Friday Reflections

Children seldom misquote you

Point to Ponder: Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said.

Story Line: Last week our four years old grandson had come over for bonding time with us. In one of his previous visits he had noticed a statue of Buddha in our garden and asked several questions about it.  From then on he calls us “Buddha Grand Pa and Buddha Grand Ma” and other Grand Parents by another special name; I guess it must be for clarity in communication.

While he was at our place, we took him on many field trips including a visit to Intel Museum. On the way, the little guy asked, “What does Intel do?” We told him that Intel made silicon chips.

To that he said: WOW! I like chips. I will eat a lot.

We told him: You can’t eat those chips. But he kept insisting that he wanted to eat them.

Unable to persuade him with technical explanations, we resorted to the last option “You can’t eat them. They are made with poisonous chemicals “

In the late evening he was FaceTime with his parents and cautioned them “Don’t eat Intel chips. They have poison in them”

As the call ended and realizing that he needed to follow his routine of taking bath before going to sleep, I told him in hurry “ Go and tell Grand Ma, I want to take bath now.”

A few minutes later he returned and said “I told Buddha Grand Ma that you want to take bath now.”

Reflection: Yes indeed, clear and crisp communication has been my area of improvement (IR) and it has resulted in many funny episodes in and out of home all my life. But no major harm done and a lot of entertainment.

Exceptional Employees: Last I heard, we get paid for making things possible

Ability is what you are capable of doing, motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz.

Storyline:

Early in my career, one boss gave me sage advice: “Companies hire us to make things possible, not to report why things are not possible”. Throughout my career, I have seen many examples of people who do not stop for the “impossible”. Here is one such story:

You don’t have the right degree.

Many years ago, while looking for a person to manage our business systems, we interviewed a young man who had just graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business. Knowing fully well that he did not have a degree in Computer Science, as was normally required; we took into account the fact that he was a computer fanatic from the age of eight and displayed tremendous enthusiasm to tackle new challenges. It was a risk, but the interview team felt that it was worth it.

You can’t get onto the corporate roadmap.

During the first month, he noticed that our small group needed some key applications, but was told that it was impossible to get on the corporate group’s roadmap. So he decided to learn programming himself. Instead of going to a full semester course with a fee of $3,600 that others had done, he bought a book for $32 and got started on the basics.

We don’t have the budget.

Then came the second hurdle. We did not have the budget for the server to host our applications. He found out that a local IT department had recently upgraded some systems and had put the old ones in the warehouse. He got one for free. In the process, he made friends with the technician who provided invaluable support, and who was later himself promoted into new roles.

The customers hate dealing with IT.

His customers were used to support groups that measured their success by the number of tools delivered, instead of tracking if it had solved the customer’s real needs. As a refreshing change, he patiently listened to various internal customer/user groups’ needs and then focused on delivering solutions rather than just systems and tools. Customer satisfaction had never been higher.

Starting up a business is the biggest challenge.

When, after 5 years with us, he left to pursue his own venture, the stamp on his exit paper read “Eligible for Re-hire” (as soon as he is available.) I expect these same qualities will help to overcome the next level of obstacles in starting up two businesses destined for success.

Originally Published: July 2007. Repeated because of many readers requests

Update 2019: His business has grown very well with delighted customers and great team of highly motivated employees.

Reflection:

In the words of one my mentors, “The difference between a very successful person and not-so-successful one; between a 5 figure and 7 figure income is not in the technical or content knowledge. It is given that you need that. The key differentiation is in how you carry yourself with respect to attitude, relationships, communication, commitments…

Highly Motivated Employees (The Young and the Restless Part 1)

POINT TO PONDER:  “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” - Pablo Picasso.  Isn’t the same thing true about employees? New employees come with good credentials, enthusiasm, ambition, high hopes and many with a lot of passion. The challenge is how to keep up those qualities once they get melded in/sucked in to the organization’s systems for a few years.

STORY LINE: Originally Published April 17, 2014. Republishing with minor edits.

