Category: Management

Developing Ownership

Business Ownership is a looked upon personality trait for leaders, team builders and those who are managing people. Taking ownership about things is a human trait. But taking ownership of situations, circumstances and people doesn’t comes easy. A number of business managers complaint about the lack of ownership among the team members. Developing ownership amongst employees is the challenge a number of leaders come across. I was finishing up a TNA – Training Need Analysis at a Company in BFSI industry and somewhere during the process – felt that all a company lacks these days is the – Employees with ownership & belongingness as a trait. This post is been due since three weeks and the idea was to share and ponder with you my readers – on what companies can do to develop ownership among it employees? Following are few tips I could streamline, please feel free to share your take and ideas on the same: 1. Delegate Smartly: Usually employees don’t take decisions or take ownership as they are afraid of taking a decision which will not be supported by the management. This problem can be solved by delegating effectively. You need to clearly communicate the responsibility of decision making as well as responsibility of the results. When you assign any responsibility to someone you also need to give him freedom to make necessary (at least routine) decisions required to executive the assignment. For any strategic decisions regarding the project you need to take your employees in confidence. Delegation requires a lot of will, time and energy to communicate your expectations but once done properly it helps developing ownership. 2. Have a Plan: Align your team with the vision of the company and help them understand where do they fit in the picture. Once people have understanding of the key objectives, the ownership comes in automatically. As a leader you also need to ensure your team is engaged properly with the broader goals and if you help them succeed and grow, you may be surprised to see what they achieve. 3. Let Employees Speak Out: Employees feel more empowered when they are allowed to speak and contribute ideas and solutions to the problems. Their voice will define the value they bring to the organization. 4. Allow for Mistakes: As a project manager one may have to make a number of decisions in a day and there are many project managers who keep on delaying decisions as they are afraid of taking a wrong decision which may hamper their growth in the company. Allowing people to make mistakes plays a very important part in building a sense of ownership. Mistakes help people learn new lessons and broaden their horizon. 5. Create United Sense of Purpose: When you collaborate on goals and decisions with your employees and connect them to the bigger picture, they develop a united sense of purpose and they tend to be more participative and look beyond their role. The united sense of purpose that employee ownership delivers helps attract and retain the best talent. 6. Build in Daily Reminders of Your Mission: For the first time when I visited Shoppers Stop to conduct a training program, I encountered an amazing but incredibly simple way of reminding all its employees of its mission. At 10:45 am all the Shoppers Stop employees across all the stores PAN India, including their corporate office staff at Mumbai, will stand up and everyone will sing their anthem. Shoppers Stop anthem has a wonderful lyrics and reminds their company mission to their employees. I found it as a very powerful daily reminder of the company mission. Due to such inbuilt daily reminder no doubts Shoppers Stop is amongst most admired retail brands in India. 7. Reward Employees: Who Go Beyond the Norms: Nothing can quell desire to give extra than not feeling recognized. Rewarding employees who go beyond the norms helps in developing ownership amongst employees. I remember a store manager of a retail store in Mumbai opening the store very late in the night to help a customer. The customer was to get engaged the next morning but had lost her luggage in the flight. Though opening a retail store in the absence of the security staff posed a big risk but to help his customer the store manager went beyond the norms. And he was recognized for going beyond the norms and helping the customer by his company. Nothing motivates an employee more than recognizing his contribution to the company goals.   These are the 7 tips which I could think of as a practice for developing ownership among the employees. I am sure these are helpful not only for big corporates but also for SMEs, which mostly work on resource restrictions. The above pointers are also some of the reasons why some of the startups have excelled quickly.

