Tag: navigating worklife

Minding your mind!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

We all live in times where distractions, interruptions and chaos play around us all the time and it is in these daunting spaces we are supposed to carry out our daily lives- well when it’s you private time, you can still choose what to do and where to be and how much shit of the world you ate wanting to accommodate; but the irony of life as it happens to be is that a lot of this unsolicited shit and clutter hits us when we are majorly trying to navigate through our professional spaces- irrespective whether you are a corporate chained performer or a self-driven (motivated or unmotivated) survivor, this is a reality that we all face- day in and day out! This piece of trying to make some sense of the nonsense around us!

What does your normal day look like? hectic, fast paced, slow, relaxing, chaotic, in-control…well you can go on with tons of adjectives to define how you feel, how your energy levels are and what your rhythm for the day is or will be- all in all it boils down to this- “Feeling – Thinking” axis within your brain and that’s where all the glory and misery of the world resides!

The human brain, by far the most complex piece of bio-engineering with a cocktail of chemicals that are all interlinked smartly just to ensure one thing- That you survive and don’t end up killing yourself doing stupid things! Our evolution has been gradual and so have our organs evolved to deal with ever increasing incremental complexities every few thousand odd years!. The magic word here is “incremental“. Consider a case in point, if you had a magic switch and took your tales iPhone and visited your ancestor say 4000 years ago or even say- 300 years ago- what do you think would happen?- well of course “nothing” because there would be no available reference cognition of what that weird thing is and what should be done with it! As you decide to return back to our present time, your old ancestor hands you a piece of bone which has rough edges and has a fine needle tip – so what do you make of it? Is it a needle or a knife? or is it an old chopstick? Well this is where your mind will be blanked out- because no matter how hard you try to understand- since you have not used the object- you too do not have a ready reference to utility and can just go on doing some second guessing unless your ancestor demonstrates! So what’s the point here? Well, very simple- Your brain will perform optimally only when it has clarity of context- and this clarity of context in whatever we choose to do is the essence of being mindful and learning how to deal with and reduce unwanted clutter that keeps on distracting you every now or then for good!

It is important to note that worthy distractions are not all that bad- your brain is a hardwired sensory organ that has one goal to keep you safe and kicking- sensing distractions by its natural way- the brain helps you avoid accidents and saves you from a lot of shit!- Each one of us has that memory when we slammed the brakes to save that idiot who just came in between! (and more often then not we are too surprised with our own speed to react to the emergency!). It is the stuff made up on unworthy and non-urgent distractions that leads to the fatigue and unwanted blurring of our abilities and these are more often to do with the settings of our workplace and our approach to that work and an intriguing interplay wherein others also contribute- either helping or harming us even more with each interaction!

The times of distraction that we live in about- that email- that whatsapp ping, that sms, that unwarranted call, all of these take away valuable seconds and play a focus dodge ball with your mind- result – you end up tiring it up more quickly and rapidly- as a result your brain starts to play its tricks- first it will ensure you slow down- make you crave for food (read sweets or carbs) make you eat more then what you should (fool you into this), once you have hogged- digestion takes precedence over thinking and your brain is more focused internally and your razor sharp focus is blunted rapidly- until a point either you goof up big time or are smart to pull up that coffee cup and dowse your brain tricks with a quick shot of caffeine right to where it hurts! This is pay-back time to trick your brain and trying to tell it- “Shut up dude- have this caffeine and let’s get the job done!”

People do not realise how damaging distractions can be and the kind of havoc they can create- consider few examples- crossing the road, driving while dabbling with you cell phone- result- fatal and dangerous, getting distracted by a call as you type a mail and send it without a re-check to your client! Just as you are typing away something really important- that odd ping from a social handle and there goes your focus for a long holiday- So how do we manage this? is this manageable in the first place?

