Nuggets!

Job Interview!

Enter the first applicant.

�You see, we believe in simplicity, frankness and focused approach. So we prefer to have a simple & straight forward test for you � as part of selection process.�

�Sure.�

�Well, What is three plus two?�

�Five.�

Enter second applicant.

�Are you ready for the test?�

�Yes.�

�What is three plus two?

�Well, whatever boss says it is!�

Yes. You guessed it right � the second applicant got the job!

Mostly, it is the conventional wisdom/ accepted norm – that comes first!

When pushed to corner, what will you choose-? Orthodoxy or Truth? This defines the true test of character!

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Here is an incomplete list of secrets of success for strategic initiatives�.

Include some �fundamentalists� in your discussion on making things work � the folks who derive lot of energy by asking fundamental questions on any topic under discussion. It is very important to get the truly philosophical perspective that should be managed well in reality!

Seamless transformation comes from the pile of multiple, stand-alone mini projects (with deliverables in every two weeks of effort) � magically rolling into the big one!

Spend lot of time in blueprinting, little time in explaining, very little time in implementing� Execution should be the strategy!

Identify an introvert leader and a team largely comprised of extravert members.

Ensure information overload for the sponsors, fully federated communication with dependent groups and boundary-less communication within team members.

Let there be chaos in ways-of-working within teams, but ensure at least one individual has an undivided responsibility for every important portion/task of the project!

Use a portal for entire project activities right from communication, task planning, tracking & reporting. Abandon usage of email � saves documentation effort, guarantees participation, provides seamless reference and maintains trust & transparency!

Bring external experts with inch-wide, mile-deep experience and sponsors who are mile-wide, inch-deep experts! Don�t hesitate to stand-on-their shoulders � it helps to get a better view + confidence!

Let governance be at individual project level and integrated view with no participation from tactical projects, at the overall level! It is not a roll-up of issues that is important � segregation of roadblocks, if any.

Make sufficient provisions for failures, accidents, reworks and surprises � allow at least 20% of project effort for managing these � whenever they come. Take note of actions and results � so that they come handy for other projects or for totally new set of problems.

When in doubt or at cross roads to begin � start anywhere. Allow solution to emerge. When it does, learn to embrace when it makes sense. Allow anyone to lead. 

Make your own tools � start from any suitable generic set but make sure you build an unique set for yourself to use/deploy/distribute through out. Tools amplify capabilities and even small ones can make a big difference!

Take field trips routinely. Meet and listen carefully to all! Don�t take notes � but act swiftly. Action is the only rewarding gift – not intention.

Leave lot of blank tasks & time on project and individual calendars � Allow new tasks/ideas to enter and carefully add them in order to complete the overall picture � continuously!

Be risk-averse; work long hours but take lot of breaks and eat less, but frequently � always with your team! 

Be proud of what you do. Never talk anything about it. Don�t participate in any awards competition! Keep it simple and close to your heart! Let the flower blossom naturally!

Destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest time wasters in any project. We need not destroy the past. It is already gone! � Think only next 3 steps at every step!

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Performance in simplistic terms is a function of two key factors � ability and willingness!

Ability to perform is something to do with physical constraint of an individual like that of lifting 200 kgs of weight, fasting for 21 consecutive days, Singing for 48 hrs, working for 80 hrs a week, etc�

Willingness to perform is to do with the inherent interest to contribute � cheerful compliance to the job!

If one is willing, they can find ways to build the ability to perform. However, lack of willingness can only guarantee below par results – irrespective of the latent ability!

Who is good for your business � highly willing but not so able guy or highly capable but not so willing type? 

It depends on what is your business � if it is people centric, keep and invest on the first type and shamelessly weed out highly capable but not willing ones! They might be best suited for political parties, I guess! They will add lot of weight, as long as someone can lift them!

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It is surprising to see how many people associate frugality with poverty, cheap, affordability (or lack of it!).

Instead, it is refreshing to see frugality as associated with – novelty, value for money, fit for purpose. True power of avoiding waste! That’s what Frugal supposed to mean!

Be it  Frugal Healing,  Frugal Engineering or  Frugal Product/Service Strategy, the focus is on cutting everything unwanted/ not essential and offering no compromise on use/ application.

Luxury on the other hand is an indulgence rather than a necessity! It is associated with the quality believed to be possessed by something that is excessively expensive!

Given the most unpredictable nature of our current global economy, ever-changing consumer behavior and necessities around cost reduction, quality improvement and reduction in time-to-market, it is useful to adopt Frugal Luxury as the product/ service strategy.

Frugal Luxury as a theme can influence creation of products & services that will be novel, fit for purpose with a value for money approach but provide the best user experience and loyalty. This will also make the company offering this product / service innovate a lot more rapidly, be efficient and care for the eco-system!

This can also help shift the operational focus of companies from cost, quality and time pressures to growth, profitability and business sustainability priorities.

Be it  TATA NANO, HLL’s Frugal Innovation, HUL’s  Pureit, or  A Little World  the theme is simple – Frugal Luxury! The objective is preserving luxury of user experience at no extra cost than required! This benefited the customer and more than that the company itself! A true Win-Win!

Indulging in Frugality helps in immediate, short, medium and long run!

Focusing on Frugal Luxury while proposing, pursuing and promoting sustainable product/service strategy will soon be a necessity irrespective of the target – be it the always   emerging markets or currently struggling developed nations!

