Friday Reflections

Who are you working for after all?

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Storyline:

Once upon a time, during a corporate training seminar on creativity, a wise old teacher asked his students: “How many of you here are working for someone else?” Everyone raised their hand.

Then the instructor said, "Let's ponder this from a different point of view. Instead of considering yourself an employee, what if you consider yourself as the owner of a business; and this business is what you are doing in your current job? How would you manage your 'job' then?"

The eager students responded with a few good points to ponder:

1. A business can not survive long without continuous improvement, and without introducing new products and services. If my job is my business, I have to keep on learning new skills to increase my value.
   
   
2. If my job were my own business, anyone who receives my work output is no longer a fellow employee; he/she is my customer.  I cannot expect to survive long without happy customers.
   
   
3. The most important business relations are personal ones. When I go to meetings or conferences, it is not only to discuss the subject at hand, but also to build new relationships that can open up new opportunities.
   
   
4. Since this is my own business, I must seize new opportunities outside of my current job description.  Instead of "this is not my job", the predominant thought becomes "this is my moment to grow the business."
   
   
5. Since money comes from my wallet, every minute of time matters, and every cent of spending goes to the bottom line. I can’t afford to waste precious time debating irrelevant issues, postpone important decisions, or defer responsibility to someone else.
   
   
6. My attitude changes from "This is just a job" to "This is my livelihood".  Since my performance is judged by my customers/investors in the value chain, I have to offer them the best return on investment ... or I cease to exsist!
   
   

Reflection:

If you take this attitude about your job, a whole new world opens up. Your sense of security and confidence builds: because you are continuously growing, trying new things, meeting many people, building relationships, and improving your business acumen.

It's no longer just work, it becomes your way of life; and you will come to realize that the world is very big, and there will always be room at the top for your talents.

The first stage in the acceptance of a new idea ...

This Week's Cartoon: Instead of getting demoralized and giving up, the true pioneers believed in themselves and the strength of their ideas.  They stayed on course and fulfilled their vision.

So, what are YOUR ideas that have been rejected?

Hint: You can click on the cartoon to enlarge it.

The things that matter most ...

Doing things right is always good, but what matters most is doing the right things right.

 

Storyline:

December 1st, 2004 - National News Release: One big university announced today that they had fired their football coach. The announcement said, "The coach had a win-loss record that was much better than the previous three coaches, and his players had higher academic achievements than previous teams. His players and assistants loved him and the coach was a great human being with a high level of integrity and work ethics."

Now one may wonder, "Then why did he get fired?"

The announcement continued, "He did many things right from Sunday to Friday, but failed to win the Big Games* on Saturdays."

Reflection:

1. Having high degree of ethics in any encounter is always important. Having said that:
2. The process is relevant as long as it produces the expected results for which one was hired.
3. In work situations, if the final report is: "A for effort, F for result," then one must reexamine the efforts.

*The games against arch rival colleges are called “The Big Games.”

Humor in the Workplace: "It should not have happened in the first place..."

Each Wednesday, we feature a short story or cartoon to illustrate that there is no better place than the workplace to find humor and relieve stress. All that you have to do is look, listen and learn to laugh.

This Week: Games (in)decision makers play #5 - "It should not have happened in the first place".  At the first sign of a problem, start questioning the long-term direction, start name-calling, and begin the hunt for scapegoats. Spend time lamenting over the problem instead of looking for the solution.

Hint: You can click on the cartoon to enlarge it.

A Desk is a Dangerous Place to View the World ...

"A desk (and a conference room) are dangerous places to view (manage) the world." - John Le Carre.

Once upon a time, 32 people from one manufacturing company had gathered in a conference room for an emergency meeting, because a product for a major customer had a serious manufacturing defect.  Many meetings had already taken place between the employees of the company, all without resolution. By now, tension was high, and the customer was getting increasingly irritated with the delay.