Well the simple answer is yes and no! Yes, indeed this menace can be managed and the challenge well, you need to make a directed effort towards it! If you were to observe people who have excelled at sports of some type of artistic expression (dancing, painting, theater) , one common aspect that becomes really evident is their ability to drift between sessions of razor sharp focus and relaxing away or dreaming on! The trick is to strike a balance and ensure that the brain is utilized and relaxed in an optimum cycle to ensure that fatigue doesn’t set in, nor is the focus compromised! We need to adopt a similar stance while dealing with distractions at work- whether they are those pesky emails, calls, or unwarranted meetings- we need to strike a razor sharp focus when we have the “me time” at work and ensure that we are relaxed yet attentive as we create work through collaborations- This apparently is one reason that new age organisations always talk about relaxed rule books and casual settings (but do remember that never implies they are not serious about their numbers or profits) all they are saying is “our thinking gets rewarded by the setting- it tricks the brain into relaxation thereby ensuring the focus can be sustained and productivity enhanced even more!”

So, here you go, learn to balance your mind like a ballerina, being swift and still in the same stance! Learn to know when to pick that call, check that phone or that email and know when to shut down your gadgets and allow yourself to escape into the fictional wilderness created by your amazing brain!

I leave you here, with possibly a cup of your favorite drink, to plan how you want to create focus and space at the same time so that you can Mind your mind and a minded mind helps you mind the world eventually! Bye for now!

Does your designation define your incompetence?

~ PA ~ 1 Comment

Well, after slogging it for around two decades and meeting intelligent and dumb people on the go, this has been one question that has always played on my mind! So much so that eventually when it came to start on my own- and when my CA asked me what designation I wanted to have (as part of the company formation process requirements), well I was left with even more predicament! This piece is not to prove anything or discount away the merits of having those wonderful visiting cards (that give you that high every time you give it to your extended cousins at an Indian wedding! or when you give it to people – especially when no once cares and no one is requesting for one!), neither is it about deciding what’s wrong or right- it’s about having some fun by sharing the observations that we make and try to engage with the limited supply of common sense that we have to decipher is any of this really makes any sense!

Way back when I was into sales, a part of my job involved reaching out to enterprise clients and offer business solutions – the first thing that struck me (while I was meeting representatives of a private bank) was very interesting! This was the time when, if you were an MBA (from any college) in India- you were the next big sensation! Well when I went into the meeting (as a designated Sales Manager – the only one from my organisation), I was greeted by 7 youngsters (all young hotshots averaging around 25-26 years), I was around 32 then, and the next big surprise came, when I learnt all were there to meet me! and you know what, as we exchanged the cards (as was customary then) each of these 7 people were Associate Vice Presidents (AVPs)! I was like, “WTF”. Eventually as the meeting progressed a lot of things got clear, none of them had the authority to buy a ball-point pen forget evaluating a business solution for their bank, none of them had a team and guess what two had already resigned! None of them had technical understanding and I had to eventually just meet up with their Head of Department later (who was twice my age and technologically challenged – as expected- that was the beginning of technological up-gradation in Indian banking system then!

As years’ went by, this instance always remained with me and every now and then flashes of corporate level incompetence could be seen across as people flashed their business cards with all the heavy English words that they could think of- at times I wondered if these companies had hired Copywriters in their HR team even to come up with those jazzy designations which on ground meant almost nothing! In another interesting case, once while I was working with an advertising firm, we had this whole family of designations (which was, I believe created when the industry was doing really well and warranted those many clinical details on business cards) but, me being me, when I asked a person what was an AVP (Associate Vice President) doing differently on a said account then a CSD (Client Servicing Director) or a VP (Vice President) and what was the “Group” referring to in the designation of a “Group Account Director” when the individual was slogging on a single client all through the year (that also on one aspect of marketing communication challenge- namely- BTL (Below The Line)! – there was only one reply- silence and a smile! Finding no sane replies, my observation and informal chats with people helped to connect the dots and get a complete understanding about the ecosystem that we call as “Workplace”