A few weeks ago, I received one very touching and wonderful email from a supervisor about an employee who was leaving the company. The note mentioned about the significant contributions of this person; many beyond the normal job scope. It also stated the high value that customers, partners and peers had seen in this employee. The person’s “can do” attitude, high energy and enthusiasm had influenced and impressed whoever had interacted with her (me included). It was clear from the note that this person had made a big impact on whatever or whomever she had dealt with. I read the note over and over again until it dawned on me that this person that the supervisor wrote such a nice note about was with the company for only 20 months (out of school). Now that made it even more powerful that in such a short time the person had made such an impact.

In my 39 years career, I too have been fortunate to have coached some employees like the one mentioned above. My experience with such employees is that they are not motivated by money or by positions, but more with constantly new challenges, trust in them to carry on big tasks (not treat them like kids or starters), reinforcing their value to the company and providing occasional guidance. They are self-starters, and as a supervisor/coach one needs to just keep raising the bar. Some will stay and some will move on (nothing personal, just that their reach may be farther than what current environment can offer) but whatever time they spent, they will make a big impact and enlighten and inspire others around them. In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, The surest way to corrupt such a person is to instruct him/her to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. Give them freedom, trust and encouraging feedback about their value and create a culture where they will thrive.

REFLECTION: From Pablo Picasso Quote in PTP (applies to any Young* and Restless)
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.

*young applies to both in age and mentally young.

Readers feedback from the Original Publication included in the comment section

Next Week: Last I heard, we get paid for making things possible...(The Young and the Restless Part 2)

 

 

Never take a person's dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you

Point to Ponder: “I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” - Jackie Robinson

Story Line: Once upon a time, a company hired a young fellow who had just graduated from college. He impressed his colleagues with his high energy, unlimited enthusiasm and superb attitude. He kept on delivering great results and rose fast through the ranks. In a few years, his reputation grew and became Go to Guy for many colleagues as well as senior management.

Irony or what but what motivated this person was neither money or promotion but recognition of his work. And he equated recognition with more challenges with more projects. His manager and senior executives liked him and constantly challenged him with difficult assignments.

One day there was reorganization as it happens in companies and a new manager arrived. He had heard about the reputation of this young fellow and wanted to check out first hand. After a few minutes of chat, the new manager asked him "How old are you?" When the fellow mentioned his age, the manager replied "Only 25 and you are already at this level in organization? I had not even reached that level at 36. Don't get any more ideas about Promotion for next few years."

This new manager took pride in his "No Nonsense, Direct" style. He even shared his meeting conversation with his two bosses. Both Bosses looked at each other and knew right then and there that they would loose that young fellow. The very thing that kept that young man highly motivated was undermined: Respect.

Anyway, that young man is the owner of a very successful business and every client he has dealt with seeks him out again and again for his services. His business is growing leaps and bounds. 

Reflection: from Thurgood Marshall speech

Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent.

The Hero's Journey

POINT TO PONDER: Follow your bliss. - Joseph Campbell

STORY LINE: by Rajiv Shah

We want to revisit one of our favorite stories, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. On first glance, Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a story about marching to the beat of your own drum, following dreams, pursuing your passion in the face of adversity and forgiving others when they condemn you for doing so. It incorporates all these elements, but I realized upon my viewing of the entire film that JLS follows the classic Hero's Journey myth structure.

The Hero's Journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell who was a writer and mythologist. Campbell found that many classic stories follow a pattern (including Jonathan Livingston Seagull) and an extremely abridged explanation is outlined here that we can apply to our own lives:

The Call to Adventure - This is where the main character is at a point in their life where they are at the brink of change. Either the character can be seeking the change or the call to adventure comes from an unexpected source (death of a loved one, fired from a job, life is in danger.etc). In JLS this step is represented in Jonathan's need to fly faster and higher than any seagull before. In your own life is there something that you seek? A higher sense of fulfillment whether personal or professional, a yearning to explore, or a need to challenge? Whatever that thing is, that is your calling.
Refusal of the Call - The main character avoids the call due to doubt, familial obligations, expectations (societal, personal, or familial), or fear of the unknown. In JLS (around the 20 minute mark) Jonathan has flown higher than he ever has before but crash lands into the ocean. Injured and alone he floats on a wooden crate - for the first time doubting his calling, his belief in himself. He thinks, "I've got to live with what I am. I promise this day that I will be a seagull like every other seagull." Sound familiar? I don't think I need to illustrate how this applies to our own lives as many of us get stuck in this phase of the hero's journey, doubting our passion and ability.

