i-TFTD #356: Be Strongly Curious

On Curiosity

-Ivone (Rochelle)

If you were asked what was your greatest strength, what would you reply? In the case of John F. Kennedy, he said "My curiosity." Now, that's an answer you wouldn't expect. And then there's Albert Einstein protesting, "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." And even Eleanor Roosevelt said, "I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity."

What's so great about curiosity? Actually, it's something we humans share with the entire animal kingdom. It's a necessary urge to find out about our environment, find food, to survive. But for humans, it's so much more. Curiosity leads you to explore new ways of doing things, solve problems, and investigate possibilities. It keeps the sense of wonder that you had as a child alive. When your curiosity is keen, you can grow and expand your life to fit your dreams.

Here's a fun exercise for you to try to show you what I mean. The next time you are faced with a problem or challenge, start off with the words "What if... ." Then allow yourself to think of the most absurd, unlikely, "way out" solutions you can. This helps you to think outside that proverbial box. And you just might surprise yourself by what you come up with!

To add more words to your curiosity arsenal, here's a poetic reminder from Rudyard Kipling:

I have six honest serving men

They taught me all I knew.

I call them Why and When and Where

And How and What and Who.

And don't worry that "Curiosity killed the cat…" Remember the rest of that proverb – "...but satisfaction brought him back"!

(Thanks to Prasad Pejawar for sharing this.)

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Curiosity is exercised by asking questions, an underrated ability highlighted more than once in i-TFTD. Curiosity, by definition, can only be towards things I don't know. The advice above related to finding out-of-the-box solutions is to have curiosity towards things I might not have thought of or liked to consider.

i-TFTD #355: Leadership Begins with Belief in Becoming

#355-1. Impatient leaders say let's do something. Wise leaders say, Let's become something.

-Dan Rockwell at leadershipfreak.com

#355-2. The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself. The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.

-Derek Sivers (1969-) founder of CD Baby (His TED videos are here.)

#355-3. It's one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he's leading to realize whatever he's dreaming.

-Benjamin Zander (1939-), American music conductor from the UK (I like his brilliantly delightful TED video.)

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Doing is about execution and is receiving a lot of attention ever since Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan published their book on the topic. This emphasis was a much needed correction to management literature with its rich repertoire of strategic thinking frameworks and conceptual models. However, in the real world of action-oriented business managers, many situations call for inspiring teams with a vision that transforms the team and the organization rather than merely motivating them to perform goal-oriented tasks.

A leader, by definition, cannot exist without followers. Authority and position vested by the organizational hierarchy is inadequate to be seen as a true leader of people. No one is always a leader in every situation nor is anyone always a follower. The positive belief of the leader in the team transmits to the team and gradually develops into a mutually trusting and enriching collective force.

i-TFTD #354: An Exercise in Perspective

#354-1. Who breaks the thread, the one who pulls, the one who holds on?
-James Richardson, poet, professor (b. 1950)

#354-2. When the oak is felled the whole forest echoes with its fall, but a hundred acorns are sown in silence by an unnoticed breeze.
-Thomas Carlyle, historian and essayist (1795-1881)

#354-3. We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.
-Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld, moralist (1613-1680)
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I find these very profound. Each has multiple reminders that could be extracted.

From the first:
-Depending on the situation, the one holding on could be more blameworthy
-In some situations holding on (or pulling) is simply the only right thing to do, regardless of what the other does
-Many top leaders in politics and business are experts at brinkmanship, holding on or pulling beyond what a reasonable person would be expected to
-Breaking the thread might be a good thing so we are not necessarily talking of blame but credit. Could we think of real examples of those who "hold on" in order to induce change?

From the second:
-Many good things are all around us, we tend to pay too much attention to the negative
-For every calamity there are many more positive possibilities opening up
-Creation and creativity often emerges out of destruction
-Nature always finds a way (as observed by Malcolm the mathematician character in "Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton)
-The first thing that occurred to me when I read this is that I would like to be like the unnoticed breeze.