Well it turns out, like with everything else, all things started well, whether it was the banking sector or the advertising agency space, all of them were shaped on best practices that came with international alliances or international standards and norms as the case would have been- but what got left out very importantly was – the generous use of able discretion to award or present a specific designation and attach it to a particular task/role. This got compounded as Incompetent designations met Incompetent people (which was the function of limited ability to purchase real talent at a real cost). So, no surprises what happened next! Eventually if you hire a chef, who has experience in oriental cuisine and ask that person to dish out Italian- well you will be served for sure- but with a twist and that’s where the whole work arena has landed over! Walk into any office today and what you see is two hundred designations, three hundred people and no one sure enough of what they really do, not knowing where to start and where to end – with regards to the designations that they carry! So is this all really gone wrong or are these just odd cases! For that, I request you to consider a few more sane examples!

I am sure you always admire your law enforcement agencies and defense forces- you should- they do keep the dark forces away!- Well irrespective where in the world you are- one thing is common these are disciplined forces- Each team player exactly knows what they need to do in a particular situation and they know exactly when they need back-up and when they can handle things by themselves- yes and they too have designations and follow command! So how come they are so clear headed and sure and there seems to be no ambiguity? Before I answer this for you another one example to make things really simple!

We have all visited a doctor at one time or another, what do you see in hospitals and clinics?- There is direction- The moment your consultant thinks- that you are really messed up beyond his cognitive abilities- a senior doctor will be brought in- to understand how badly you have screwed up yourself- why does this happen- well experience yes (experience as in not spending more time at the hospital- but in context of having worked on complicated and more number of such complicated cases!)

So if you see, in the case of our defense forces or doctors- when they add the designation as “Group Captain” or “Colonel” or “Senior Cardiologist” or a “Senior Surgeon” one thing you can be sure- they will not be 25-26 year old’s and they want be faffing around about what they can do- because these are the people, my friend – who know for sure- that they are last people standing between your miserable existence on earth and your flight to after- life!

Well to make the point simple- Designations have to be reflective of “What you do”, “can do” and are “allowed to do” with regards to your workplace. Importantly organisations need to wake up and understand , gone are the days when people could get intimidated by reading “President” and “Senior President” on cards- well frankly no one cares- because the other person getting your card is also part of corporate slavery in equal measure like yourself- so it’s time to knock off all the falsified egos and get the blinders off! Unless this is done business cards spell out incompetence towards the designation or the individual as things become apparent through business interactions!

Through my limited experience, when business cards match personalities of the people who carry them and sense of completeness is achieved (not getting a deal or a sign off), rather a space wherein there has been an intelligent exchange of ideas which reason why things can move ahead or otherwise- it is then that justice has been done to the designation and the person who upholds it!

It is very simple to remember, keep designations aligned to the work and the people who they are being awarded to- until that happens each one of us can continue calling ourselves “CEO” of our own lives!

Think and simplify!-Incidentally, this is also one of the few things that we do as part of our consulting offering-adding common-sense to businesses! Until next time Ciao! Do write to me at parimal.aluri@simplifylives.com and do let me know what you would like to read next!

Add value to your Time!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Keeping all the worldly problems away, the singular aspect which is a great leveler – is undoubtedly- “Time”. Irrespective whether you are rich or poor, affluent or just plain surviving, travel in a private plane or use public transport, indulge in life to the fullest or not- Time is equal for all of us- it goes ticking by the seconds ever since we arrive and continues along; Time doesn’t race ahead when we are battling the tide neither does it slow down when we are enjoying the highs of life- it goes on with it’s own intrinsic rhythm all the time and always- this piece is around this fundamental aspect of life which seems to get overlooked in the fast pace that we all have embraced and at times intentionally like to overlook!

86,400 seconds each day (in a 24 hour period), that’s the opening balance that each one of us has got, grab your coffee and just think how did you spend this huge amount of time the other day! would have you spent it differently had you been given an incentive (an incentive to live a little longer – perhaps a day longer for each day well spend?!). Certainly these aspects are not as simple as they seem, however the fact remains that at the end of every 24 hour period- you have consumed 86,400 seconds and how that has helped you or harmed you for today or for the times ahead- largely depends on what you did with it! Your application of value, quality and creativity within those fleeting seconds puts you in path of a trajectory which takes you either in the direction of your intended effort or away from it- it all begins with you and the best part is you get to decide!