Life Lessons from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

It was around 7:40 pm when my wife told me about demise of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I thought she must have seen the picture circulating on various social media wherein Jharkahnd Education Minister paid floral tribute to Dr. Kalam thinking he’s no more and I ignored the news. I was having dinner when I switched on to TimesNow news channels and was shocked to know whatever my wife had told was true and Dr. Kalam was no more. It was very sad news as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was such a big role model and inspiration for millions of people for his simplicity, humbleness and dedication towards our nation and its people. There are following life lessons we can learn from Dr. Kalam: Give Back to the Society: If you have achieved something in your lives, give something back to the society as not everyone is as blessed as you are. You need not to have a lot of money to be able to give donations to the NGOs. You can give back to the society by raising your kids well, by volunteer to help children, by providing food and shlter to someone in need and by suing your skills and teaching other. Children provide us the best opportunity to give back to the society. Learn to Manage Failure: Dr. Dhawan was the chairman of ISRO and Dr. Kalam was the project Director for Rohini Satellite Launch in August 1979. The satellite was launched but the launch rocket fell in the Bay of Bengal after few seconds of its launch and it was a major setback to Indian Space Program. The press conference was supposed to be attended by Dr. Kalam but Prof. Dhawan took the responsibility of the failure and gave assurance to the media personnel that the mission will be completed next year. Next year, in 1980, after launching the satellite successfully into the orbit, Prof. Dhawan asked Dr. Kalam to face the media and conduct the press conference. When failure occurs a leader owns the failure and when success comes a leader gives it his team. A leader should learn how to manage failure and should take full responsibility of the failure. Have a Vision/ Dream: He once said, “Dreams are not what you see in sleep, dream is the thing which does not let you sleep”. The single most important factor to drive the human civilization ahead is our Dream. If you have a dream, nurture it with hard work and whatever circumstances never let your dreams die. People with dream move far ahead than people with none. In one of his speeches at India Parliament he recited his poem, “The Vision”: I climbed and climbed Where’s the peak, my Lord? I ploughed and ploughed Where is the knowledge treasure, my Lord? I sailed and sailed Where is the island of the peace, my Lord? Almighty bless my nation With vision and sweat resulting into happiness. Humility & Modesty: Though Dr. Kalam was awarded the highest civil award of India, the Bharat Ratna, he never liked being called Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He even sent circular across DRDO, India’s premier research agency, to not to refer him Bharat Ratna. For a leader the ambition should be greatness of work and people rather than the leader himself. A leader should always be humble and down to earth and should keep a low profile. Follow Your Passion: Whatever you do in your lives do with passion and the success will follow. Passion is powerful feeling of enthusiasm inside us. If you are enthusiastic and passionate about your work you will overcome many obstacles and move up in your lives. Your passion helps you to improve and get better in your lives. Don’t be victim of your situations. Find something you love to do so much you can’t wait for sun to rise to do it all again. RIP Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

How to Wake Up Early?

