Friday Reflections

When Preparation Meets Opportunity.

POINT TO PONDER:  “A winning effort begins with preparation.”  - Joe Gibbs

STORYLINE: by Jim Mulready (repeat from March 8,2012)

Rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose grew up admiring musicians like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Hendrix. Born in San Francisco and reared in Denver, he returned to San Francisco in 1968 to be around the “San Francisco Sound” that was becoming popular at the time. Music was his passion; he practiced in the evening and supported himself doing repair and carpentry jobs during the day. He was the kind of young man most people would think of as “just another starving musician.”

In 1970, while doing an office remodel, he met promoter Bill Graham who introduced him to his partner and music producer, David Rubinson. Graham and Rubinson ran a small record label at the time (Fillmore Records) and after watching Montrose play with his band, Sawbuck, they signed them to a recording contract. Rubinson was so impressed with Montrose's talent and ambition that he got him some session work with the Pointer Sisters and keyboardist Herbie Hancock. Then came his big break.

In 1971, Van Morrison was assembling a band for a new album, eventually released as Tupelo Honey. Rubinson secured Montrose an audition and he got the job. After two albums Morrison moved onto another band and Ronny got a job touring with Boz Scaggs for 3 months.

Now established, Montrose went on to a 40+ year musical career. In addition to forming his own band several times, he played with such bright lights as Sammy Hagar, Edgar Winters, the Neville Brothers, the Beau Brummels, and many others. He continues doing session work for many other performers and recorded countless movie soundtracks.

He continued touring until his untimely death from prostrate cancer last week (March 3, 2012), passing at the age of 64 years.

REFLECTION

At some point you will meet someone who will absolutely change the direction of your life. You won't see it coming and you probably won't even realize it while it's happening. Only in hindsight will it become obvious who that person meant. When Ronnie Montrose took that carpentry job remodeling an office, he had no idea who Bill Graham and David Rubinson were, but they saw his talent and gave him a chance.

Ronnie took care of the preparation by being the best musician he could; Graham and Rubinson provided opportunity. Preparation + Opportunity = Success. What have you done today to prepare yourself? 

The Basics

POINT TO PONDER: Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know- Pema Chodron

STORY LINE: I have been fortunate to have learned a great deal from many wonderful mentors, teachers, and bosses in my life. Even in the pressure cooker environment of High Technology people have taken the time to impart “soft” lessons to me. The following lesson, written by an unknown author, was given to me by one of my senior colleagues and a friend during the mid-part of my career. Looking back, he meant well.

The Basics

You Will Receive A Body
You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.  

You Will Have Learning Experiences
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school, you will have the opportunity to learn lessons - you may like the lesson or think them irrelevant and stupid.  

There Are No Mistakes, Only Lessons
There is a process of trial and error; experimentation. The 'failed' experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately 'works'.  

A Lesson Is Repeated Until It Is Learned
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.  

Learning Does Not End. 
There is no part of Life that does not contain learning. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.  

'There' Is No Better Than 'Here'. 
When your 'there' has become a 'here', you will simply obtain another 'there' that will again look better than 'here'.  

Others Are Merely Mirrors Of You. 
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.  

What You Make Of Your Life Is Up To You. 
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.  

Your Answers Lie Inside You. 
The answers to Life's questions lie inside you. All you need do is look, listen and trust. 

You Can Forget All This or Make it Worthwhile.

Breaking a Rookie into the Game. Promoting an Employee to the Next Level.

Point to Ponder: In business or in sports, people are hired based on their skills. The day of reckoning is when a person is asked to perform in situations where the game is on the line with thousands of people screaming and loud music playing in the background.

Story Line: Most organizations like corporations, sports teams, studios, normally go through a rigorous screening process to select “the right” candidate for a job.

But what determines the success of an employee and/or the team going forward? There is a dual responsibility here; on the employee and much more on the manager. Assessing when to break/introduce a person in different situations is an extremely important aspect of coaching and managing.

