Connected gadgets and disconnected people.

July 6, 2020 ~ PA ~ 2 Comments

As the world starts to pull up itself from the shadows of an ongoing pandemic and tries to grapple with the severe economic melt down which has come along with it (no the virus didn’t cause the economic meltdown; how we dealt with it, caused it!). As humanity we are flirting dangerously with a strange alteration in human behavior for the first time in over hundred years- this new changed behaviour- of being connected with the world through gadgets and not people! This article tries to explore the aspects evolving around it and what perhaps may eventually manifest from this new trait! So let’s explore and get our grey matter working!

Even before the pandemic broke loose, we have been living in an era where we have had technology uncomfortably in-your-face kind of scenarios and with the latest slew of people tracking applications required- few optional and few mandatory, our connection with the digital- virtual world has got far more creepier than you think!As individuals more and more of us wait for an opportunity to get online- whether it is to check the weather, the status of the pandemic, the latest update on the neighborhood or just to know if people still like you over your social media handles! The reasons can be many, few valid and few as dumb as they can be! Any aspect of technology and online driven compulsiveness may be essential for one individual and the same can be an absolute disaster for another, it all depends on- who these individuals are! Say if you are a successful artist and want to stay connected with your follower base through some short videos or pics, it certainly works and perhaps works pretty well to uplift morale of your followers- if you carry that kind of an infectious and inspiring persona, but what about if you are that odd one who has been struggling and these times have made your struggle that bit more spicier! Well, for an individual who is already at logger heads with time and space an overwhelming experience over the virtual world can be really dangerous and make a person withdraw or become over-expressive in ways which may not help, especially during these times, when the vital people connect is, all but missing!

Add to this the latest fallout of the lockdowns the world over- organisations and business have been quick to announce policies and measures asking people to work form home! Now what this has ended up doing in majority of the cases, is create an even more challenging work space for individuals! (unless you own a 5 room apartments- where perhaps two rooms can be occupied by the working members of the house, one by the kids and one by the pet that you have, not to forget even the kitchen is held hostage either by your maid or your in-laws or parents as the case may be!) You see, as long as people went to their offices to create value or destroy the existing value at their work place- all that got played out away from the watchful eyes and ears of your spouses, parents, in-laws, kids and pets. Now that people are working form home, or anywhere that they are (but not at workplace) people around – family and friends- get a first row seat to individual personalities and complexities like never before! All that verbal abuse, emotional tantrums, abrupt meetings, calls being cut, truncated, work that never seems to end, a lunch break that never seems to happen and a weird situation which just stays to hang on- like forever! Earlier even if you had a bad day at work- people would dissipate much of that negative energy by the time they finished their commute and reached their residences- now when all that negativity has lad home in your residence- needless to say there will be unwanted reactions and behavioral patterns erupting with closed confines of your home as well! Add to this that extra element of not being able to talk to reach out to your colleague at office for guidance and counsel- like it used to normally happen- a short break- a cup of tea or coffee on the way back or that 45 min quick beer to plan for the next day to counter what would have unfolded this day- you just end up getting stuck and consumed with your work- with no real cut off in the real sense of it!

Sure enough, office video calls, con-calls, emails and all of them work and work pretty well, but think about it, these tools have been there for such a long time- if these were indeed really that effective- why do you think any major corporations or a business house would have spent millions and millions of dollars to create reputed and state of the art workplaces? There would be some reason right? Well think around that bit when you have time! The fact is remains that, humans always knew the relevance and importance of having place of work and place of residence as two separate locations and it was perhaps a wiser thing to do- ask any innovator or a scientist- they will tell you, many a great things and moments in their lives which proved to be a breakthrough movement either happened at their designated workplace, designated home, or during commute , but never while doing WFH (work from home!) – it never really works!

Importantly if you thought only working professionals are facing challenges, think about it, even kids who are studying at school or colleges are facing and even more crueler scenario! The most badly hit, if you ask me are the school going kids, the youngest of them under 10 years- they have been disconnected from other kids at a vital time of their life when they are supposed to forge, foster and develop the social skills that are an essence of being a human and vital for social engagements and development of the society as these kids become grown ups in the next two decades! But if they have a weak foundation for social engagement set up right now, the ramifications in the long term will never be the ones’ that we desire! You may ask me, but this is just for a year or a few months, how can it impact? well think about it, experts have said, it takes about 21 days for a habit to cultivate and about 10,000 hours to master something that you wish to excel at! So either ways choose your metric and if your kids have been exposed to any of these, rest assured the new emerging behavior of your kids will be not what they had earlier charted the course for! They will unwittingly end up embracing the death hug of technology over the vital compassionate hug of humanity which comes only by being connected with people! We may end up cultivating societal failures and in the next two decades form now , many failures of social engineering/engagement will get attributed to this generation which did not build the vital foundation of social engagement with fellow humans- intentionally or unintentionally! So is there something that we can do about it? Well the answer is yes and no! Yes we can, that’s what makes us, humans special, and No- if the capitalist greed of the top 1% of the world doesn’t stop doing from what it is currently doing; Globally societies will end up driving their young generations into a space where they may just end up being the human extension of technology! We may end up in a space where we don’t lead technology and set the pace for the future, rather get pulled and pushed all over the pace as technology decides how it wants to use/abuse or not use our human services for its propagation! Let’s leave out those 1% and see what we can do within what’s possible at our own individual levels to ensure that we stay connected the way humans should!