I am an early riser and a number of friends ask me how to wake up early? In this post I’ll share the benefits of waking up early and some  very simple nut powerful way which will help you in waking up early in the morning. There’s one common trait found in all successful people world over- they all are early risers and they start their day when most of others are still sleeping in their beds. Waking up early is amongst the most important lessons I learnt from my parents (Click here to read). We are living in an era where people love to watch TV and surf internet till late and these days there are not many early risers. I am not saying people who are not early risers are not successful but there are a number of benefits on early risers can avail. Following are the benefits for early risers: Exercise: Mornings are the best time to exercise in fresh air. A brisk morning walk of 45-50 minutes is considered one of the best exercises for human beings. Regular exercise improves fitness, provides energy for the whole day, boosts mood and helps with deep sleep cycles. Explore Nature’s Beauty: Watching rising sun and birds flying in large numbers is amongst the best feasts of the nature. There’s nothing more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise. Breakfast: A number of daily commuters on Delhi roads can be seen having their breakfasts in their cars as they don’t get time for most important work of the day i.e. to have breakfast. And if their mothers/wives/cooks too wake up late they leave for office without having breakfast after fasting for whole night. People who wake up early get ample time to have a healthy breakfast which will supply sufficient energy to work whole day Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Osho once said, “Morning is the best time to meditate. After the whole night’s rest you are very close to the center of your being. It is easier to move into the center consciously early in the morning than at any other time — because for the whole night you have been there at the center, you have just left it. Deep sleep rejuvenates because, although unconsciously, you enter into the core of your being — but you still enter. All the tiredness of the outside world is taken away, and all the wounds are healed, and all the dust disappears. You have taken a bath; you have dived deep into your own being. So in the morning when you have just awakened and you are very close to the center… Soon the periphery will take you, will possess you; you will have to go into the world of occupations. Before you go into that external journey, have a look, so that consciously you can see who you are. This is what meditation is all about. Hence, down the ages, the morning, early morning, when the earth is awakening and the trees are awakening and the birds are awakening and the sun is awakening, when the whole atmosphere is full of awakening, you can use this situation. You can ride on this tide of awakening and you can enter into your own being, awake, alert, aware. And your whole life will be transformed. And your whole day will be transformed because then you will have a different orientation. Then you can go into the marketplace and still you will remain in contact with your inner core.” Waking up early helps you develop a positive mental attitude as you can prepare for the challenges ahead in the day. Take Advantage of Extra Time: If you wake up just one hour earlier each morning you would gain 15 days in a year and that extra one hour can make all the difference to your lives. You will commute in less congested roads and reach their offices on or before time if you start your day early. One of my colleagues, Mr. Sachit Jain at Bharti AXA, was used to reach office before time so that he can finish important work without being interrupted by anyone and leave on time in the evening. Better Family Life: You can finish your work on time by starting early and you can leave office on time and you can spend quality time with your family without worrying about any pending work. Various studies has described that early risers are more optimistic and have better family lives than night owls. It’s not very difficult to become an early riser. It’s just a matter of taking action with discipline and motivation. Following are some quick tips which can help you develop a habit to get up early in the morning and plan your day in a better way: Put Your Alarm Away From Your Bed: Don’t keep alarm near your bed as you will either shut it up or put it on snooze. If the alarm is far from your bed you will have to leave your bed to shut it. You are up now and all you need to do is stay up. Don’t Fall in 5 Minute Trap: Once you are up better jump out of the bed and go out of your bedroom. Don’t fall in 5 minute more trap as once people start snoozing usually they keep on snoozing again and again. Remember you lose when you snooze. It’s very easy to wake up at first attempt. If 6-8 hours of sleep is not sufficient then 5 more minutes are not sufficient either. People who fall in 5 minute trap usually end up waking up guilty for not waking up at the first attempt. Start With Decremental Timing: Don’t be rigid about waking up early. If u want to start waking up at 5am from your daily routine of 7am, don’t start waking up at 5am next day onwards. It should be decremental say by 15 minutes every 4th day. Your… Continue reading How to Wake Up Early?

Getting Out of Fire Fighting- From Reactive to Proactive Management

In my previous post I shared 7 Strategies to Revive a dying company. In this post I will share the strategies of getting out of fire fighting mode by switching from reactive to proactive management. For a project management company it’s very important to meet the timelines and complete the project in the stipulated time. If the timelines are not met the company may face severe consequences and to avoid any financial loss many projects managers start work in fire fighting mode and often compromise the quality of the work. So what could be the best management style for a project manager? In today’s post I’ll discuss how to get out of fire fighting by being proactive from being reactive manager. Managing a project is very challenging as there are many internal as well external factors involved and it’s always difficult to control both the factors. Suppose you are doing a project, say Project A, which is nowhere near completion and your client is not giving you any extension to complete the project and pressurizes you to allocate more resources to complete the project on time. Now the management is forced to bow to your clients’ demands and call people from Project B. You also have timelines to meet for Project B and you are in fix where to focus more as new team will need some time to understand the Project A . In the process the timelines to complete Project B will be compromised. Now to meet timelines of Project B more people has to be called from Project C. A number of companies fall in this vicious cycle which forces the management to always be in fire fighting mode.Now question arises what is fire fighting? Is it something related to extinguishing fire? Fire fighting is an emergency allocation of resources required to deal with unforeseen problems. In management terms, Fire Fighting is another name of Reactive Management and is defined as reacting to unforeseen problems with a focus to somehow control the situation for the time being. If management has not foreseen or planned to handle the problem these often become hectic, stressful and a routine with no end in sight. Reactive Management happens due to poor planning, bad processes/policies or not fixing the accountability and a Project Manager will never be in able to control a situation. How can one move to Proactive Management from Reactive Management? Before I explain how to be proactive manager, we need to understand the meaning of Proactive Management. Proactive Management is basically to think ahead, foresee and plan for strategies to address expected as well as unexpected problems. Following are some simple but Powerful Strategies on How to manage Proactively and come out of Fire fighting mode: Process Management Do not take decision on the basis of your experience or intelligence. You may be a blessed manager but everyone is not. Make processes for all the business needs and follow the processes religiously and keep changing dysfunctional processes. A dysfunctional process may trigger a reactive management situation. Do thorough reviews of all the processes and make checklists for each situation. Make your team understand the importance of checklists and how these can help you keep a tap on the proceedings and take corrective measures if something goes wrong Time Management (Work Prioritization): Prioritize tasks or activities into urgent or important. Finish the critical tasks first and delegate the important activities. Important activities should be finished before they become urgent and pull you in fire fighting mode again. KAIZEN: Kaizen or continuous improvement is a long term approach to work that systematically seeks to achieve incremental changes in the processes in order to improve efficiency and quality. It is responsibility of everyone and not just selected few. Management should be open to new ideas with a focus on the solution. Ask your team members about their opinion on different issues.  