In the early 90s, a major league baseball team needed to win the final game of the season to get into the playoffs.

For the most crucial game of the season, the manager had two reliable veterans available to pitch but he decided to go with a very promising, hard throwing rookie pitcher.

He was known for being people’s manager and possibly envisioned headline stories written about the boldness and the genius of him, and the guts of the rookie. But the experienced fans who had watched the rookie’s performance during the regular season were concerned that even though he was impressive and talented, he had not been tested in any high pressure situations during the regular season.

For those who watched the game, the rest is history. With a few hits from the opponents, the rookie crumbled. The opponents piled up a huge lead against the rookie pitcher by the third inning and the team never recovered and lost.

The most promising rookie of the year could not recover from the emotional shock and left baseball. His attempt to return a few years later was not successful.

With that decision on that fateful day, the manager did disservice to the team and ruined the career of a very promising young man.

Reflection:

I have seen such things happen several times in my career and at every level of the organization. Putting bright employees in charge of managing projects without training or coaching about people management skills and emotional readiness, asking very promising employee to present in front of a very hostile senior management without understanding his emotional maturity and preparing him for the audience, promoting good employees to the next level without necessary political savviness and emotional maturity.

I have also seen cases on the other side where young rookie employees with great potential, with good coaching and mentoring, have hit home run (did extremely well) in the big league (complex projects, interactions with senior management) in their first at bat.

This is an important lesson for managers and leaders in any field. Before promoting a person or assigning him/her to manage crucial tasks in a high pressure environment (Big League), asses if the person is emotionally/mentally ready to handle that level of challenges. If not, spend more time in coaching and preparation.

Every Life Tells a Story

As we end the 34th year of Friday Reflection and 14th year on internet.

Points to Ponder: Childhood Memories

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

 

My dad taught me from my youngest childhood memories through these connections with Aboriginal and tribal people that you must always protect people's sacred status, regardless of the past. - Steve Irwin

Reflection: by Analisa  (written in the year 2007)

Friday Reflections began when I was a little girl growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley. Every Friday, after dinner; my father, mother, brother and I would pile into our beat up, light yellow, 1983 Volvo to go for our weekly rides. During these rides, which would last about an hour, my father would regale us with all sorts of intriguing stories. Always, there was a little touch of humor, but there was also something a little more: a lesson to be learned. The stories were almost always from his childhood or his current life in the high tech world. My father told these stories in such a casual way that my brother and I never felt like we were in school being lectured; we just enjoyed listening to stories.

These drives continued for years and years. No matter how long my father had worked through the week, he always had enough energy to take us out on those magical Friday night rides. My father is a great storyteller. Even to this day, he can tell a story with people so intrigued from beginning to end. We loved those stories and thought he was a fun dad.

Time passed till my brother and I reached our teenage years. The time we spent at home grew less; and the ability to get all four of us together on a Friday night, even any night, was nearly impossible. Eventually, my brother and I left for college and the stories stopped completely. We had started our own journeys into the world.

One Friday night, before I headed out the door with some friends, I logged into my email account. An email awaited in my inbox. It read: Friday Reflections. It was from my father. I opened it up; and there was one of his stories told in an email, just as if I were a little girl again sitting in the backseat of a 1983 light yellow Volvo listening intently to her dad.

By 2004, Friday Reflections was being distributed to hundreds of friends over the world. In 2007, my brother Rajiv, our friend Neil, and I embarked on making these stories available to others through World Wide Web and The Book.

We only hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as my brother, I and many friends have through the years. 

Story Line by Anand: On a few occasions I have been asked how I have so many stories to share. Once two colleagues asked that very same 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. Almost every day I get a new story from meeting people, reading or witnessing something or with a new 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.”

 

 

 

Give the ones you love wings to fly

 

Point to Ponder: I believe the children are our future Teach them well and let them lead the way Show them all the beauty they possess inside Give them a sense of pride to make it easier. --- from The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston

Story Line: Late last year many of our friends were busy visiting various college campuses with their children who will be graduating soon. Now that the verdicts are in and college selections are made, great preparations are going on for the journey to the new world for children. For parents it is the time of mixed emotions; happy to know their children will enter the next phase of life while they will need to adjust to the life without them; an empty nest.

