Every Life Tells a Story

POINT TO PONDER

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone? 

 

                                    - Quote from the movie "Stand By Me" by Stephen King

 

 

 

STORY LINE by Anand Shah

 

This reflection is a collection of my own personal stories about people, places and experiences that have been instrumental in shaping the career I was fortunate to have over the years.

1. Ask one more question, Try one more time: I was admitted for four years Bachelor in EE degree program at USC. A year and half later, I had graduated with Masters in EE.  http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2009/02/ask-one-more-question-.html
2. In Asia most of the business is done over a cup of tea (Memories of late Mr. Fran Dowd President and GM of Raytheon Semiconductor.)
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2013/02/in-asia-most-of.html
3. "I Sent You to Manila to Solve My Problems, Not Report More..." (Mr. Dowd)
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2012/03/solve-my-problems-not-report-more.html
4. Constancy of Purpose: Lessons in Leadership from Craig Barrett http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2009/06/constancy-of-purpose.html
5. “In this fast moving industry, be ready to change a document before the ink is dry.” Robert Noyce when I asked for advice in April 1984. (Friday, October 15, 2004 Subject: Friday Reflections: Reach out and touch some one. From the Life of Robert Noyce. Published before FR went on WWW. Copy available to readers upon request)
6. “The best kind of people (Bosses, Mentors, Friends) are those who come into your life, and make you see the sun where you once saw clouds. People who believe in you so much, that you start to believe in you too. They are once in a lifetime type of people."
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2013/10/have-a-nice-bosses-day.html    (Joe Z)
   Don’t burn your bridges: http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2008/04/dont-burn-your.html
   To All The Bosses I have loved before
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2012/10/to-all-the-bosses.html
7. Learn from the mistakes/experiences of others. You will have plenty of time to make your own. (Louis Liang)
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2009/04/learn-from-the-mistakesexperiences-of-others-you-will-have-plenty-of-time-to-make-your-own-.html
8. Who is the most important sales person of it all? (Pravin R.Shah)
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2009/09/coming-to-think-of-it-who-is-the-most-important-salesperson-of-it-all.html
9. Never look down on anybody….(Vajubhai Our school principal)
   http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2009/02/lessons-about-life-from-vajubhai-our-school-principal.html
10. What is your worth? (Gary Remmen)
    http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2015/04/whats-your-worth.html
11. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after sweetness of low price is forgotten.
    http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2013/09/the-bitterness-of-poor-quality-remains-long-after-the-sweetness-of-a-low-price-is-forgotten.html
12. “The Effective Internal Solutions” do not create a problem for the customer. Gordon Moore (FR published on 12/3/2004 before FR went on WWW. Copy available to readers upon request)
13. When opportunity comes knocking, Don’t go to wash your face
    http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2012/03/when-opportunity-comes.html
14. The Price of “Un” (Craig Barrett, Vajubhai, Sheldon Taylor…)
    http://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/2012/06/the-price-of-un.html

 

REFLECTION

 

On a few occasions I have been asked how I have so many stories to share. Most recently, two colleagues asked that very thing. Interestingly in a half an hour conversation with them, they had shared a few stories of their own that could be Friday Reflection entries of their own. I pointed this idea out to them. I enjoy reflecting after a satisfactory encounter with any person, place or new learning experience. My greatest joy is in being able to recall these experience and share them with others. Every life has a story. Don’t be afraid to share! Because as I have quoted many times before, “things that are given away are never lost.”

Comments

[Learner]

This story (Good Employees are hard to find. Have a nice boss’s day) makes me reflect on my thoughts after reading your FR last week (What’s Your Worth?)…

I questioned myself last week after reading the FR on what is my portfolio? I even had a skills/career development discussion with my wife… (we don’t talk much about this kind of things)
The recognition as good employees or even good entrepreneurs will be the consequence of us constantly looking at ways to improve/add into capability portfolio.

[A friend from Taipei]

There are so many good reminders for me here, especially as I make another job transition.

I really like this one, it’s rather timely.
2. A good general always inspects his ground before he goes into the war (Patton Quote told by my former boss Jim Boyd). He used to emphasize to new hires the need for studying the environment before starting to make major changes.

I still struggle with this one I think.
You must know your personal worth. (Gary Remmen)

I need to figure out this as a manager
A desk is a dangerous place to view the world. I don’t want desktop engineers and tabletop managers. (Jim Boyd - It was the late 70s. We had only one conference room in the entire plant. Meetings took place on production floor.)

I need to work on this, it’s a good reminder.
And one of the the things he learned was to hold back from flaunting his knowledge (which was plentiful), instead asking inquiring questions. In turn, we as employees learned through practical experience by doing, making mistakes, and correcting them. Through his approach, he motivated and inspired outstanding performance from his employees.

This is exactly how I was introduced to my first job and Process Engineering by my first manager.
You can’t be a good engineer unless you have experienced all aspects of the processes yourself. Go and install some flow meters, clean the tubes and vacuum pumps with technicians, mix some acid baths and load some boats in furnaces before you start working on the process. (Joe Z)

Thank you as always for sharing, and I hope that you’ll continue sending these out