Useful interpretations from the third one are left--as the cliché goes--"as an exercise for the reader".

i-TFTD #353: Award o'Scar

#353-1. The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much.

-William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)

#353-2. When mind is WEAK, situation is a PROBLEM.

When mind is BALANCED, situation is a CHALLENGE.

When mind is STRONG, situation becomes OPPORTUNITY.

-Anon

(Thanks to Ambarish Kulkarni for sharing this.)

#353-3. There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.

-Harry Crews, novelist and playwright (b. 1935)

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The perspective shift involved in changing a scar from ugly reminder to a symbol of closure and hope requires a plasticity of thought that is different from fickle-mindedness. Rigidity is often confused as a sign of strength but in a fast-changing world with unlimited information, the strongest are those who know how to dynamically balance confidence with openness to opportunity, and how to alternate between input-gathering and synthesis.

Endurance of the inevitable need not be the opposite of enjoyment if one can abstract oneself to a meta level. Endurance also connotes exertion of effort, without which true enjoyment is unattainable.

A scar, then, may be an award for past endurance?

Now sing along with me (same seven syllable structure as the nursery rhyme):

Twinkle, twinkle, little scar

What a sign of hope you are

Strong minds can shift perspective

Simple thoughts to gaily live!

i-TFTD #352: Leadership Speaks

#352-1. When Cicero spoke, people marveled. When Caesar spoke, people marched.
-Cato the younger, Roman politician

#352-2. Leadership is not simply speech, it is speech that makes people march. Good judgment without action is worthless.
-Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis in their 2007 book, "Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls"

#352-3. We've already moved from management to leadership--and we're about to go beyond leadership to inspiration.
-Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide
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Most of us either underrate or overrate the importance of speaking ability. Leadership is influence and what we say, how we say, when we say and what we do not say influences those around us including our subordinates. Inspiration can also occur through one's action (without speech), often in the context of "leading from the front".

i-TFTD #351: Flow with Talent

#351-1. The kind of leadership my dad learned in World War II—where the leader makes all the decisions and tells everybody else what to do—that's the flaw in organizations.
-Scott Cook, founder and chairman of financial software maker Intuit (1952-)

#351-2. We can build organizations that are far more adaptable, far more inspiring places to work, far more innovative than anything we've seen so far. But there's a huge ideological challenge in doing that, because inside most huge organizations is a bureaucratic caste that believes it's their role to make decisions.
-Gary Hamel, management thinker and author

#351-3. Today, talented people need organizations less than organizations need talented people.
-Daniel Pink, author of many books including "A Whole New Mind" and "Drive"

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Leaders at all levels are struggling with a dilemma on how they should approach their role: should they base it on what they have observed leaders do in the past, or, should they go with what they intuitively sense is today's expectation? Should they go the whole hog on participative, inclusive, diversity-celebrating, empowering decision-making or are there decisions they need to weigh in on with their knowledge, experience, judgment and vantage point in the organization?

And amidst the agonies of making and fine-tuning such stylistic choices, leaders know that the talent pool they have is the critical foundation on which business success is achieved. Talented people today have multiple and overlapping options for their careers. Have you noticed how many full-time employees leave their jobs in large corporations with its associated perks and then come back to do more or less the same job as a contractor? I know many women who have taken a break in their careers, started their own ventures, went back to jobs and interspersed with freelancing stints.

The biggest challenge to help leaders perform effectively in such an environment is for HR decision makers. Some textbook-throwing is called for, methinks.

i-TFTD #350: Rules About Rules

#350-1. Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. To apply a rule to the letter, rigidly, unquestioningly, in cases where it fits and in cases where it does not fit, is pedantry. To apply a rule with natural ease, with judgment, noticing the cases where it fits, and without ever letting the words of the rule obscure the purpose of the action or the opportunities of the situation, is mastery.
-George Polya, mathematician (1887-1985)

#350-2. Sure, we need rules, but remember that every rule removes a choice, and choice is the fuel for learning.
-@mwbuckingham (Marcus Buckingham, strengths guru on Twitter)