Imagine a day- A normal corporate working day- commute to your work place- meetings (sensible and unwanted, unproductive) discussions, talks, office sanctioned bitching sessions (speaking, opining and thinking about people/ colleagues -who in turn won’t know that and who would really not care about it anyways!) Next, spending sometime doing what you are supposed to do- in a way that pleases you (that’s the reason why all those meetings and discussions and chit-chat arises from- because if each one of them in an office does things what they are supposed to be doing the way it should be done- there is absolutely nothing left to talk- discuss about!)- Think about it! Next you pick yourself- tired and famished for all the unproductive nonsense that you have engaged with through the day and head back for that late evening meet and greet with friends at the nearest pub- again an unproductive orchestrated bitching session – which now transcends into multiplicity of office scenarios (depending on number of people around the table)- again it goes on and on- with no resolution to improve anyone’s life by adopting anything to avoid anything that would have caused all those bitching issues and feeling happy for no real reason– you head home. You hit the house- have a customary chat and sign off (almost dead) only to wake up the next day and continue with more or less same shit! (only examples, people and context changes- content and outcome more or less remains same)

Sadly for all the evolutionary intelligence that physiology has gifted humans with- this kind of existence and way of living does a considerable disservice to ourselves and our intrinsic intelligence (whether we choose to use it or not!) This is the biggest underlying paradox of our times and the biggest challenge that we must overcome to lead ourselves to begin with- before we even think of creating value for others- we must first and foremost create value for ourselves through mindful existence and meaningful presence in all that we choose to do- through our thoughts and actions!

Bias- Societal confirmation bias– this is what leads us to believe that – we must bitch in offices- we must party and engage in unproductive nonsense and spend a considerable time of our lives- discussing, speaking and share n build opinions about people, places and almost everything around- when actually none of those opinions are going to make any difference to the person or the the topic of discussion! You would have experienced this- People suggesting how a soccer match should have been played in the 28th minute, what President Trump should say and do, Plastics are a real problem (discussing this while having your cold drink from a single use plastic bottle!), disusing about health- about going to gym (while downing your fifth beer glass or smoking your fourth cigarette!).

As human beings we naturally long “to belong” – belong to a group, a clan- that is something hard- wired in the earlier days of solution- this provided security and safety (as we roamed around the wild untamed lands), as societies became agrarian- discussions shifted with focus on “comparative observations and statements” whenever these were objectively driven and forward looking- innovations and improvement of quality of life was experienced (read great civilizations of the past). Whenever these happened with ulterior motives- it simply wiped out kingdoms and monarchies from the face of the earth (read sabotage/ political maneuvering – from greed- greed for power and self obsession!)

This same instinct, “To Belong” when used effectively in modern day office settings (the modern day wild wild west) can create wonderful achievements for the individual and the organisational ecosystem(read invitations, path breaking discoveries, the coveted Nobel prizes) all these come from this space- wherein the engagement is purpose and meaning driven– this is what I call – Organisation facilitated directed bitching to achieve something meaningful which is in line with the purpose of the organisation! You will always find individuals and organisations that are on a high- with purpose on mind are often the most fast paced, quietest and when they call for meetings- their meetings make real sense (short, crisp and defined)- because they plot their journey and ensure they keep up the pace and direction that they have planned- and it really doesn’t matter whether this meeting happens at their corporate HQ’s or at a beach resort (because meaning and focus of purpose so hardwired- it actually is like second skin- always worn- inside out!)