Crossing of the Threshold/Road of Trials - The point where the main character reenters their journey is sometimes with encouragement from another and sometimes from an internal calling growing stronger within them. At this point there is no turning back, the main character ventures further into the unknown, past fear and doubt. The character will undergo a transformation from the experience (usually tough) and emerge with a new understanding and/or a new self. In JLS as is true in other works, this is can be the point of death though it is not always the case. In our own lives, and since you are reading this - you are not dead yet (at least I hope not...) - it can be a metamorphosis from your old way of thinking/self usually into a new one.
Apotheosis/The Ultimate Boon - The achievement of the goal. Moving to divine knowledge, transendence and attainment of the calling. In JLS this is the point when Jonathan has learned to fly highest, fastest, and is even able to transend his physical body. For us, well... I wouldn't know what this looks like and it would be foolish for me to try to teach anyone this as I'm searching myself. But I think it's in the search for this that we find peace and bliss, however brief or lasting. Some may find this in family, some in career achievements, and some might find it in jumping from one thing/place to the next. But when we find it I hope we take the next step:

Master of Two Worlds/Freedom to Live - With this new knowledge, bliss, and transcendence the main character returns to his place of origin in order to share those experiences with others and the world at large. This is so that others might find their own path and their own peace. In JLS this is done when Jonathan returns to the flock seeking to teach them that they can fly as high and fast as they dream. For us, it is the need to teach, to pass on what we've experienced in order to help another on their path. Paying it forward.

REFLECTION

The Hero's Journey is one that all of us have within us. It reflects the nature of our search for meaning. We all find it in different places but the calling is always there. Sometimes the fears and doubts get so loud that we don't take the journey and find what we are truly capable of. It's easy to given in and stop searching, deciding that what we seek can't exist.

This need, the quest for meaning, is not only reflected in stories like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but is ingrained in spiritual texts such as the Bible and the story of the Buddha. It permeates most TV shows and movies, from Lost to Batman. It can even be found in the cycle of birth. It is a mythology that is interwoven into the very fabric of our existence - in the little place inside of each and everyone of us that dares to answer the call and seek our greatest potential.

Come to the edge, he said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, he said.

They came.

He pushed them and they flew.

~ Guillaume Apollinaire

Reader's feedback from the original publication on July 26, 2012 is included in Comments section.

 

 

Enjoy The Company of Your Children

Point to Ponder: And those human connections --- with spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever make. Barbara Bush 

Story Line: A beautiful post from one mother to another mother*…(author unknown)

There were days when My home used to be filled with laughter, arguments, fights, jokes and loads of mischief. Pens and books all over, and clothes messing the rooms, thrown on the beds. I used to shout at them to tidy up their mess.

In the morning : One will wake up and say :"Mama I can't find a certain book. And the other will say : *I can't find my perfume,*

And one will say : *Mama where's my homework?*

And another : *Mama I forgot to complete my homework.*

Everyone used to ask about their lost possessions. And I will say, *but take care of your stuff, be responsible, you have to grow up.*

And today I stand at the doorway of the room. The beds are empty. All the cupboards have only a few pieces of clothes in them. And what remains is the smell of perfume that lingers in the air.

Everyone had a special smell. So I take in the smell of their perfume for maybe it will fill the empty ache in my heart.

All I have now is the memory of their laughs and their mischief and their warm hugs.

Today my house is clean and organized and everything is in its place, and it is calm and peaceful. But it is like a desert with no life in it. Do not become angry with your kids about the mess.

Every time they come to visit and they spend time with us, when they are ready to leave. They pull their bags and it is as if they tug my heart along with it.

They close the door behind them and then I stand still and think of the many times I shouted them to close the doors.

Here I am today, closing my own doors. Nobody opens it besides me. Each one gone to a different city or a different country. All left to find their own path in life.

They have grown up and I wished that they could stay with me forever.

Oh! God..... Take care of them & all other children wherever they may be, for You are their guide and protector and always keep them happy.