#350-3. Rules without relationship equals rebellion.
-attributed to many authors but mostly to Andy Stanley, pastor (1958-) and Joslin McDowell, Christian evangelist and writer (1939-)

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Rules such as those codified in law are the foundation of civilization and society but it is more interesting to think about some other types of rules: assumed rules, outdated rules whose intent has become irrelevant and self-imposed rules. When our behavior is guided by unexamined rules, we find it difficult to adopt innovation and change. When we impose rules on others without building a platform of relationship and trust, we encounter resistance. Explaining the objective behind setting a rule is a necessary first step but logic alone does not suffice to convince others.

Breaking rules is a natural and essential part of growing up, of innovating, of bringing out the best of human potential. Ignorance about rules can occasionally help in generating original ideas but it is more often used as an excuse—and rarely accepted. Consistently successful rule-breakers first endeavor to know and understand rules before deciding which ones to break in which situation. When done well, this leads to new, better rules that achieve common good. Some have formulated this as a rule: Know the rules before breaking them!

i-TFTD #349: Sense and Beyond

#349-1. The plural of anecdote is not data.
-George Stigler, American economist

#349-2. Common sense is the best distributed commodity in the world, for every man is convinced he is well supplied with it.
-Rene Descartes, French philosopher

#349-3. A man of great common sense and good taste, meaning, thereby, a man without originality or moral courage.
-George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright

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Anecdotes have a compelling way of drawing our attention to interesting ideas. Corporate storytelling is a concept gaining popularity. However, examples are not always a substitute for scientific data gathering. One author who churns our bestsellers using compelling stories and then presenting unusual statistics to bolster them is Malcolm Gladwell.

Each of us operates most of the time with what we believe to be common sense but my common sense may not be as common as I believe. Real common sense is extremely rare, a point brought out each time an exposed scam uncovers a large number of victims.

Too much of common sense and practicality is not healthy because innovation often comes from what initially appears to be a nonsensical thought.

i-TFTD #348: On Kindness (yes, for businessfolk, too)

#348-1. Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar.
-Bradley Miller, activist (b. 1956)

#348-2. To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.
-Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

#348-3. Kindness is a hard thing to give away; it keeps coming back to the giver.
-Ralph Scott, US Senator (1905-1983)

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Going by news reports, a number of people and institutions believe in the practice and advocacy of RAK - random acts of kindness. Most of us would have experienced being a recipient of an unexpected RAK and perhaps, even the warm feeling of doing one.

Kindness need not be confined to charitable donations and social service, it can extend to our interactions with others including colleagues.

Prof. Robert Sutton of Stanford University brought the concept of workplace bullying into prominence with his article in Harvard Business Review titled, "The No A****le Rule" and has published a wide-selling book on the topic.

i-TFTD #347: Rumination from the Front Row

Over the past two weeks, I had the rare privilege to observe, at close quarters, a new business leader engage with teams, trying to grasp the contours of the challenges at hand while getting to know people; asking questions innocent and sharp, memorizing new acronyms and probing to discover the limits of available information; dissecting elements of strategy and distinguishing them from objectives; revealing and sharing to begin establishing credibility and style. One quality of this person was of special interest to me, namely, this person is a voracious reader who quotes business aphorisms and thinking frameworks—in somebody's words, this person is a walking, talking i-TFTD!

Some of the topics of discussion I witnessed has inspired this bonus edition of i-TFTD. First of all:

The next thing to saying a good thing yourself, is to quote one.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Proverbs encapsulate wisdom. They become famous through their usefulness across time for people to recall a point and to make it effectively. They can act as shorthand to convey rich thoughts in a manner that attracts through compactness or elegance.