86,400 seconds is all that we have got for each day- how we choose to spend it decides – what our next move is and whether we are making our next lot of 24 hours easy on us or we are adding to our challenges! The ability and the necessity to value time and ensure we have a purpose driven approach to time doesn’t mean that we should stop enjoying life and we should get dead serious about every second- what it means is, we need to strike a fine balance between purpose that we choose and the recreation that we need ,once this has been established, trust me you have arrived! This realization of being able to classify everything around you – as either part of your purpose or part of recreation will empower you like nothing else- provide you with enough clarity and sense of direction- which in turn will know how you are investing your 86,400 seconds and spending them each day!

I will leave you with your remaining seconds for the day and urge you to begin thinking around- what is your purpose and what is your recreation- and how much time your are investing and how much you are spending!

Like every other virtue, it’s always good to use “time” wisely so that it amplifies and resonates with your purpose and ensures you also have enough recreation the way you want to! How many of the 86,400 seconds do you have for today and what are you planning to do with them? Invest or spend? whatever you decide- stay wise!

Overcoming corporate slavery.

~ PA ~ 3 Comments

Irrespective of whether you agree to the aspect of “corporate slavery” or not doesn’t matter, because that argument is equal to not believing in the existence of the Sun because at night you can’t see it! This piece is about accepting the problems around,understanding how far reaching and deeply impacting the consequences are and what can we possibly do about it (as individuals- because according to capitalists theories they would want this to go on forever and ever!)

As students’ complete graduation or post-graduation; their aspirations are about getting a “good job”, decent salaries (to pay of liabilities accumulated by virtue of trying to get educated to that level) and race ahead to reach the top of the corporate pyramid to impact businesses, industries and policies- well there’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of these aspirations- perfectly legal and sane. The only challenge is in the deception of the term “good job” this deception almost always turns fatal and catches up with these young aspirants sometimes sooner then later. Global indicators (if you access some readily available data online from valid sources) indicate that the so called mid-life crisis (which I simply see as manifestation of the “good job” syndrome) is happening pretty earlier (around late 20s’ to early 30s’ unlike the earlier times (when it used to actually begin to hit around mid 30s’ to early 40s’)

Now to the million dollar question, “How do we negate or at the best manage this to at least have realistic mid-life crisis years which correspond to real mid-life years of a human being rather then reflecting mid-life for some other animal species! The root of the problem is in the belief and value systems that societies the world over have. The fundamental premise that the entire effort of studying and gaining wisdom (remember wisdom is different from knowledge- knowledge makes you intelligent, wisdom makes you wise- these are two entirely different things!). Essentially these need to compliment each other and an imbalance in these impacts our life quality on an ongoing basis as that reflects the decisions that we end up taking!

The fact remains that education; has a lot to do with helping build understanding about the world around you. When education is used as a tool to fetch you a job, crack an exam to get a job or get a “certification” to establish societal legitimacy about your grey matter- things start to go wrong! Flip the pages of history, you will find that among the many reasons why companies collapsed, political parties withered away, businesses houses went bankrupt- these simply happened because you had “qualified” and “highly paid” people managing and leading teams which at times had “wise” people (whom they did not listen to, well in time- to avoid the melt down) or had “idiots” who accelerated the demise of these corporations! This,my friend is the ugly face and impact of “corporate slavery- the modern day replacement of slaves working fields or plantations- now working out of glass walled air conditioned prisons”

Corporate slavery starts innocently; things like utopian value and mission statements of organisations , a few weird statements could mean or sound like these -“we never loose”, “we never delay”, “We are champions” or even better, “we have no competition”, “the competition is me”. These look as innocent and senseless as they are but when you have dumb wits who are told to act on them and they go about acting with limited number of people to deliver and have targets (which are not targets but manifestations of greed- yes one of those cardinal sins) that’s how the slavery starts. Greed (corporate greed) is deceptive, all the comforts tend to blind the mind and make people do what they do- the result- a meaningless job profile ( no personal development to tell to yourself or your kids) and preparing ground for the mid-life criss even before you have lived a quarter of your life time on the planet!