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Yes!

Every customer takes their own time and process of evaluation, references and careful design to enter into a relationship with any product or service of a company.

Once in this relationship, the expectation is to make it work � at any cost! Every mechanism of monitoring, governance & evaluation of an ongoing relationship is just to ensure that it is always on-track! � not to make it break!

Even when we buy a product or service for personal use, the story is the same � we always would like to know about the warranty, maintenance plans, recharge plans, replacement plans�.

Making the relationship break requires a lot of effort on all dimensions � continuously failing service delivery, product performance, always slipping promises and constantly evading responses across the organization!� No one leaves a relationship on a single account of failure!

Making the relationship work however requires one small act � Submission!

Relationship is always two-sided. It is always subject to test of time. At tough times, when one exercises the act of submission � a demonstration of �lack of false pride�, the other falls in place!

One way of submission is to express your concern clearly and precisely so that the other understands, appreciates and acts in a way to help both! That�s the power of true submission!

Any company, individual or a group that has no false pride will keep their relationships � naturally bounded!

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Yes! Looks like this is truly the most sought after art form!

Met around 8 different, highly talented  people (toppers recruited from their institutes) with very similar outlook to life � Remaining shielded from action is the best way � to keep themselves safe & secured at work!

Proof point being over 25 yrs of working in the same company � mostly in 2-3 different levels of the same role � undisturbed & hardly noticed!

Not sure what they gained and the company!

Everyone is expected to make it big/large � something, sometime, somewhere,� and somehow! � that�s the DREAM! But majority, give up – somewhere, sometime,� somehow!

Dreamer doers in the crowd of any section/segment will not be more than 10% of the population! It seems everyone else, practice and master the art of playing small! � mostly unknowingly! That�s the big stealth virus!

The world is so big, and it is easy to feel like just another number! We see so many things that need to be changed, so many things that could be better � at work, at home, in the neighborhood� everywhere! But we choose to feel powerless! So, we shrink from our expectations, desires and responsibilities!

It is easy to remain – a victim, silent to the calling, shy admitting a mistake or staying away from acting on candid feedback! – Simplest way for becoming prisoners of unfounded fears!

Playing small may offer comfort, but does no good to anyone! Still, we find a lot of people – living on playing small!

Does this justify the �art� form?

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The best advice one can get in any stage of their career is simple � �do what you like� and �like what you do!� Unless this is truly internalized, chances are that this state of mind will be a flip-flop – triggered by external, circumstantial influences, is very high! � Fragile, Oscillatory and not sustainable!

Sustainability is associated with Happiness! � most sought after state of mind! If happiness is your business model, there is a different need � �Doing Work That Matters!�

Yesterday, met a water pump mechanic who is always busy finding & fixing problems with a bright smile on the face – glued permanently. He is known for not being on-time, generally expensive and adventurous! Interestingly, people are ready to wait for him, pay as much he demands and willing to let him try innovative solutions!

He sounded rich in experience and money! It seems he has the habit of working on own with couple of helping hands employed as trainees for 6 months! There is a queue of people interested in working with him on probation. Mostly, these folks start own business after the training! Imagine – a master, training and building a base of competition for his own business!

Ask how does this work for him� He says: �I love seeing the smile on the face of my customers when their problem is solved. I have been lucky to put people in their happy zone once I solve their water problem. People call me �Bagiratha � the saintly king who was instrumental in getting Ganga down to earth!�. I count the smiles, the money follows. Will not charge any thing if I don�t solve the problem or my solution fails! When it is fixed, I ask for 10, people give me additional 100!� My trainees are happy to learn and be on their own. They will never compete with me� in fact, they form my independent network�. End of the day, I make my customers happy, employees happy and I am happy! I think the work I do matters a lot to everyone around me�so I have stuck to this business in this fashion for over 20 yrs!�

Doing work that matters!

Knowing that our work counts is to know that we count! A definitive goal for the year is – to explore and do what really matters!

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It is hard to disassociate  Pygmalion Effect from teachers – @school, @home or @work! Effective teachers, parents and mentors are the masters of this powerful expectation management principle.

Positive Pygmalion Effect makes you a brilliant star while the negative ensures a complete villain! They both create wonders almost from nothing!

As the master puts it -

�A backlog of challenge, freedom, respect, warmth, control and success develops positive self-images in students (employees) and encourages academic (professional) achievement. The absence of these factors makes for the person who is crippled psychologically.� ~ W.W. Purkey

To see the magic of Pygmalion Effect in action, it is important to build a life style around the characteristics described by  W.W. Purkey.

CHALLENGE: proposing high and achievable levels of accomplishment good enough to let the person (student/employee) discover their capacity for greater achievement � to ensure increase in Self-Esteem!

FREEDOM: allowing & accepting failure, mistakes so that they learn to take decisions on their own � without fear of rejection/humiliation! � to improve Self-Esteem!

RESPECT: authentic respect towards the individual to increase their self-respect and helping them learn to show respect to others. � improves Self-Esteem!

WARMTH: cordial relationship with the individual to ensure self-esteem.

CONTROL: control the feedback loop for sustainability of self-esteem

SUCCESS: style appropriate to facilitate & celebrate success v/s underscore & correct mistakes! Meaningful praise is more impactful than punitive criticism / correction. Reinforces Self-Esteem!

It appears that working on �Self-Esteem� can guarantee to bring the magical power of Pygmalion Effect into action!

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