In a complex information gathering situation, there are plenty of disclaimers about history and incompleteness of views. But:

To a clear eye the smallest fact is a window through which the infinite may be seen.
-Thomas Henry Huxley, biologist and writer (1825-1895)

Actually we make many important decisions like hiring a person based on subjective impressions in a brief interaction. The reason for this being a popular method is that a better one has not been found. Therefore:

Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair-trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act.
-James Thurber, American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit (1894–1961)

One interesting concept I picked up was, "Questions requiring numerical answers, when responded with English, could be a sign of trouble!"

Not that clear and precise communication is easy to achieve. Because:

After all, when you come right down to it, how many people speak the same language even when they speak the same language?
-Russell Hoban, American fantasy writer (1925–2011)

Perspectives and dimensions of awareness figured in the conversation as an undercurrent. There is only so much that explanation and dialogue can achieve. Remember:

You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog, the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect, the creature of a season.
-Zhuangzi, Chinese philosopher (370-301 BCE)

Aspects of personal and organizational change have been a perennial favorite covered in i-TFTDs before, such as i-TFTD #298: Change How We Face, i-TFTD #294: On the Difficulty of Change, i-TFTD #284: Navigating Change, i-TFTD #287: On Choosing Dots to Connect, and i-TFTD #252: On the Why and How of Change among others. Proactive change initiators are a rare breed but should constitute a necessary proportion of any performance-oriented team. As it is said:

Progress is 95 percent routine teamwork. The other 5 percent relies on restless, inner-directed people who are willing to upset our applecart with new and better ideas.
-Michael LeBouef, American business book author and professor (1942-)

While acknowledging the need for different kinds of individuals, it pays to keep in mind the strengths approach concept, which we have extensively covered earlier in i-TFTD #335: Managers Need to be Strengths-Spotters, i-TFTD #160, i-TFTD #115: Only One Move, i-TFTD #142: Don't Send Your Ducks to Eagle School, i-TFTD #79: 3 Tips to Be a Prime Mover, i-TFTD #20: Motivation + Talent = Strength and i-TFTD #10: Abolish SWOT Analysis. So finally:

The question, 'Who ought to be boss?' is like asking, 'Who ought to be the tenor in the quarter?' Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.
-Henry Ford, American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company (1863–1947)

If you like the way I connected one thing to another, you can connect with me by letting me know!

i-TFTD #346: Silicon Valley Speak

Indian-born techies, entrepreneurs and recently, management professors, have achieved extraordinary success and fame over the past 25 years. Recall the statement Kumar Mangalam Birla made in a speech around 2007: As the joke in Silicon Valley runs, if a person's name is Shreedhar, don't bother checking his IT skills! Many such Indians have gone on to become venture capitalists and mentors to use the wealth and experience they have gained to help nurture others. Here are a few quotes from this community.

#346-1. You have to accept the reality of where you came from. The moment you lose that, you stop listening, stop thinking and become arrogant. Usually, you see that in successful people. People become self-destructive when they become arrogant—they over-reach, become over-ambitious and dominating.
-Ram Shriram, Indian American venture capitalist and founding director of Google, in this interview

#346-2. MNCs and government are largely irrelevant in the business of innovation. Ignore conventional wisdom in order to invent the future. My willingness to fail gives me the ability to succeed.
-Vinod Khosla, Indian American venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems (1955-), in this interview

#346-3. A recession is the best time to start a company. It is nev! er easy. Nothing ever happens automatically.
-Kanwal Rekhi, Indian American venture capitalist and co-founder of TiE, director at Novell Networks  (1945-)

i-TFTD #345: Me And 'Er

#345-1. The path of least resistance makes all rivers, and some men, crooked.
-Napoleon Hill, author (1883-1970)

#345-2. An individual human existence should be like a river: small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being.
-Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)

#345-3. Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.
-A. A. Milne author (1882-1956)

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A river f! orms a powerful motif in Herman Hesse’s Siddartha, who finally learns useful insights from a river. Rivers, I think, hold a fascination for humans, more than oceans, and definitely, lakes and ponds. Oceans beckon with mystery and danger but they also overwhelm—rivers, on the other hand, we relate to. A river seems to be the perfect metaphor for how we perceive our lives. Flowing, flowing, always moving inevitably further, encountering obstacles, overcoming them or changing direction… Nourishing those en route, also collecting and carrying unwanted baggage, appearing to meander aimlessly at times, at other times purposefully seeking the path to merge with the final destination, the ocean…

