Mobile has redefined the art of networking. How to make friends and how to keep the relations rejuvenated - has long been a subject matter for active discussion among thinkers and self-styled management gurus. But a small handset has challenged all those time-tested principles and techniques.
And the entire science of making friends and influencing people has come down to just two principles :
How to make friends ? Send them a message every day.
How to maintain relations? Send them a positive good morning message every day.
I do not entirely agree with these two rules. But many of my friends, relatives and students do treat them as gospel truths. And i am the victim. Every morning i receive tens of messages and the fact that you can't delete a message without opening it increases the agony. Of course, these commonplace messages do remind me of the sender but the vibrations sent telepathically from my side are not always positive.
But this morning i got a message which caught my attention and even after deleting it immediately, it refuses to leave me. And the message is :
3 stupid stages of life :
TEEN : You have time and energy but no money
ADULT : You have money and energy but no time
OLD : You have money and time but no energy!
So live every moment fully!!
How can we come out of this rut? If teens spare some time for a part time job and earn their pocket money or if adults tend to become better time managers or if the old ones continue to exercise and remain in shape - one would say. But is it that simple?
About the teen age, I am not very sure. But i can say one thing with reasonable conviction. Managing time for family and physical exercise in the adult age can help a lot. And some benefits will continue to be available in the old age as well. This may well be the most crucial life style challenge before the working population the world over today.
And the most important learning. Cellphones are just a tool. How to use it - is a valuable skill to learn!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Rajesh Khanna and the art of Time Management
Movies are a very popular source of entertainment. They also provide a very effective direction to society. In India, the young generation has always been crazy for bollywood and its movies. There have been countless actors and actresses, some of them have become stars and a very special few could get the label of superstars. Rajesh Khanna was crowned as the first superstar of Indian cinema. I want to specifically refer to one of his dialogues of one of his movies. The movie was named 'Bavarchi' (The chef). In a particular scene, he says, 'It's very simple to be great. But, it is very difficult to be simple!'
* * * * *
Time management is a very important tool to make optimum use of a person's calibre and efficiency. We are all fully aware of the fact that the almighty gives us a daily pension of 86400 seconds only. And this pension is available to everyone without any discrimination. Nobody will dispute the fact that our future entirely depends on use (or misuse) of this pension. And there are some very simple principles of time management which everyone is aware of. Let us try to enlist the most important of them.
1. Never postpone something for tomorrow that can be done today.
2. Have a time for everything and everything should be done on time.
3. Prioritize.
4. Make a to do list and keep on ticking the activities as you complete them.
5. Develop a full stop culture. Shun the comma habits.
6. Get up early. Start early. Be regular.
These are simple observations. Everyone of us has heard of them so many times. We know that these will help us greatly in our job. And we tend to promise to ourselves that we will follow them in future. And many of us keep on ignoring them in our practice.
It is really simple to be great!
But, it is definitely not easy to be simple!!
* * * * *
And let me tell you one more fact about Rajesh Khanna. He was not very punctual. He was usually very late on his sets. And i remember having read somewhere that many directors preferred Amitabh Bachchan to him primarily because Big B happened to be a much better time manager. More often that not, he was dot on time.
* * * * *
It is really simple to be great!
But, it is definitely not easy to be simple!!
And, today it is very important to follow these simple rules!!!
* * * * *
Time management is a very important tool to make optimum use of a person's calibre and efficiency. We are all fully aware of the fact that the almighty gives us a daily pension of 86400 seconds only. And this pension is available to everyone without any discrimination. Nobody will dispute the fact that our future entirely depends on use (or misuse) of this pension. And there are some very simple principles of time management which everyone is aware of. Let us try to enlist the most important of them.
1. Never postpone something for tomorrow that can be done today.
2. Have a time for everything and everything should be done on time.
3. Prioritize.
4. Make a to do list and keep on ticking the activities as you complete them.
5. Develop a full stop culture. Shun the comma habits.
6. Get up early. Start early. Be regular.
These are simple observations. Everyone of us has heard of them so many times. We know that these will help us greatly in our job. And we tend to promise to ourselves that we will follow them in future. And many of us keep on ignoring them in our practice.
It is really simple to be great!
But, it is definitely not easy to be simple!!