If your children are still in the stage that you need to talk and talk before they could get things done in the house, please, cherish and endure it with joy, don't nag, they will soon leave your home for you, remember they were not there at the beginning of your marriage. Now that they are around, make them happy and feel happy yourself.

Reflection: From Barbara Bush's Commencement Address at Wellesley College. June 1990

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years, you've had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work. And, of course, that's true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be, you are a human being first. And those human connections --- with spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever make. At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent. - Barbara Bush Commencement Address at Wellesley College. June 1990

*Original Author Unknown. Thanks to our reader Malav for sending this article. 

When Opportunity Comes Knocking.

 

Many a times, it is in split seconds decisions that the fortunes are made or lost. One company becomes "Microsoft" and the other.....

 

POINT TO PONDER: “ When opportunity comes knocking on the door, don’t go to wash your face.” -From an ancient Indian story my grandfather used to tell us.

 

REFLECTION

When it comes to customers, there is no such thing as "Out of Scope." Such advice came from one of the greatest salesmen I have known.

 

In the summer of 1966, I got an internship to work in a small business. Part of the assignment was to accompany the owner during his door to door visits with customers. What I noticed was that the owner would listen to customer’s ideas, dilemmas, needs, and even if he did not have the product or service needed, he would say, “let me get back to you.”

    

Upon return he would assess if he wanted to get into that line of business or if there were other companies that could quickly service that customer’s need; then he would either make a deal with the other companies or refer them directly to the customer.

    

On one day he even referred his competitor to his customer realizing that he did not have that product. My curious mind inquired, “isn’t that dangerous - you are letting your competition get in the customer’s door.” To that he replied, “the primary objective of my business, stated in my mission, is to offer quick solutions to customers. And customers have seen that and asked me to get into many areas that they have need. Some customers have even funded my new ventures because they know I am focused on their success.”

   

Over the years, the scope of his business grew from cement to chemicals to ice and many more areas.The most important thing I learned from him in the summer of '66 was that “when it comes to customers, there is no such thing as, 'Out of Scope.'"  Years later when I watched a documentary on PBS about Microsoft,  the memory of that lesson revived and has stayed fresh since then.

 

STORY LINE:  Following story is extracted from the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) special "Triumph of theNerds" by Robert Cringley.

 

Many a times, it is in split seconds decisions that the fortunes are made or lost. One company becomes "Microsoft" and the other (Interglactic Digital Research) vanishes from the face of the earth. Interglactic had the operating system that IBM (All mighty of computer business in those days)desperately needed to get PC business going, the other (Microsoft) did not. (Microsoft had only "Basic",a computer language.) So what happened next?

 

The scene is set in California...laid back Dr.Gary Kildall, CEO of Interglactic, already making the bestselling PC operating system CPM. In Seattle Bill Gates maker of BASIC the best selling PC language butalways prepared to seize an opportunity. So IBM had to choose one of these guys to write the operatingsystem for its new personal computer. One would hit the jackpot the other would be forgotten...a footnote in the history of the personal computer and it all starts with a visit to their headquarters by IBM in 1980.

 

In a nutshell, when IBM came on a short notice, Bill Gates and team changed their plans to accommodate them. Gary Kildall had other plans and he left IBMers with his partner and lawyer. When IBM pooped out non-disclosure agreements, Bill signed them in good faith even though he found them very amusing. Interglatic got the lawyer to look at the non-disclosure. The lawyer threw up on this non-disclosure. So IBM spent the whole day in Pacific Grove debating with them and with their attorneys and everybody else about whether or not Interglatic personal could even talk to them about talking to them, and they left.

 

Sequel to the story: And Bill Gates, not wanting to let go the opportunity, found a small company in Seattle to develop this operating system. 
 

Interestingly, that small company's operating system, which saved the deal with IBM, was, well, adapted from Gary Kildall's CPM.

”As it happens often in the PC business, the prize didn't go to the inventor but to the exploiter of the invention.”

 

But then again, When the opportunity comes knocking on the door, don’t go looking for the sink to wash your face. Just open the door, you will have rest of your life to do Risk Mitigation.

 

Triumph of the Nerds Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiffgiRAYUI&feature=youtu.be

Triumph of the Nerds