Of course, one may prefer, instead of this philosophical musing, to gape at this interactive mapping of rivers by National Geographic. Or figure out why genders are associated with rivers, not only in India where Ganga is feminine and Brahmaputra masculine, but also in other countries.

i-TFTD #344: Dawn of True Wisdom

by Ramesh Balsekar (in “Enlightened Living”)

Every month the disciple faithfully sent his Master an account of his progress.

In the first month he wrote: "I feel an expansion of consciousness and experience my oneness with the Universe." The master glanced at the note and threw it away.

The following month, this is what he had to say: "I have finally discovered that the Divine is present in all things." The Master seemed disappointed.

The third month the disciple’s words enthusiastically exclaimed: "The mystery of the One and the many have been revealed to my wondering gaze." The Master shook his head and again threw the letter away.

The next letter said: "No one is born, no one lives, no one dies, for the ego-self is not." The master threw his hands up in utter despair.

After that a month passed by, then two, then five months – and finally a whole year without another letter. The master thought it was time to remind his disciple of his duty to keep him informed of his spiritual progress.

Then the disciple wrote back: "Who cares?"

When the Master read those words a look of great satisfaction spread over his face.

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This format of initially funny-looking but eventually thought-provoking anecdotes (called "koans") are used in Zen teaching. Anthony De Mello, a Jesuit priest who conducted spiritual retreats at Lonavla (a hill station near Mumbai) for many years, has written a number of books that are superb collections of such stories sourced from all religions. Some of them are "One Minute Wisdom", "Song of the Bird" and "The Prayer of the Frog".

i-TFTD #343: Another Children's Day Special

In India Children’s Day is celebrated every year on November 14, the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first Prime Minister. We saw a few quotes related to children in an earlier i-TFTD in 2008. The comment there said, ”Substitute children in the above with subordinates and parent with leader, to get useful insights on career development, leadership qualities.” Here is another bonus edition of quotes related to children—their creativity and their dreams. Are they theirs only?

#343-1. Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it's the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves.
―Sir Ken Robinson, British educationist and world-renowned expert speaker (1950-)

#343-2. All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others.
-Michael Carr, British light music compose (1905-1968)

#343-3. The soul is healed by being with children.
-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, novelist (1821-1881)

#343-4. We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.
–Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist and writer (1901–1978)

#343-5. Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.
-Aristotle, Greek philosopher and polymath (384 BCE–322 BCE)

#343-6. ! Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
-James Arthur Baldwin, American writer, poet and social critic (1924–1987)

#343-7. In a short poem titled, Cloths of Heaven, William Butler Yeats wrote:

   Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
   Enwrought with golden and silver light,
   The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
   Of night and light and the half-light,
   I would spread the cloths under your feet:
   But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
   I have spread my dreams under your feet;
   Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

And every day, everywhere, our children spread their dreams beneath our feet. And we should tread softly.
―Sir Ken Robinson, British educationist and world-renowned expert speaker (1950-)
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If you are not one of the estimated 200 million people around the world who have watched Sir Ken Robinson’s TED video speeches, please do so when you have thirty minutes to spare. They are at http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html and http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html. I absolutely love and get inspired every time I watch, by the distinctly British humor, humility and passionate advocacy…

i-TFTD #342: How to Start an Induction Motor

It's been a long gap of seven weeks in the otherwise regular i-TFTD of the past many years.

I could give many excuses like being busy with organizational changes, helping my wife open her second Just Books library outlet in Thane (please spread the word to your Thanekar friends, it is at Hiranandani Meadows near Vasant Vihar area) and so on. But ultimately as often emphasized in past i-TFTDs, we choose to prioritize what we fill into our time and that is all there is to it. Nothing could really justify not finding a few minutes in a week to do something I care about.