While we are getting the updates from our friends, one humming bird conducted parallel activity right by our window under the extended roof; she laid eggs, had two cute babies and cared for them until they flew out. My mother and I watched the entire process; me observing several times a day while my mother spending a lot more time. The journey from the birth to an empty nest are captured in the video at the top.

It was fascinating and educational to see how the hummingbird mom selected the location; safe from predators and environmental conditions. (But not good for our recently cleaned window.J).  Even during the gusty winds of 40 miles per hour, the nest and babies did not fall down. The location was hard for bandits like Raven, Blue Jays and Mocking Birds who were constantly scouting for newborns (Spring Feast) from a large pole or nearby trees. But this location would have been too hard for them to get in and easily fly out.

She also made sure to come for feeding only when the bandits were not around. When they were on the pole or trees, she would fly around them and then go inside some far tree to distract them about the location. She fed each baby for almost equal time.

Ten days after birth, the babies started flapping their wings in preparation for the upcoming flight. Reminded me about plane flights where pilots do pre-checks before starting take off. The first one took off on The Tax Day (4/15) and tried his newly acquired flying skills for a few hours. But it seemed that it had hard time catching bugs so returned to the nest to join the sibling for the family lunch-on. Seemed the mother had some words with him/her because after that meal he/she never returned to the nest but was seen catching bugs in flight with the mom. Guess the first time he/she had flown off without proper training. (not listening to parents to be patient)

The second one was a late bloomer. Seems like he/she had filed an extension and waited for two more days to fly off. And fly he/she did. Right in front of the Blue Jay waiting on the pole. Risk Taking, Near Miss or Confidence; Whatever. Mom made sure that the little one knows the danger by flying with him/her that afternoon and also conducted proper training in catching bugs.

For the past two days, my mom and I are dealing with an empty nest. On the positive side, all of them have come by to greet in early morning or late afternoon.

Reflection: There are so many similarities in how different species prepare their young ones for the world they would be living in. Watching the entire process was educational and pure joy. (Even Window cleaning will have pleasant memories.)

Many events of this story are captured in a short video at the top of this reflection.

As many parents are getting ready for dealing with an empty nest, I would end with the following thought: Be Happy-You Did Good.

Note: For countries with no Youtube Access Use Vimeo Platform Link: https://vimeo.com/331296081 

The Best .... in the Planet

Point to Ponder: An Empty Vessel Sounds More – Indian Proverb

Story Line: Whenever I hear or read things like: We are the best company/people/organization in the Planet, some lifetime experiences resurface in my mind. Here are a few:

There was a textile mill (#1 at the time) in the town I grew up. For a while they had huge control on the market place due to their size, resources, connections and a special clothing material and seemed invincible. One of our relatives worked there in sales department. He used to say that his was the best team in the world until someone pointed out that they were the only one with that product at that time and his team didn’t need to do much to sell it. The real test came when the competition came in and economy worsened. The best team in the world, resting on their laurels and indulged in self-admiration, and having done nothing innovative and lacking imagination or real experience fizzled. Eventually with that kind mindset prevalent over the entire mill, they went under and got sold.

There is another story I heard in the later years where the company believed that they had the best manufacturing in the world, “The Best Bar None”, and will not allow outsiders, even the major customers, to go inside their facilities. Over time, they started losing their edge and lost tons of money. A new leader came in. He openly invited a major customer to go inside their factory and found out from them that his company was far behind the world in technology and manufacturing practices. Instead of prevalent mentality of Being the Best in the Universe and avoiding looking outside, he spent months in learning the best practices around the world. Upon return, he opened the closed minds and the company recovered and thrived.

