiciously decide where the "point of no return" lies. In such situations, at all costs, we must avoid going beyond the "point ofno return" because even if we do get a chance to return, the journey back will be extremely difficult and very painful.
Have a great week!!!
Monday, February 7, 2005
A beautiful sunrise and a scary thought...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
This is my first visit to the eastern coast of India and I think this is a good opportunity to transmit to you all, a live "coverage" of what I am seeing right now. The time right now is about 6:20 am and I am at the Marina beach. As I type this on my COMPAQ, ahead of me I can see the endless expanse of the Bay of Bengal. The sun is just beginning to peep over the horizon casting a lovely pink shade in the sky and the water below is doing its bit to make this a lovely canvas………and I am capturing this moment to share with you all… Here is what I am actually doing – I have a SONY Cybershot (Courtesy, Swati’s recent US visit) which is freezing this moment in time. The cybershot is plugged into my COMPAQ notebook and another port of the notebook is plugged into a LG / RELIANCE CDMA mobile phone…… Now….I will use all this gadgetry and of course the world wide web to try and virtually bring you a shot of this rising sun… Isn’t technology amazing? And the way it is touching our daily lives is all the more astounding.
Now here is the scary thought….What is alarming is that till about 6 months back I was traveling with a much bulkier OLYMPUS camera, a much heavier and slower COMPAQ and a much older GSM NOKIA 3310. I was very happy of all that gadgetry too, but in 6 months I now think that my new gadgets are much better machines…the earlier ones are all OBSOLETE.
This thought takes me to a question which our CEO, recently posed at a company meeting – He asked "What is it, that a 40 year old person can do, which a 30 year old cannot?"… And the real answer to that is "Nothing". So in other words the 40 year old is moving toward becoming obsolete. And that is probably where we all are headed unless we quickly do something about it. Learning-Unlearning and relearning is the new mantra in a rapidly changing world….and unless we are at it, we will soon become the past like my OLYMPUS and NOKIA 3310…
Think about this, but while you think please still take a moment to enjoy what I just captured on my cybershot…the Sunrise at Marina…..
Have a great week!!
Monday, January 24, 2005
Maria...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning.
I met Maria, or rather I should say that I observed Maria for a couple of hours on my Jet Airways flight from Kolkata to Mumbai over the weekend.
She was one of the in-flight crew members designated to ensure the comfort of passengers. Maria, I thought, was special for two reasons, one is that she had an extraordinary ability of developing a rapport instantly and very naturally with passengers of all age groups from a 2-year-old to a 70-year-old and second and more important was that she seemed to be one of the very few people who truly and genuinely loved what she was doing i.e. her job as an airhostess.
Observing her and the effect she has on her passengers took me back to the story of the famous turn around of the loss making Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). When Jan Carlzon took up the position as the CEO, he had only one message from the board, Turn the company around. That is what he precisely did. During the course of this turnaround he talked of what is called as a "Moment of Truth". He said that each year 10 million of their customers came in contact with approx., 5 SAS employees and each of this contact lasted for an average of 15 seconds. Thus SAS employees "created" in the minds of their customers 50 million "Moments of Truth" and these moments would ultimately decide, more than anything else, if SAS succeeded or failed as a company.
The message is simple-Top executives and managers may sit in the board room and make a lot of important decisions, but what has a more far reaching impact in business is what actually happens on the field, particularly in the services area. Managers have to get on the field and understand what kind of moments of truths their staff is creating in the minds of the customer. Managers need to identify, reward and create role models of the Marias that work for them because employees like Maria make their company successful.
Way to go Maria, wish you all the best for a long and successful career.
Have a great week.
Sudhanshu Pandit.
January 24, 2005.
I met Maria, or rather I should say that I observed Maria for a couple of hours on my Jet Airways flight from Kolkata to Mumbai over the weekend.
She was one of the in-flight crew members designated to ensure the comfort of passengers. Maria, I thought, was special for two reasons, one is that she had an extraordinary ability of developing a rapport instantly and very naturally with passengers of all age groups from a 2-year-old to a 70-year-old and second and more important was that she seemed to be one of the very few people who truly and genuinely loved what she was doing i.e. her job as an airhostess.
Observing her and the effect she has on her passengers took me back to the story of the famous turn around of the loss making Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). When Jan Carlzon took up the position as the CEO, he had only one message from the board, Turn the company around. That is what he precisely did. During the course of this turnaround he talked of what is called as a "Moment of Truth". He said that each year 10 million of their customers came in contact with approx., 5 SAS employees and each of this contact lasted for an average of 15 seconds. Thus SAS employees "created" in the minds of their customers 50 million "Moments of Truth" and these moments would ultimately decide, more than anything else, if SAS succeeded or failed as a company.