A simple test to know whether you are actually a victim or engaged in “corporate slavery”- Try and see if you get a “yes” for the following questions (and yes don’t connect your designation, career growth and money that you make when you try to answer):

  1. Has your experience enriched you as a person and developed and shaped your personality positively
  2. From your experience have you been able to suggest and create (original ideas) ideas that could add value that lasts after you leave the place or the earth (which ever happens first)
  3. Has your experience been different with each day rather then being predictable routine that resonates with months/ seasons’/ business cycles’
  4. Do you have a story to tell yourself or others that your life has been fulfilling

Well, if you answered “yes” great, you are one of the few lucky ones’ who has possibly escaped “corporate slavery” and has been contributing to ensure others are also free of those dreaded shackles- In that case you would be that corporate icon with whom everyone wants to work with!

So what do you do if you are not sure and are possibly stuck with this- well the good news is- it’s never too;ate to course correct as long as you are alive, the bad news- it takes effort- directed effort to get into this space of being a rebel and saying no to slavery like the good old days!

Unlike the real world problems- corporate slavery is very easy to predict and a good start would be by being able to apply your mind to the job profile (that has been shared with you)- If it’s a well articulated one, you know what exactly is expected and you can very well come to a conclusion whether you are signing up for a job or a term as a corporate slave! This is the point where you negotiate to your advantage (knowing what your aspirations from life are (about which you need to have clarity) or simply walk away and don’t engage any further. In other scenarios wherein you are already working and overnight some maniac has been handed over the reins to marshal the company, well this is where you, “practice the pause”, take a moment, stay away- gauge the benefits against the foreseeable problems and take a call. In life you must walk away- no matter what the initial pain or uncertainty- in the long run- it will pay off- but for this to happen you need to have a string internal beacon which is able to keep you honed on to the per-determined aspirations of your life at all times! Lastly, wherein organisations do not have a job profile and any formal structure- well you need to use your wisdom and navigate to know “How much is Enough” and you need to be aware when to say “Enough is Enough” and walk away!

Slavery of the mind or any kind, by it’s very intrinsic meaning of the word is about being bound to something to someone. Human beings are not hard wired to being bound- we have been wanderers, travelers and warriors and that’s something that we aspire for deep within- no, not all of us can be in the defense forces, or cabin crews or hippies; but what we can do and what each one of us can do is to set our aspirations and value systems to a notch that let’s us navigate with a considerable degree of freedom in what we choose to do and practice for passion or for monetary gains– N matter what it is and this notch will always blink red and let you know when your space is being invaded- the you have a choice to course correct- either by limiting your space, defending and fighting for it or simply walking away!

Leaving you with thoughts, for a wonderful weekend ahead, remember -A free mind and a energized soul can enjoy weekends through the week even as you work- as long as you are not enslaved! It’s not about passion it is about space to grow, express and wisdom to apply and share!

Grab that coffee and liberate yourself! Will catch up soon with another piece, keep writing in to me at parimal.aluri@simplifylives.com and suggest what else you would like me to pen about and yes, we are available for tailor-made meaningful training’s and workshops to empower individuals and organisations as always!

Why organisations fail!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Before you start wondering and jumping to conclusions; no the title is not a problem statement neither this is an answer to all the stupid and dumb situations that organisations get into these days- intentionally and accidentally either-ways! This is more about learning a simple fact that people are at the foundation and core of what you do (literally whatever you choose to do- whether that’s a hi-tech company that you plan to build or just serve tea around the corner!)

Economic slowdown- well when countries hit the brake (especially when the sabotage is complimented by faulty government policies, needless to say all hell breaks loose!). The next thing that manifests in uncertain business environment is ..well..you have read the script- loss of jobs- closing of companies and lock-outs.When you have a closer look into the space how businesses react- they start with doing away with what is good-to-have (nothing wrong with this) and what gets impacted is majorly are the costs associated with the cost centers (read marketing, internal services like HR, Admin and Finance). The problems get compounded further from this stage as the good-to-have basket is determined through prejudice and nepotistic values rather then rational thinking! This is why when eventually they are out of the storm and the worst is over- often organisations realise there is no leadership that is required to steer the ship full steam ahead! Keeping people in the good-to-have basket is a blunder which organisations commit on an ongoing basis and consequences are always felt in an ongoing manner- no matter what metric you want to evaluate the organisation!