I consoled myself saying...

Not all those who wander are lost.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, English writer, philologist and university professor, best kno! wn as the author of 'The Lord of the Rings' (1892–1973)

But it was important to realize that...

Every man is a damned fool for at least five minutes every day. Wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.
-Elbert Hubbard, author, editor, printer (1856-1915)

I figured that the resumption could elicit appreciation! After all...

As contraries are known by contraries, so is the delight of presence best known by the torments of absence.
-Alcibiades, Athenian statesman, orator, and general (c. 450–404 BCE)

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.
-Robert Brault, American writer (1938-)

I further pepped mysel! f up saying...

It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.
-Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Moliere, French actor and playwright (1622-1673)

Getting UPSET will not help. Always getting UP to SET the things right will surely help.
-Anon

(Thanks to Neelabh Upadhyay for sharing this.)

Finally the lesson from all this for me is...

Absences and gaps /
Howsoever justified /
Can be wily traps!

The above is an example of expressing a thought in haiku form, mimicking the 5-7-5 syllables used in the original Japanese poetry. Over 200 of such haikus are part of my early tweets.

In case you are wondering about the title, it is an indirect hat tip to ! the delightful movie, 3 Idiots, which talked about strengths and passion. Sorry if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t make the connection.

i-TFTD #341: Seeing the Seen

#341-1. The world is a looking glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.
-William Makepeace Thackeray, novelist (1811-1863)

#341-2. If you've ever taken on a major, challenging project, you know that finishing it doesn't just create the output you had planned on, it transforms you.
-Dr. Venkatesh Rao, author of Tempo, independent researcher and blogger (1974-)

#341-3. There is a road from the eye to the heart of things that does not go through the intellect.
-Gilbert K. Chesterton, British writer and philosopher (1874–1936)

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The first quote reminds me of the following lines from the melancholy ghazal by Jagjit Singh, "Zindagi kya hai jaanne ke liye zinda rehna bahut zaroori hai" (to understand life it is necessary to live):
aao hum sab pehen le aaine
saare dekhenge apne hi chehre
saare haseen lagenge yahaan

(come, let us all clothe ourselves with mirrors
everyone will see their own faces
everyone will look beautiful here)

What we see when working on a tough task we handled changes dramatically when we look back. Each of us can remember at least one major task in life that stretched the boundaries of our abilities. Undoubtedly such an endeavor has a lasting and positive impact in some way or the other. It reveals our limits or hidden capabilities, makes us more resilient and overall boosts our self-confidence. Why then do we all not eagerly rush to more such challenges?

Reflection and analysis of our thoughts or f! eelings makes our conscious mind aware of certain patterns and takes us to the next level. But the belief always persists (and maybe becomes stronger) that there are important things just beyond our conscious awareness. Interestingly, that does not scare us but excites us and hopefully encourages to explore more.

i-TFTD #340: On Seeking Answers

#340-1. The wrong answer sometimes is the right one in search of a different question.
-Bruce Mau, designer

#340-2. If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease.
-Sen-ts’an, 8th century Chinese Zen master

#340-3. The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.
-Leo Tolstoy, author (1828-1910)

(Thanks to K. Shailesh for sharing this.)

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Our logical, analytical mind tends to jump to finding the r! ight answer on encountering a question. We have trained that ability of the brain throughout the formative years. Any answer on offer, if not judged to be the right one, is wrong. Real-life situations involving real people with real feelings and irrational emotions have a way of disproving this fundamental belief in the single right answer. The question may be framed incorrectly or there could be more important ones underlying the asked question. This is why our creative thinking needs rekindling, and techniques are used for this.

Of course, the binary mode of thinking pervades all aspects of life. The month of August 2011 almost seemed to force every Indian to announce whether he or she is “for Anna (Hazare)” or “against Anna”. Maybe someone was supportive of one of the suggestions made by the activist and against some of the other suggestions. Nor could it be taken to imply that the person is supportive of the Indian Government who spectacularly mishandled it. Yes, there are important matters, especially concerning our values, when we have to take a clear stand but the complexity and dimensions could indicate deferment of judgment, more data gathering or discussing specifics rather than a simple Yes/No vote.

