Golden Years 2 The Young and The Restless

Bodega Bay, California Photo by Anand Shah

Point to Ponder: Most of the things in life are simple and only the wise can see them them.- Paulo Coelho

Story Line: Coincidence or not but our grandsons were born in 2012, 2014 and 2016, the winning seasons of the San Francisco Giants. Little did I know how important a role they will play for me in immersing and enjoying the new phase of my life.

Our children were born in the beginning and prime stages of my career, respectively. For me, those years were spent on long hours at work and a lot of travel. So now, in my later years, when I listen to our children and my wife talk about all of the wonderful things they used to do, I feel that I missed out on some great times.

I believe my grandsons came into my life, now that I’m retired, as a second chance to make up for that lost time. The oldest introduced me to “Finding Nemo”. The first time I watched it with him I could not help but point out how important it is to listen to your parents so as not to get in trouble like Nemo did. The youngster did not seem to acknowledge my preaching and he kept insisting that we go on with the rest of the show and enjoy the thrill of it. Since that day I have watched the film 17 times with him. I have enjoyed it immensely.

A few months ago the middle one insisted that I change his diaper. So for the first time (yes for the first time- some may say “shame on you” for this, I know) I changed a baby’s diaper, with my wife guided me through each step of the way of course. I learned that Precision and Accuracy are of utmost importance in this process. Improper installation can result in high P/T, precision to tolerance (of my wife) ratio. I am proud to say that the kid was very happy with the outcome and the next time around even insisted that I change it alone without any help. After some convincing, we found a middle ground and my wife supervised my work from a distance. I think I must have done a good enough job because now he insists that I have no supervision at all and asks everyone to leave the room so I can perform the diaper change on my own. I have to say that it has boosted my confidence and for a moment I felt very happy about being a preferred supplier for the job, but then I got a bit worried that the kid does not yet understand the sole supplier risks I may inevitably pose. Anyway, my son’s words came to mind, “Dad, home is not work. Enjoy the flow of life”. So I moved on.

Watching the youngest one totally immersed in enjoying his milk while I am holding his bottle has been yet another experience. He takes his time, takes pauses in between, erases any thoughts of “RAPID” from my mind and has taught me to enjoy the experience. And finally, the process of burping him on my shoulder and the feeling in my heart of holding him is something hard to describe in words.

When the older one and the middle one have disputes about sharing toys, and I notice the lack of collaboration as the root cause, the memories of my work days return. The company had to hire special consultants and spend millions of dollars in of-site summits and week-long retreats in an appeal to senior executives to work together, cooperate, and get into the spirit of team-work (aka collaboration). But with these young souls I notice that they can be persuaded with patience and a few minutes work without incurring any major expenses. The more I interact with them the more I learn the value of explaining the “Why” of things, and though it may take some patience and time to explain on my part, I have found it works better than exercising authority and order them to do it (What, Where, Who, When things). I guess it is “Compliance” vs “Choice” scenario.

Reflection: There are so many things I am learning by interacting with and watching these young kids. Walking and listening to them telling me about flowers and lizards, waiting early on Thursdays mornings for the garbage trucks (which seems to make garbage truck guys very happy as there is someone excited and waiting at the curb to acknowledge and appreciate their work), there’s the stories about sea creatures and dinosaurs, and the lingering fragrance of the spilled milk on the shirts. It’s living in the moment, with no distractions of work or other things, and it is an amazing feeling. I now know what I had been missing all those years ago.  

 

Comments

[The Driven]

Very touching - thanks.

[alex]

It is very disturbing, indeed, that many people, including myself long years back, are performing these important processes without proper understanding of and compliance to Quality Systems.

Nice, educational, and funny notes, Anand!

[Yi Fang]

Thanks for the sharing. Very touching and brought smile to me. It reminds me a lot about how we relate our work to the life and sometimes may forget about the pure joy of the life itself. And also I am trying to enjoy every single moment with my son recently Which brought joy and reflection to me.

[CH]

If you still believe QOS is important to be installed into a family, I think it is time for you to get the feedback from your customers (grandsons). Having them to rate you! Ha! Ha!

[George Q]

Warm essay, a lot of thinking sparks between career and daily life......

[Fr Pulao Penang]

Having lots of fun with your grandchildren… Finding Dory is your next one (highly recommended) I’m sure you grandchildren will love it too…
Enjoy life… I love this - “enjoy the flow of life”

[lim]

Wonderful….17x of watching finding nemo (this is really nice movie, so cute + full of love & care); certified for diaper change process, waiting for truck and delight many people (grandkid, truck guy and U too)…..continue to treasure yr experience

[Shawn Munguia]

"And finally, the process of burping him on my shoulder and the feeling in my heart of holding him is something hard to describe in words." -Anand

Oh what a feeling it is... indescribable indeed.

It makes me think as my own children grow older, these feelings only multiply and amplify.

I love family time... thanks Anand for sharing

[Richard]

Having no children of my own, I still love borrowing the neighbor kids to wrestle in the living room, ride dirt bikes through the garden, and just play in the woods. It is amazing what young people can teach us even if they think we are doing the teaching. I am listening to "Extreme Ownership" and find that I need to remember to tell my family and my employees "why" I wish to follow a particular path. Without the explanation of "why" there is very little room to talk about how to best get the desired result. This also leaves me vulnerable to not finding the best path. While this was not the focus of your story, it did touch a cord with me. Thank you for continuing to lead so many of us, Anand.

[BHSC]

What a wonderful Friday reflection… and hilarious (P/T Ration, etc.) to boot.

Thank you for the wisdom, my friend.

[nguyen]

That was lovely, I always enjoy your weekly letters.
Enjoy,

[Curious Malay]

Next episode will be on Focal?? 

[Tess]

My triplets are now 16. I remember when they were in middle school and they see a baby or toddler, the comment is "Eww! Gross! "
Now that they're junior high school, the comment is "Oh! How cute". You can imagine how big my eyes grew and I said to them, No, I'm not taking care of any kids, No!No!
I don't miss the middle of the night wake ups, 4am showers because that's the only time available for me and the constant changing of diapers and did I say I have to keep a record of who got fed at what time, who had diaper changed and who took a nap? I surely don't miss those days!

[madhuri]

Just a wonderful reflection Anand.
It brought back warm memories of my sons.
We learnt in a hurry - Accuracy of diapering - Absolutely critical to prevent Excursions!

Enjoy The time. Don't think back to years ago. LOL- Is this me- giving you advice?
Looking forward to Golden years #3