* * * * *
And let me tell you one more fact about Rajesh Khanna. He was not very punctual. He was usually very late on his sets. And i remember having read somewhere that many directors preferred Amitabh Bachchan to him primarily because Big B happened to be a much better time manager. More often that not, he was dot on time.
* * * * *
It is really simple to be great!
But, it is definitely not easy to be simple!!
And, today it is very important to follow these simple rules!!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
To get or to give?
Think big, Aim big, Think like a winner, Badi Soch Ka Bada Jadoo, You can win, You'll see it if you believe it etc. are very common titles or themes of what we get to read now a days. Today's child grows up while planning to start it big. Names like Dhirubhai Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Gautam Adani seem so close to him. Everybody is taught, encouraged and trained to look at oneself in the mirror and remind one that the future has just one thing in store and that is golden tremendous unending success. Low aim is crime and nobody is a criminal in the coming generation.
All this is fundamentally right. This helps everybody to overcome the mental barriers. The confidence is boosted up to a great extent. And when such a positive optimistic individual goes for any job, he reminds himself to be a die hard optimist. The idea of thinking big enters his soul and every action coming out is anything but realistic. When the interviewer asks him to state his career objective, prompt comes the reply, 'I want to be the CEO of a big multi national corporation'. This is expected to impress the interviewer and to have a big start.
But there seems to be a fundamental disconnect. What about the unglamorous but solid foundation? Nobody plasters or paints the foundation pillars below the ground level. But it is unquestionably the first step of a beautiful building. What should be the foundation of a successful corporate career?
Let me put this in another words. What should be initial focus of a career seeker? What i am going to get from this job or what i am going to contribute to this job. I am sure every experienced person knows that no corporate house would ever allow a performer to leave. To be very frank, performers with proven track record are so less in proportion in the work force today that they are always in demand. Let me give you some examples. Try to find out about the first job and the first assignment of Jamsetji Nusservanji Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, G D Birla, L N Mittal, N R Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Satyen (Sam) Gangaram Pitroda, Verghese Kurien, Subhash Chandra or Cawasji Nanabhoy Davar. All of them are shining examples of one and the only one fundamental principle of making a successful corporate career and that is -
"The more you strive to give, the more you get,
The more you strive to get, the less you get."
"If i always strive to give my best to the company i serve, it will do its best to retain me and to do the best it can do for me. In case it fires me in spite of that, my thanks to the great lord that it saved me from a sinking ship!"
And by the way, one should never reply to the career objective question as in the example above. No interviewer likes to listen to that because in crude street language it would mean, "Main tumhara Boss banana chahta hun." A perfect recipe for failure. Isn't it?
All this is fundamentally right. This helps everybody to overcome the mental barriers. The confidence is boosted up to a great extent. And when such a positive optimistic individual goes for any job, he reminds himself to be a die hard optimist. The idea of thinking big enters his soul and every action coming out is anything but realistic. When the interviewer asks him to state his career objective, prompt comes the reply, 'I want to be the CEO of a big multi national corporation'. This is expected to impress the interviewer and to have a big start.
But there seems to be a fundamental disconnect. What about the unglamorous but solid foundation? Nobody plasters or paints the foundation pillars below the ground level. But it is unquestionably the first step of a beautiful building. What should be the foundation of a successful corporate career?
Let me put this in another words. What should be initial focus of a career seeker? What i am going to get from this job or what i am going to contribute to this job. I am sure every experienced person knows that no corporate house would ever allow a performer to leave. To be very frank, performers with proven track record are so less in proportion in the work force today that they are always in demand. Let me give you some examples. Try to find out about the first job and the first assignment of Jamsetji Nusservanji Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, G D Birla, L N Mittal, N R Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Satyen (Sam) Gangaram Pitroda, Verghese Kurien, Subhash Chandra or Cawasji Nanabhoy Davar. All of them are shining examples of one and the only one fundamental principle of making a successful corporate career and that is -
"The more you strive to give, the more you get,
The more you strive to get, the less you get."
"If i always strive to give my best to the company i serve, it will do its best to retain me and to do the best it can do for me. In case it fires me in spite of that, my thanks to the great lord that it saved me from a sinking ship!"
And by the way, one should never reply to the career objective question as in the example above. No interviewer likes to listen to that because in crude street language it would mean, "Main tumhara Boss banana chahta hun." A perfect recipe for failure. Isn't it?