Reflection: My father used to say: In good times you don’t have to do much to do sell anything or get a job in a good company. The real test of a person comes in during the bad times. Can you increase your sales during real bad times, can you find a job with a good company during worst of times?
The people and organizations who are humble, not resting on their laurels and constantly innovating make it through tough times and come out strong. Whereas the ones who are intoxicated with the arrogance and false sense of pride find out soon that they did not have any tangible value to offer (except EGO (if it is considered tangible value) either inside or outside; and panic and eventually perish.

So Be Humble, Be Open, Be Part of this World and Keep focus on being better than what you used to be. You will go a long way.

Seeing Autumn in The Silicon Valley

Point to Ponder: There is beauty wherever we have the ability to see it; for beauty lies in the one that experiences it.--Sujat Shah

Story Line: A week ago while observing some of the majestic, autumnal colors on the trees on our street; I told my wife, “come out and look outside. There are beautiful autumn colors in the neighborhood.” She smiled and wondered aloud, “where have you been all these years? They have been here every autumn for last 20 years that we have lived here. ”Autumn In Silicon Valley

Newly Awakened, I drove around the Silicon Valley looking at the same things I had many times before, but started seeing them differently. Whenever I am travelling to different places and see such an immense beauty, I unleash the capability of my camera to its fullest and take many photos. So in order to be fair and nonpartial, I went around the neighborhood and let my camera roll. (except for the photos of Golden Gate Bridge and two subsequent ones, the rest of the photos are from the Silicon Valley.)

Reflection: This encounter reminded me of a reflection three years ago (Better than the Best) when a fellow traveler in Fiji asked us which place was the best amongst all we had been in the world. Below are a few paragraphs from that reflection.

My wife and I reflected on this encounter in the evening over dinner. We recalled every destination we have been to in last six months and all of them had beautiful places, cultures and people. A pattern emerged as all too often we would ask ourselves in each new place, “Can there be a place better than this?” And when the next encounter came, we wondered the same thing.

This feeling did not go away once we returned home and went to the marshlands in Palo Alto. My wife and I watched as this white egret glided past us, rising higher over the marsh, and into the distance against a spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay. It was free, it was graceful, and it was beautiful. And for a quiet moment we both just watched… Once it was gone, I finally had my answer. I turned to my wife and said, “This place. This is the best. Right here and right now…”

“Only later do we realize, in the next encounter, that beauty is everywhere in this world all around you: in nature, in cultures, and in people. If we can get in harmony with the present.”

The difference between a degree and an education

"Education comes from within; you get it by struggle and effort and thought." -Napoleon Hill

Storyline:

Some years ago, I took two friends to a party hosted by a successful and well-known local businessman. One of these friends had graduated from Stanford, while the other carried triple crown honors: a Bachelors from M.I.T, a Masters from Harvard and a Ph.D from Stanford.

Our host was very cordial and down-to-earth, and my friends spent considerable time conversing with him. They were very impressed with his knowledge of world affairs and business, his positive attitude and the way he treated people.

On the way back, I casually mentioned to them that our host had been profiled in the Bicentennial issue of Time magazine (covering a story of successful immigrants) and that he has also been featured on TV  and in newspapers.

One of the guys asked "Which university did he go to and what did he major in?"

I said, "He has only been through elementary school. After that, he was sent to Africa for labor jobs to support his family. From there he went to England and worked in a machine shop, saved money and came to America to start a business. Now he is living the American Dream."

Said the other friend, "But talking to him, I felt he was very educated. It's difficult to believe that he does not have a degree!"

Too often, we mix up a Degree and an Education.

We get a "Degree" by demonstrating a certain level of proficiency in certain field: e.g. science, arts, business, etc.

Whereas we demonstrate "Education" through things such as: how we respect and treat every individual, how we handle difficulties and successes, our value system, our character, the type of choices that we make.

 

Reflection:

Most resumes of job applicants list degrees under the "Education" section. But the real proof of education lies in the section called "Experience" and how the person has handled those experiences.