7 Strategies to Revive a Dying Company

There is so much of cut throat competition these days that many business houses operate on such small margins that even a small miscalculation or a bad decision can derail the company and it becomes very difficult for the management to revive the company and put it back on the right track. In this post I’ll share 7 strategies to revive a dying company which can help the management to turn around the company: Take Care of the Cash Flow: Showing huge profits in the books is very easy but managing steady cash flow to meet company’s day to day expenses is most important and challenging task. A company failing to manage its cash flow will not be able pay its liabilities and will be heading towards failure and ultimately closure. The first step is to take care of the cash flow. Engage the customers and resolve all the pending issues in a time bound manner. Once the issues are resolved then ask for the payment and at the same time the company may ask for more business with an assurance that no such issues will be allowed to come up in future and the client needs will be given proper attention. Money Saved is Money Earned: If the management fails to control the cost it increases the debt and then interest on the debt becomes another cost and it becomes like vicious cycle and if the management waits for too long there will hardly anything left to pay out the debts. The management should be ruthless in cost cutting and there’s nothing wrong in it whether there is a shortage of cash flow or not. As they say, ‘Every penny saved is penny earned’ and sometimes each penny saved can help pay liabilities. Shrinking the company can be more profitable than running a large but sick corporation. Prioritize Your Liabilities: Each liability is supposed to be paid back and prioritizing your liabilities will help you arrange and manage funds in a more efficient way. The Govt. liabilities should be the first to be settled on monthly basis and then vendor liabilities, employee salaries and other liabilities can be prioritized depending upon the need. Change Your Customer Base: People think firing a customer is like committing suicide as we don’t only lose a customer we also lose prospects of future business. The idea here is not to become choosy about clients but to scrutinize those who increase the productivity levels and those which cause stress. The reason could be any, non-performance, delayed timelines, delayed approvals, derailed project briefings, non-payments etc. What we have to see – where & with whom are we creating mutually beneficial environment. The attempt to get better shall be made- but the idea should be – to create healthy & beneficial associations and customer undoubtedly is the biggest stakeholder. Keep Your Employees Happy: This is amongst the most important aspects management should never ignore during crisis. Having bad morale and employees scared of being laid off is a sure shot way to closure of the company. When a company runs through a crisis so does its employees and they lose motivation to stay and perform. Only motivated employees can sail the company out of the crisis. Management should come forward and communicate their strategy and seek their help to negate the crisis. If some employees are to be laid off due to cost cutting their selection should be done on merit and not on employee’s personal rapport with management. The full & final settlement of laid off employees should be done on priority. Avoid giving high salary increment fearing losing good employees. Take them in confidence, explain marginal increments and why does every penny matter for the company. Keep Your Vendors Engaged: Your vendors are your life line and if you don’t have money and have failed several times in keeping your commitments and you are not sure when will you be able to pay to your vendors the management should keep the vendors engaged. There’s no harm in telling your vendors that the company is running through a bad phase and the company intend to return each and every penny and at this moment you need their support. My experience says your major problem will be solved and there are many vendors who may extend a helping hand during critical junctures. As and when you receive payments set aside a certain amount that you will pay back to your vendors. This will not only help you pay back your debt but also keep trust of your vendors. Getting Out of Fire Fighting: Management of a company in crisis tend to spend more time by being reactive to the problem than to foresee the problem and take appropriate actions to resolve it. Sometimes management knows about the problem but is so busy tackling other issues that it ignores the problem. When backlog of problems builds up management is forced to keep long term planning aside and tackle the problem in fire fighting mode. Such reactive management is very hectic, stressful, often inefficient and becomes a routine and management hardly gets time to foresee the problem and take appropriate actions to resolve. These 7 strategies to revive a dying company if implemented correctly can turn around the company. In my next post I’ll share some strategies to get out of fire fighting mode by switching from reactive to proactive management.