The message is simple-Top executives and managers may sit in the board room and make a lot of important decisions, but what has a more far reaching impact in business is what actually happens on the field, particularly in the services area. Managers have to get on the field and understand what kind of moments of truths their staff is creating in the minds of the customer. Managers need to identify, reward and create role models of the Marias that work for them because employees like Maria make their company successful.
Way to go Maria, wish you all the best for a long and successful career.
Have a great week.
Sudhanshu Pandit.
January 24, 2005.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Getting into overdrive...
Greetings to you this Monday morning...I recently drove a very powerful car on the expressway - and those of you, who drive, would know that most new cars are equipped with what is called as an "Overdrive". For those who don't drive, here's a brief explanation of what an overdrive is:- The overdrive is a gear in which the car operates at very high efficiency and high speed. This happens because every cycle of the car engine results in more than one rotation of the wheels of the car, thus resulting in higher efficiency and speed. Ideally we should always be driving in overdrive. But this is not possible because the overdrive is not really capable of moving a car from standstill. The overdrive cannot produce the power required to move the vehicle from stand still. It can only take over when the car is cruising beyond a certain speed after it has gained some momentum. Our daily used car provides an interesting role model for us as we begin new endeavors, take on new assignments and venture into challenging projects. Most of us including myself have made the mistake of expecting that our new assignments will straight away get into overdrive and that we will operate at very high efficiency. We need to appreciate that just like the car we have to initially get into the first gear where we burn more fuel, operate at lower efficiency and lower speeds too. This is because we have to generate enough energy to move from standstill. Only after we gain some momentum, we can shift to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and subsequently to the overdrive to operate at higher efficiency. What is important is that we need to be at our task till we get to the overdrive stage. And once we get there, the drive, I am sure will be a pleasure to experience.....Have a wonderful drive and a great week...Sudhanshu
Sunday, January 2, 2005
Happy New Year...
Greetings to you this Monday morning…
I started sending out my Monday emails; over 4 years back…and till recently I was very happy with my consistency and commitment towards my Monday emails. Over the last 3 weeks though, travel and work pressure has taken its toll and resulted in me not connecting with you all on the previous 3 Mondays.
I am extremely grateful to all those of you who actually called me / emailed to find out if things were OK at my end……
To me your calls and messages meant a lot. Firstly they confirmed that you do read my emailsJ. Secondly, the Monday emails do mean something to you as you missed them in your mail boxes and most important, you took out time to call / email me to find out if I was OK. Thank you indeed.
This experience has reinforced in my mind the well known principle that consistency is vital. To make a positive and long standing difference, one has to consistently keep doing things that will create the difference.
Remember Narendra Hirwani? A specky leg spinner who came out of the blue with a dream spell to capture 16 wickets in one test match. Now, that’s brilliant. But what next? - We hardly saw him on the international arena after that. And now pitch the same player against a Kapil Dev or a Anil Kumble and the difference is stark.
While once in a while brilliance is good, consistency has a sense of solidarity. Without consistent performance we won’t make a significant difference. Consistency is the key to achieving long lasting positive effects of any good work.
As we begin the New Year I wish you the very best in everything positive that you do and I hope you sustain your positive new year resolutions with consistency.
We all have read the statement - “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step”. That step needs to be taken again and again and again.. with relentless consistency to cover a thousand miles……
Have a great year and a peaceful 2005 !!
With best wishes,
Sudhanshu Pandit.
I started sending out my Monday emails; over 4 years back…and till recently I was very happy with my consistency and commitment towards my Monday emails. Over the last 3 weeks though, travel and work pressure has taken its toll and resulted in me not connecting with you all on the previous 3 Mondays.
I am extremely grateful to all those of you who actually called me / emailed to find out if things were OK at my end……
To me your calls and messages meant a lot. Firstly they confirmed that you do read my emailsJ. Secondly, the Monday emails do mean something to you as you missed them in your mail boxes and most important, you took out time to call / email me to find out if I was OK. Thank you indeed.
This experience has reinforced in my mind the well known principle that consistency is vital. To make a positive and long standing difference, one has to consistently keep doing things that will create the difference.
Remember Narendra Hirwani? A specky leg spinner who came out of the blue with a dream spell to capture 16 wickets in one test match. Now, that’s brilliant. But what next? - We hardly saw him on the international arena after that. And now pitch the same player against a Kapil Dev or a Anil Kumble and the difference is stark.
While once in a while brilliance is good, consistency has a sense of solidarity. Without consistent performance we won’t make a significant difference. Consistency is the key to achieving long lasting positive effects of any good work.
As we begin the New Year I wish you the very best in everything positive that you do and I hope you sustain your positive new year resolutions with consistency.
We all have read the statement - “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step”. That step needs to be taken again and again and again.. with relentless consistency to cover a thousand miles……
Have a great year and a peaceful 2005 !!
With best wishes,
Sudhanshu Pandit.
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