Intense arguments were going on between all the people who had gathered for the occasion. The record keeper was frantically trying to keep up with the heated discussions, and the timekeeper was desperately alerting the participants to stay focused on the agenda. After patiently listening to the discussions, one new entrant to the scene interrupted and asked three questions:

1. How many of you have visited the customer and seen the problem first hand?

2. How many of you are representing the manufacturing area where the problem is occurring? 

3. Of the rest of you, how many have ever seen the exposed glass lid (the defect in question)?

He then excused the rest of the people from the room (including the record keeper and time keeper). There were only 7 people left in the room out of the original 32.  Less than an hour later, decisions were made, and the problem was effectively resolved.

(Footnote: That new entrant went on to become a very successful CEO)

Reflection: In his acceptance speech for 1995 American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, Steven Spielberg said, "One cannot create the great work of art unless he/she has felt/experienced it in some way."  Such is also true when creating a good design, excellent product or useful software or solving manufacturing and customer issues.

Sequel: After hearing the above quote, "A desk….dangerous place to view….", one zealous manager decided to take immediate action. Instead of the normal practice of having phone meetings with representatives of overseas companies from conference rooms in the USA, he flew all the way down to Japan for a “first hand investigation”. He summoned the manufacturers to join him in the hotel conference room for meetings and had dialogues across Japanese desks instead of US desks. (But he failed to go to the actual manufacturing facilities.)

Humor in the Workplace: Parrot, Parrot, who needs a Parrot?

Each Wednesday, we feature a short story or cartoon to illustrate that there is no better place than the workplace to find humor and relieve stress. All that you have to do is look, listen and learn to laugh.

This Week: More or less; what is better: "more with more, or more with less?". Faced with new challenges, if all that people can think of is standard reflex answers, why would an employer need them?

Hint: You can click on the cartoon to enlarge it.

When opportunity knocks, don’t go to wash your face

 

Many times, it is in the split second decisions that the fortunes are made or lost.

Storyline:

When I was young, not afraid to be curious and naïve about social status and etiquette, I asked a question to my grandfather. “Why is it that all these supposedly very smart (learned) people are not as rich as these other folks whom we call Banias (street merchants)?” His answer lay in an ancient Indian story.

There were two roommates. One of them was called Learned and the other one was called Merchant. Learned was supposed to be very educated because he had read almost every good book in the world, carried credentials from many well known schools, and knew many things about processes and procedures.

In contrast, Merchant was considered from the lower class because he had not read many books, did not even know the names of most of the institutions that Learned had gone to, and was ignorant about processes and procedures.

Early one morning, Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth, came to the door of these roommates with the intention of blessing one with a great fortune. Learned was an early riser and opened the door. Seeing Goddess Laxmi eagerly waiting to bless someone, Learned told her, "Please wait, let me wash my face and brush my teeth before I take your blessings on my forehead.” Learned was only following instructions as it pertained to the local code of conduct. Learned rushed into the bathroom to wash his face.

While this was going on, Merchant woke up and went to the door. Seeing Goddess Laxmi, eager to bless somebody, Merchant wasted no time in putting his head forward and asked for her blessings. He decided that he would have the rest of his life to wash his face and brush his teeth, but knew that he might never see Laxmi again.

When Learned returned from the bathroom, Laxmi was gone. Merchant was the one blessed with fortune and good luck.  "And that’s why Bania’s (Merchants) are richer than the Learned people," said my grandpa as he finished the story.

Reflection:

The difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person, between a successful business and an unsuccessful business, is not in the lack of ideas or opportunities, but in the lack of timely action.

Recognize when an opportunity is knocking at your door and quickly act upon it.

Humor in the Workplace: "... but it is the supervisors"

Each Wednesday, we feature a short story or cartoon to illustrate that there is no better place than the workplace to find humor and relieve stress. All that you have to do is look, listen and learn to laugh.

This week: "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves (Tolstoy)" and "I must be the change I want to see in this world (Gandhi)".

Hint: You can click on the cartoon to enlarge it.

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference...

"Give me the best person to do the job, the second best is too expensive." - Senior Rockefeller.

Storyline:

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him,  and when he arrived, he immediately went to work.

He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"

So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer ......................... $          2.00
Knowing where to tap  ......................... $       9998.00

Reflection:

"Experience is not what happens to a person; it is what a person does with what has happened to him/her."