What then starts is a cycle which thrives on incompetence and the ensuing success and failure of an organisation is determined by the level of incompetence displayed by it’s leaders rather then anything else! As long as organisations tend to tie people as commodities rather then individuals who have something to offer through way of unique thinking- these ups and downs will continue and tend to get amplified as they resonate with failing economic policies of the government of the land!

A large network group in the space of marketing communication- The group thrived on mergers and acquisitions on an ongoing basis (to it’s perceived advantage and unintended disadvantage,decisions taken overlooked and gave a damn to the people who are being impacted with the ongoing decisions!) So much so that people whom the decisions usually would impact would be informed about it at the very last hour, something like this, “Hey! from tomorrow you are re-designated as “Chief Entertainment Officer” instead of the “Chief Business Officer” and your new clients are “xyz” and your target is “dollar 123″ and you have three months to get that money else find a place!”

In some cases other short discussions have been like, “You know how its is, the times are tough, we have to take calls, suddenly we have five CEO’s we need only two, so we want to know how you want to plan ahead and want us to communicate about your moving on!” Well in either scenario- the critical aspect that was missing- The rational approach that the HR team could have provided the management with– but as the case was to be- the HR team was totally clueless as this was a “numbers call” wherein the trade off is something like this, “because revenue is “x” we need “y” people and we are now “y+20″, so decide which 20 go!”

As a coach, we never wear a hat that goes on to suggest or indicate one option over the other; the fallacy of our times (which seems to go on increasing) is that incompetent leaders go on to make equally incompetent decisions, using tools that have been chosen (again by incompetent teams) which results into these fast failing scenarios over and over again. The damaging costs to organisation in terms of brand re-building, re-hiring and re-training simply outweigh all spelled out benefits shown by these (incompetent) experts and this cycle keeps on repeating every few years- for some industries and sectors this happens every three years and for a few others it happens once every five years- but this does happen! When these things unfold and resonate with an ongoing national or global slowdown the impacts are unquestionably more damaging and equally difficult to repair with long-term consequences!

By now you are probably saying- ok- so stop all this nagging – do you have a solution! Well the answer is yes and no- yes- there is a solution- simple effective and no- because you will not go ahead and implement- because for implementation of simple and effective solutions, you do not need a blue blood MBA rather you need guts and commonsense to face adversity and stand firmly no matter what to speak and do what is right- to master this bit takes at times- a learning of a lifetime!

Frankly speaking about the simple and effective solution- organisations that thrive on value of an individual and demonstrate rational decision making when it comes to setting up teams, qualifying businesses by planing for tomorrow along with their today a lot of misery can be avoided and is avoided- unfortunately in a corporate era wherein ship captains don’t see a tenure of more then two-three years planing anything fundamentally strong and substantive is a foregone conclusion and unless this bit is corrected from the top- I guess the chaos will continue- the only saving grace will be a few good men and women from the HR teams who are able to pre-empt, avoid and manage chaos as it unfolds giving a human touch and not resigning to the “numbers game”!

I will leave you with your thoughts here and will be back soon with a new piece with a refreshing take on something new! Enjoy your coffee and start learning to tame chaos today!

Welcome to your level of incompetence!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Yes, i can feel the grin on your face, right away, after the last blog that seemed a bit heavy and serious; what else could have been on my mind, but to make the misery of your life a little less, by ensuring all of us (me included) to look into the mirror and welcome ourselves and those around us to our respective level of incompetence!