Such kind of advice would only help those who have not already made up their minds about making up their minds.

i-TFTD #339: Grow Up and Move On

Grow up and Move On
For one to move into a position, there should be someone ready to move out.
By Devdutt Pattanaik

In Vedic times, life was divided into four stages: the first quarter was Brahmacharyaashram, the stage when one is a student; the second was Grihastha-ashram, the stage when one is a householder; the third was Vanaprastha-ashram, the stage when one retires from active household duty; the fourth was Sanyasa-ashram, the stage when one detaches oneself totally from the world.

In the corporate world, the ashram system is very much a reality. But not explicitly. When one takes up a job, one spends a lot of time learning the new job. This is Brahmacharya. Then a point comes when the learning stops and one becomes increasingly productive with higher and higher ! levels of efficiency and effectiveness. This is Grihastha. Then there's a stage when one outgrows a job. One desires to move on. This is the time when one must step into Vanaprastha, the twilight zone, when one empowers and enables the next generation to step in. Having created the talent pool that can take one's place, one reaches Sanayasa, free to move on, out of the current-job paradigm into a new challenging paradigm. And the cycle starts all over again.

Conventionally, Vanaprastha is seen as retirement. But it can be seen as the stage when one passes on one's skill and knowledge to the next generation so that they can flourish while one moves on. The ashrama system need not be applied only to one's entire professional life – it can be applied to each role one takes up. Thus one has the four stages as an executive, then the four stages as a manager, then four stages as a director. If we have to grow, we have to constantly keep retiring.

The per! fect organisation is said to be one that respects the march of the four stages; where things move predictably – people move on and move in at the appropriate rate. This is celebrated in the Ramayana where as soon as Ram completes his education, he is given a wife and as soon as he marries, his father, Dashrath, declares his intention to retire, move out of the palace, and let Ram be king.

The ashram-dharma in the Ramayan is a theoretical construct. It assumes that people are willing to move on to the next stage and they know when to move on. Life is not so simple. There are executives who do not want to be managers. And there are mangers who will not let executives become managers. And there are directors who realise they are quite illequipped to direct. This disruption in the orderly course is the theme of the Mahabharata.

The epic tells the story of a king called Shantanu who has a grown up son called Devavrata, who is ready to marry and become king. ! But then Shantanu falls in love with a beautiful young fisherwoman called Satyavati. He wants to marry her but there is a rider: only her children should be declared his heirs. To Shantanu's great relief, Devavrata voluntarily gives up his claim to the throne. "But what if your children fight my daughter's children?" asks Satyavati's father. In response, Devavrata takes a vow never to marry, never to touch a woman and never to father or adopt a child. For this vow, the gods declare Devavrata to be 'Bhisma'. Bhisma is celebrated as the obedient son. Nobody condemns the father. As one reads the epic, one realises that Bhisma's act of obedience is one of the prime reasons for the great carnage on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. If the older generation had made way for the younger generation, as the scriptures advised, the Mahabharata would not have happened.

The Mahabharata also tells the story of one Yayati who was so desperate to stay young that he begged one o! f his sons to suffer old age so that he could cling on to youth. His eldest son, Yadu, refused this request. The youngest, Puru, agreed. For obeying his father, Puru was made Yayati's heir (the Kauravas and the Pandavas are his descendents). For disobeying, Yadu was cursed that neither he nor his descendents would ever be king (which is why Krishna, of the Yadu clan, is always kingmaker, never king).

As in the Ramayana, this story of Yayati in the Mahabharata clearly celebrates obedience and submission of the younger generation to the older generation. But there is one crucial difference. In the Ramayana, the older generation does not behave like a parasite – it willingly makes way for the next generation. In the Mahabharata, the older generation takes advantage of the obedience of the younger generation to indulge its appetite for power and pleasure.