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The third side of the coin
I had my first job offer to work as an assistant accountant with a commercial automobile company. The year was 1988. I was a fresh commerce graduate. And it was perfectly natural for a young graduate to think of creativity and innovation as the only requirements for growth and development. As it happens with every young brain in that age, my mind was also full of new ideas and i used to consider it my primary duty to flood everyone i came across with those ideas.
It was a campus selection. (Yes! Simple B.Com. pass outs were offered jobs through their colleges in those times prior to LPG!) Eight of us were called for on site selection process. Finally three of us could manage to get final job offers. The salary offered was Rs. 1475 per month. Ultimately none of us finally joined but this decision had nothing to do with the compensation figures. In fact, one simple wall plate containing some instructions for the new recruits had played the spoilsport.
And what did that plate read? It just carried four simple instructions:
1. Boss is always right!
2. Shut your mouth and do your duty!
3. Any confusion? Go to number 1 !!
4. Any suggestion? Go to number 2 !!
All of us preferred not to join the place where our creativity and innovation were not welcome.
How do you rate this decision? Twenty one years have passed, and even today i can't decide. I am a teacher and entrepreneur, Krishnakant an advocate and Rajesh a school teacher. And the company? It has also grown to become indisputable market leader in its own category.
We can never have water tight compartments in life. Everything is relative. Isn't it?
It was a campus selection. (Yes! Simple B.Com. pass outs were offered jobs through their colleges in those times prior to LPG!) Eight of us were called for on site selection process. Finally three of us could manage to get final job offers. The salary offered was Rs. 1475 per month. Ultimately none of us finally joined but this decision had nothing to do with the compensation figures. In fact, one simple wall plate containing some instructions for the new recruits had played the spoilsport.
And what did that plate read? It just carried four simple instructions:
1. Boss is always right!
2. Shut your mouth and do your duty!
3. Any confusion? Go to number 1 !!
4. Any suggestion? Go to number 2 !!
All of us preferred not to join the place where our creativity and innovation were not welcome.
How do you rate this decision? Twenty one years have passed, and even today i can't decide. I am a teacher and entrepreneur, Krishnakant an advocate and Rajesh a school teacher. And the company? It has also grown to become indisputable market leader in its own category.
We can never have water tight compartments in life. Everything is relative. Isn't it?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
These days will never come back!
What is it that a modern student covets most?
One view : He wants to enjoy every moment of his student life. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.
Second view : He wants to learn maximum and enrich his knowledge bank as much as possible. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.
Third view : He loves his friends and cherishes their company! He wants to enjoy every second of accompanying his friends and is always ready to sacrifice his own individual needs for the same. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.
Fourth view : He is confused. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available. And so, he is even more confused. He is afraid of making any wrong choice. Hence, every day begins with a dilemma and ends in the same. When he enjoys himself or with his friends, a feeling of guilt grips him. Am i using my time to the fullest? Is this what my parents expect of me? And when, he dedicates his time to learning and personality enrichment, he also feels that he is missing something. Oh! But for the adventures of youth! The sheer pleasure of being in the right company at the right age!!
I can't offer any solutions. This post is not written to give any advice or something like that. The only purpose of this post is to throw this question open to you all, smart young readers. What do you think about this confusion? Don't you think that we need some more frank honest expressions, particularly from the young generation, on this perennial quandary?
One view : He wants to enjoy every moment of his student life. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.
Second view : He wants to learn maximum and enrich his knowledge bank as much as possible. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.
Third view : He loves his friends and cherishes their company! He wants to enjoy every second of accompanying his friends and is always ready to sacrifice his own individual needs for the same. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.
Fourth view : He is confused. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available. And so, he is even more confused. He is afraid of making any wrong choice. Hence, every day begins with a dilemma and ends in the same. When he enjoys himself or with his friends, a feeling of guilt grips him. Am i using my time to the fullest? Is this what my parents expect of me? And when, he dedicates his time to learning and personality enrichment, he also feels that he is missing something. Oh! But for the adventures of youth! The sheer pleasure of being in the right company at the right age!!
I can't offer any solutions. This post is not written to give any advice or something like that. The only purpose of this post is to throw this question open to you all, smart young readers. What do you think about this confusion? Don't you think that we need some more frank honest expressions, particularly from the young generation, on this perennial quandary?