Well, at the very face of it, this seems to be a cute problem , but trust me this is a baby faced killer! and this has harmed organisations not only at local levels but also has resulted into global meltdowns– well case in point- does anyone remember the downfall of the wall street- sub prime crisis- take some time off to dig into those not so helpful discouraging episodes, the fact remains- there were all smart men and women who were screwing up things at the grandest scale while the world was still looking at their coveted degrees in Law and those ever elusive MBAs- you know from where!

People often forget that we are a bio-chemical machine and can fail and fall like any mechanical machine- if you nourish it well- results are amazing- path breaking and scintillating, abuse it and throw garbage into mind and body and well, yes that’s what exactly will come back to oneself and also gift everyone around- the same age old principle of “garbage in and garbage out”!

People have always asked me, why I have been so passionate about aviation ( to such an extent that I choose my window based on the equipment and start doing the pre-flight checks on the android app, to give the crew company from the comfort of my seat)! Well the answer is very simple, it is possibly the only commercially viable profession where you simply can’t screw up and if you still managed to- you will certainly be global headlines- right after the breaking story from The White House- in case you don’t make it with your material body (which is quite likely) your soul will be drenched in outpouring grief from world over- even by people who have nothing to do with you, the passengers or the aircraft manufacturer- this singular overwhelming nuisance has played on the back of the mind of aerospace companies and I believe has managed to keep checks and balances with the odd screw ups every few years!

This overwhelming public shaming and nuisance ensures that commercial aviation works with precision, accuracy and with absolute zero tolerance to manageable and predictable challenges and issues with equipment and people alike! Go a little deep into this fantastic industry and you will uncover the ceaseless, selfless attention to detail, pro-activeness and ownership that each and every person associated with every single take off and landing each time (irrespective whether they are at ground control, the ATC or in the air) its a beautiful ballet that’s rehearsed, improved on an ongoing basis- day in and day out- with only one purpose- Not to screw up!

This unfailing, thrust has made aviation an industry to envy and continues to provide case studies in human mental conditioning and studying aspects of human brain- from simple aspects like body fatigue to complicated behavioral studies- all to ensure- all is well and nothing ends up in the well!

So if, competence is so priced, why is there so much dearth of it all around- well, the fact remains as long as no one gets killed, no one will really bother!

A garment manufacturer will not bother with that odd thread swinging in the air, nor will the call center angel that you spoke last evening will care a damn about what you said, as long as your conversation fits into some customized narration box for her to update and get moving with you sick, overdue card account!

Another fascinating reason why incompetence thrives is- people get promoted to their level of incompetence! and then magic- they have no where to go -within the organisation or outside- because they just manage to make themselves unhireable!– for reasons varying from sheer technical incompetence, to updation of knowledge to sheer laziness and the evil joy of screwing up others even as they mess up the organisation- one department at a time- one level at a time- till all of them become indistinguishable and then there is this great clean up act carried out by some poor investor how finally wakes up to smell the coffee and have the pests weeded out! But by then most of the damage has been done and more often then not at this juncture organisations get into the chameleon mode (new name, new logo, new business vertical, mergers and acquisitions and if nothing works well shut shop)!

So what next, are we all doomed to suffer at the hands of few incompetent souls, well actually the way societies and way of living gets constructed, we still do have a choice- to limit our exposure to external incompetence and dumbness- but for that we need to up our level of competence to be able to distinguish between the innocent point of ignorance and devilish incompetence hiding in plain sight under our nose!

An easy way around this menace, is to be self reflecting- sans carrying the baggage of being judgmental, prejudiced,patronizing and living with a head full of planet saving ideas and believing that you are the modern age Noah with answers to all the miseries! The moment you do this- life will in a wink- become a little more sensible and you should start to see beyond the fog of camouflaged incompetencies around you and genuinely start begetting real leaders who create, add and sustain value for themselves and everyone around- for that is the real hallmark of competence!

I will sign off at this point, time to take a break and try smelling competence among the conflicting odors of incompetence and stupidity around the coffee shop from where I am punching this article!

Until next time, happy reading and raise yourself to your next level of competence and do yourself and the world around you a big f**king favor! God Bless!