Organisations need to constantly look out for Yayatis and Shantanus – men who refuse to move on and me! n who refuse to let the juniors grow. Men who use hierarchy to dominate and control rather than simply for order and stability.

Take the example of Jaisingh. He is a brilliant store manager. And he is comfortable in this position, so comfortable that very deliberately he keeps mocking and demotivating his juniors, telling them how they are not fit to get a promotion and doing nothing to help them grow. He fears that if they learn how to be store managers, he will be redundant and that he will be kicked out by the management. What the organisation does not realise is that Jaisingh is behaving exactly as his boss, the regional manager, Vijaysingh, who is fearful that Jaisingh will make him redundant. Both Jaisingh and Vijaysingh are stuck in Grihastha-ashram. No one wants to move into Vanaprastha, because everyone fears Sanyasa.

Letting go, moving on, is perhaps the most important skill one needs to master in the corporate world. Imagine the human pyramid cr! eated during the Janmashtami festival of dahi-handi to help the one on the top get to the pot of curds and butter tied high up. Unless those at the lowermost level rise up, the one on top will never get to the butter. Ask yourself – are you rising to help your boss reach the pot? Ask yourself – are you allowing those below you to rise? Unless you do, the pot will never be yours.

(Thanks to Sheenam Ohrie for sharing this.)

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Devdutt Pattanaik writes regularly in Corporate Dossier, The Economic Times supplement. He has the uncanny ability to relate the essential concepts behind the mythological stories to modern business management. Succession planning is a concept that is widely paid lip service but rarely practised. A leader must make himself or herself dispensable through grooming, coach! ing and empowerment of subordinates in order to be free to move on to newer roles. If I am comfortably ensconced in my job I reduce the probability of upward mobility, I stagnate – dangerously.

i-TFTD #338: On Thinking Clearly

#338-1. The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.
-Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)

#338-2. Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.
-Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (1920-)

#338-3. Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction.
-Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953)____
One reason we get stuck when trying to find solutions is that we accept the problem description or question as stated originally. Redefining the problem is a powerful step in innovation. One has to cultivate the habit of creating many versions of a statement. If we ponder over, “What deterrent will make people be more careful and avoid mistakes in this process?” it leads to a set of solutions, which are very different from those that occur when we ask, “How can this process be designed and communicated that enables people to correctly execute this process?” The latter leads to the mindset behind poka yoke.

Think of someone who you believe is an excellent communicator and the odds are that the person has clarity of thought and the boldness to express it. It is difficult to think clearly in the age of abundant information and access to opinions. More than being ‘brainy’ it demands confidence to accept our own thoughts and feelings, especially when dealing with personal problems.

Some people who have the habit of saying, “I am very clear!” use it as a shield to prevent further probing of their thoughts or exploring other ideas. Real clarity is to focus on the objective and relentlessly pursue it even it means reversing our stand or revising our thoughts.

i-TFTD #337: They Want to Look at You When You Say It

This anecdote has been quoted by Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, author of 'The Nonverbal Advantage'. Practical tips on body language are available on Carol’s blog.

In a Fortune 25 Company, teleconferences provided an ongoing opportunity for small groups of employees to get up close and personal with the CEO.

Time after time, employees would ask questions that had already been communicated in various company publications and through dozens of email announcements.

After the sessions, the beleaguered CEO asked his communication manager, "How many times have we told them about that? Why don't they know that?"

"Oh, they! know it," the communications manager replied. "They just want to hear it from you. More importantly, they want to be able to look at you when you say it."

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Anyone working in a corporate environment would be familiar with the "Don't people read their mail?" puzzle. This little story emphasizes the importance of face-to-face communication, especially for leaders, something that is becoming less frequent due to distributed teams and availability of conferencing technologies.

Highly effective people travel a lot, and also wander around the office. Ram Charan, one of the top-rated management gurus today, is said to have clocked 500,000 miles (800,000 km) on aircraft in 2008.