Are you Listening?

Are you Listening? A lot is been said, discussed, trained, argued on listening skills. Be it a debate on television, a healthy discussion with friends, a critical board room meeting or anything – listening holds importance everywhere. If you are listening, you are alert and you are into the game. If you aren’t – you are surely missing something! While thinking about this phenomena, this practice, this significant trait, I was thinking about the 3 princes who left a great message for all of us about Active Listening. Once there was a king who had three sons. As the king was aging, he decided that he should handover his throne to his sons. He consulted to his wisest ministers and reached a conclusion that as he doesn’t have a big empire so he can’t divide his empire in three parts and give it to his sons. So he decided that he will hold competition which will assess the Princes on various parameters like intelligence, diplomacy, strategy etc. After some more consultations with his ministers he announced the competition and invited all his countrymen to witness the occasion. The competition began. The princes were given very difficult tasks to perform and they finished those tasks very efficiently. Then there was a competition to check their knowledge on topics like diplomacy, war, strategy, economics, politics etc. They all answered the most difficult questions with ease and at the end of the competition their scores tied. This was a big problem for the king as he was at the crossroads again. He announced to extend the competition for one more day and returned to his palace. He called his ministers again and discussed the days’ outcome. One of his ministers suggested something and the king agreed to him. Next day the competition begun and everyone was expecting something very tough to happen. The King gestured and there came three statues made up of Gold, Silver & Bronze. Then he asked all three prince to examine and pick the best statue. First came the Eldest, he examined the three statues and came back to his seat. Then came the middle one, he examined the statues and returned to his seat. Lastly it was turn of the youngest prince. He examined the statues carefully and after spending some time he too returned to his seat and sat. Now king called the eldest prince and asked his opinion. The eldest prince answered that the Gold statue is the best as it’s made of gold which the most precious metal and signifies prosperity. Hence the statue made up of Gold is the best. Unsatisfied with the answer of the eldest prince, the king called the younger one and asked his opinion, he answered that the Silver Statue is the best as nature of silver is cold so it would help control anger and a Kings greatest asset is to control his emotions and take a rational decision. So statue made up of silver is the best. King liked the answer but was not fully satisfied and called the youngest prince for his judgment. The youngest prince answered the bronze statue is the best statue. The King asked the reason behind adjudging the bronze statue as the best. To explain his choice, the prince asked a servant to bring a long bamboo stick. The servant brought the bamboo stick and gave it to him. Then the prince picked the Gold statue and put the bamboo stick in its ear. To everyone’s surprise the bamboo came out of the other ear. Then he picked the silver statue and inserted the bamboo stick in its ear and it came out of the mouth. After that he inserted the stick in the other ear and it came out of the mouth again. now he picked the third statue and inserted the stick in the ear of the same. Everyone was expecting that the stick will come out through other ear or mouth. But it didn’t. The Prince inserted the remaining stick in the ear but there was no sign of the stick. He placed it at its position. And picked the gold statue and then explained, Gold is the most precious metal but still the statue made up of gold didn’t make the best statue as this statue represent people who comes at a great cost to the nation but doesn’t listen to their king. If there king will say anything to them they will listen from one ear and throw it out from the other ear. Such people are of no use and should be removed from their positions. Then he picked the silver statue and explained, there are people whom you’ll consider as closest to you. If you ever share your secrets with them they will listen with both the ears and will go out and spread your secrets everywhere they go. Such people are enemies of the country hence should be dealt very strictly. Then he picked the last statue and explained why he adjudged it as the best. One should be like bronze statue and should listen to everything not only with his ears but also with his eyes and heart. Whatever is being said to him, he should be able to absorb it and utilize it for everyone. The king was so happy with the answer that he announced him the winner of the competition and handed over the throne to him. This is an old story which tells us the importance of active listening. But like most of my listeners, you must be wondering – why this story for listening? How is this relevant – isn’t this about the decision making and analysis. When I got further into the understanding, I realized ‘No’ there is a message for listening skills. Imagine the similar situations in the work atmosphere, link the statue traits to the people we work with, we meet in everyday life. There are people who listen and ignore because they are firm… Continue reading Are you Listening?