The Second File

The Second File

Points to Ponder: “In the Business world there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends.” Mr. D’s very last advice to me in October 1983.

Story Line: My personal belongings were already in the trunk and I was ready to depart, the last time as an employee, from the parking lot of the very first company I had worked for when I saw Mr. D walking towards his car. Mr. D was the general manager of our division and over my three years as an expat, I had developed a good rapport with him.

I immediately got out of my car and rushed to him. I thanked him for the opportunities the company had given me for the previous eight years and the many valuable lessons I had learned; listening to his stories whenever he visited our site and also in meetings during my visits back to the headquarters. Mr. D was touched and with his car's door half open, his hand holding his coat slung over his shoulder and with legs crossed he told me, “The trouble with you was that you only saw good in people”*. Seeing my surprise, he continued, “You have to keep two files on people (know/aware of the bad side of people too). You have to be very careful when to open The Second File but it must kept it in case the situation warrants” (at that time my guess of what he meant; when people go out of line and try to hurt you). He ended by stating, "In the business world there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends”. As he concluded, I realized that Mr. D had just imparted yet another lesson from his career to me. We shook hands and with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart I walked back to my car. 

As I started growing within the corporate world and always led by a curious nature, I started observing what went around. I understood how true and valuable Mr. D’s parting advice was as I saw office politics unfold. I used to share stories about Mr. D with people at work. They would laugh, many thinking they were the stuff of water cooler talk and lunch time fun. 

Then...

It was the week of July 4^th, our independence day. All our employees received a memo from the CEO stating that the second senior-most executive in the company would no longer be with us; citing and choosing to end with the standard line, “Left to pursue other interests”. Somehow, the tone of the language in the memo seemed harsh and was also a big surprise because the executive who had "Left to pursue other interests" was well liked across the company and had an outstanding track record with our customers. I rushed to our department's Senior VP to ask him what could have happened. He asked me to close the door to his office. Bursting into laughter he said, “The Second File opened.” He wouldn’t say anything else because of the confidentiality his position demanded. 

My thoughts shifted to the executive who had been let go; I amongst many in the company liked his leadership style and pleasant personality. He was brought in from another site because the board had insisted CEO to have a succession plan. He was very good at his job and also a friendly and caring person. He was well liked across the board and we had even heard that the board of directors liked him as well. Having read the history of many empires, sometimes I worried that when one becomes more popular than the boss, it may be time to look for another job. 

Over time, the news about the cause of the executive’s demise and accusations against him started leaking out. Hearing the reasons was shocking. Many believed they were not true and their take was that it was "The Second File" that was put into effect. Yet another time one of many of Mr. D’s lessons had come true. 

Over my 40 year career, I have seen "The Second File" played out in various different scenarios; some of them very sad. The lessons Mr. D imparted to me in my foundational years; to observe and to be aware of this "Second File" even though I chose not to keep one on any person are still of lifelong value. I did not exercise the tricks and techniques but just being aware of them, to understand and know they were there helped me keep my life stress free. I still like to see the good in people, but it doesn't hurt to know that others might be collecting information for a second file as well. 

Reflection: Being naïve and inexperienced I used to get shivers when I used to hear some of Mr. D’s stories and the lessons they had in them. I couldn’t believe how the real world could be like that... I hoped his stories were reserved for isolated cases. But as the years passed, and I matured, I realized that "The Second Files" are the reserved weapons in the business world’s complex Art of War and they have no expiration date. The degree to which they are used depends on how far out of line the other party is with the establishment, how much of a threat the party causes on the ruling Janata or how envious some people are of the person’s success. These "Second Files" are also kept by seasoned personnel on the establishments they work for, and when the time comes, they often walk away with handsome gift packages even if they lose the battle. 

*There was a background story behind that statement which will be the subject of future Friday Reflection.

Filing Cabinet Picture Source: Es.123rf.com

Related Story: In the Corporate Kingdom, Like the Animal Kingdom - Few Lions Die A Natural Death

Corporate Kingdom

 

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.