Trap of 99- Striking the Work Life Balance

Once there was a Seth (Rich Man). One night the Seth and Sethani (his wife) were standing on the terrace of their house and they saw their neighbor, a Brahmin, playing with his kids and seemed very happy with his kids. While Brahmin was busy playing with his kids, Sethani told the Seth that their neighbors are poor still they are happier than them, they spend more time together. Upon listening to his wife he told his wife that their neighbors are happier because they are not under trap of 99. His wife asked what he means by the trap of 99. He asked his wife to wait for some time and she will come to know. Calling it a day then, they went to sleep. Next day when the Brahmin‘s wife woke up and opened the door of their house, she saw a small bag lying in front of the door. She looked around but couldn’t locate anyone. So she picked up the bag and brought it inside and called her husband. Upon opening the bag they saw gold coins in it. Curiously they counted the coins and found it has 99 coins. Brahmin was very happy to see the money and thanked God. But his wife said, “Had there been one more coin in it, they could have had 100 coins”. Upon seeing disappointment on his wife’s face, Brahmin told her not to worry as he’ll work hard and will earn one more gold coin and make it 100. And his wife told him that they spoiled their precious time and should have tried and made some money. And from that day onward they started putting more hard work in their work to earn gold coin and they forgot playing with their kids and stopped laughing. Now Sethani understood the reason behind the change in Brahmin’s family as they were trapped by 99. The ‘trap of 99’ is nothing but a phenomena of craving for more, which defines the human nature of not being satisfied and happy with what they have but to invite stress and tensions in the chase for what all they do not have. This is an age old story which tells us not to be trapped by 99 and teaches to enjoy our lives with whatever we have and to strike a work life balance. But what we see around is most of us are running in an endless rat race. People are so busy and held up in fulfilling their aspirations that they forget to give enough time to their families which results into more stressed lives, low productivity and a feeling of incomplete life. Take a moment and think about the increasing trend in divorce cases, children going against their parents, alcohol problem, drug abuse, suicides and what not. Society is victimized by this imbalance because families are becoming nuclear, parents cannot cope up with their work, kids are over burdened to perform and everybody needs space. What a vicious circle it is – of growth and development! Cost of living is so high these days that people hardly get enough money so they try to work harder to earn more and compromise on their personal life and aspirations. After all, man is a social animal. However, the trap doesn’t deny the hard-working or chase for achievement. It just suggests that a balance is required. One should not ignore his work; neither shall one stop dreaming/aspiring. But all this should not be done at the cost of his/her family. So what do we do in such a situation? Strike a Work Life BALANCE. Balancing work with life is a matter of grave concern for the companies as well as their employees. This kind of imbalance is resulting into low productivity and high attrition. It is unfortunate to see that most of the companies remain ignorant on the long term cost involved to create a work-life balanced environment. They fail to realize that this thus leads to loss of talent, performance and ultimately revenues. Here are some simple ways on how to strike balance between family and work life: 1. Prioritize: Do not plan too many things together and don’t treat everything as top priority. Finish urgent tasks first and then take important ones. The important tasks should be finished before they become urgent. Check what can wait. 2. Have a Support System-Delegate: One cannot do everything by himself. Try and have a support system among family, colleagues and friends, who are willing to help if something unexpected happens. Learn to delegate and help others, if they are in need. This will not only help to finish the task within time limits but will also create bonding within the team. But delegate only if you are not disturbing the other person’s schedule. 3. SAY ‘YES’ to ‘NO’: You must know – what you can take up in your stride and what not. If you have a list to abide by, you don’t have to agree to everything and to everyone. Say No to something which is beyond your physical & mental stamina because neither you’ll be able to do justice with the task and nor with yourself. Through this you would also avoid unnecessary negativity and pressure. 4. Set SMART Goals: Set Specific >> Measurable >> Action Oriented>> Realistic >>Time Bound Goals. Break your goals in smaller goals. Develop plan to reach those goals on daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis and keep a tab on your progress. If things don’t change and the strategy which you have formulated is not working, alter your strategy and make it in sync with the resources you have. Alteration in your strategy should not change your goals. It’s just like taking some new route to reach your destination. Don’t forget to share your goals with your family and make them partner to your goals. 5. Create Work Life Happiness: Don’t work to earn only money. Work to create happiness, towards self satisfaction and the money… Continue reading Trap of 99- Striking the Work Life Balance

Creativity and Innovation – The Thirsty Crow way

Let me take you back to the age old story of ‘Thirsty Crow’. Once there was a crow. He was very thirsty. He went here and there in search of water. At last he saw a water pot. He looked inside the pot. There was very little water inside the pot. The crow saw some stones nearby. He thought of a plan. He picked some stones and started putting stones inside the pot one by one. The water level came up. He drank the water and flew away happily. This story was amongst the first few I was told during my childhood. The then moral of the story was ‘‘Where there is will, there is a way’’ but life is all about exploring and evolving constantly. Going with that we human beings are the certainly the most accommodating and we instantly look for solutions. I have been observing people, reasons vary – the pressure of circumstances, peer pressure, family expectations and what not. Everybody loves short-cuts and ‘Jugaad’ for that reason is picking up fast. It is no more a way of life…it is smart strategy. The solution and results matter at last – for my driver, the maid, the friends, the colleagues and almost everyone around. If someone bangs the idea of ethical ways – people just disregard the philosophy and feel that you are not aware of how the world works. How to get the job done is no more a concern, to get the job done is what matters. To share an experience – few days back I had gone to meet my Uncle at Aligarh and on the way back my car broke down. I was around 25 kms from the city. I called my cousin to help and in half an hour’s time he came to the rescue with a mechanic. He checked my car and told me that it needs to be taken to workshop. I told him I can’t spare that much of time as it was already 3 pm and I had an urgent meeting the very next day. He said in Hindi, “To iska koi jugaad ker deta hoon” (“He will do something”- Read it as temporary arrangement) so that I can reach Gurgaon. He connected some wires to the battery and asked me to test if the car is fine. I checked and my car was working perfectly. I thanked him and started my journey to Gurgaon and in around 4 hours I was there at my home in Gurgaon. Next day I went to a nearby service station and got my car repaired. Defining Jugaad ‘Jugaad’ is a word which is used very frequently in day to day life. As per Wikipedia, Jugaad means an innovative fix or a simple work-around, sometimes pejoratively used for solutions that bend rules, or a resource that can be used as such, or a person who can solve a vexatious issue. Both concepts express a need to do what needs to be done, without regard to what is conventionally supposed to be possible. Indovation, Chinovation, Hack, Kludge are some of the words which are used as synonyms to Jugaad. All the concepts express need to do what needs to be done without taking the same old beaten path. And The Thirsty Crow was the first to travel ‘the Jugaad way’ and now I know the current moral of the story is to use possible means, creativity and innovation whichever can help human kind to live a solution driven life.