Create rituals! Yes, organised rituals at your work desk as you start to crunch you day- and make people to people- non-work talk an essential aspect of this space! Make it a point to use the famed 80:20 principle when you connect with other people- let this 20% of time be used to have that human conversation which revolves around shared values and aspects that go to define and uplift human life! It could be as simple as , “How’s everyone at home?”, to something like “How’s your novel writing coming up?” or perhaps “How’s your thesis going?”, it could be about good times, planing small get- together (law permitting in your space and city), anything but work! Next, make space for those corporate and work life related – bitching calls- no matter whether you are good or bad at the job that you do- you will be a part of this- either creating and leading it or at the receiving end- as long as these remain harmless and don’t impact the sanctity of the work values and ethics, things will be fun and needed to vent out your frustrations where they need to be done! There’s no point breaking crockery at home because you had a bad day- you just end up adding to your won expenses and unwanted next set of complications dealing with people at home! Make an effort and time your exit from the day’s work- this is easier said than done! But, unless you don’t put your foot down, things will not change, remember- the organisation pays you as per the contract that you have signed up for- anything extra that you do- is the loss of the seconds of your life and a windfall gain day-in and day-out for the organization! It’s kind of you work for 40 days of the months and get paid for 30! Limit your screen times to what is vital and essential, stay away from the screens unless you are going to end up someone getting killed! Stop that unwanted urge to keep checking and re-checking that like, comment or views on our social pages and presence, the fact is, trust me it doesn’t matter, unless you are in that fabled 1%!

When it comes to kids, sure enough quite challenging to ask other parents to send in their kids for play dates and all that (depends on IQ levels of the parents largely)! So if you have young kids around in your family or extended family take a few minutes off each day- talk to them and explain to them what’s happening and keep up that conversation and curiosity up and running, for heaven’s sake don’t let a search engine be the answer to all the questions that their inquisitive minds have and if you do this right, they will emerge the other side of this storm – still curious, young, inquisitive and full of life and courage! This us what we need as humanity more than anything else- A resilient younger generation which has been formed and forged by a severe storm, which has not been dented or broken but rather become stronger and even more sharper, the way the things have unfolded around them!

Think again, when you have that compelling urge to stay glued to your gadgets! If you are still reading this, well it’s about time you complete the next few sentences and race back to your family/friends for that quick chat and re-discover the joy of being connected with humanity!

I leave your here, urging you to reflect and decide for yourself, the balance that you wish to cultivate with the gadgets that you command and the people that you cherish!

Ciao for now, will be back with another article soon! Until then stay wise and stay safe!

Mental resilience: The master key.

June 26, 2020 ~ PA ~ Leave a comment

This is not an article promising hope or the grandeur of a positive mindset, especially at a time when the real world around us seems to be pretty screwed up!Trust me, the last few months and weeks have unified humanity like never before albeit for all the wrong reasons and what’s even more surprising that even in these times of turbulence and tribulations, people do manage a way to nudge others, at times, proverbially over the cliff! from where they seldom recover! This article is about knowing how “You” and you alone hold the power to decide what impacts you and to what extent, this is the domain of “mental resilience” So join me as we explore quickly how this attribute can come to our rescue and bail us out- through our times, good and bad- irrespective if you are 18 or 80!

“Live to express, not to impress”- This has to be your first maxim, as you try and build your resilience. Getting likes and rave comments on social media is one thing, but if those likes and comments are aligned to and are generated because of an illusion that you have curated and who you really are not, trust me you will land up in some mental shit pretty fast, at some or the other point! There is nothing wrong in craving for social acceptance, fame, name and all the glory that comes with is; after all as humans we are social animals; So what if we wear clothes, get educated and have a society driven and arranged way of going about our world- we still are social animals! What is important is, the fact that all of your cravings and beacons of “see me”, “hear me”, “talk to me”, have to be aligned and related to who you really are– your true self! So if you hate beaches and keep sharing the endless sunsets by the beach, just to get those likes (which you will certainly get), you will end up clouding your brain dangerously and unnecessarily start living an illusion mapped to your pressures of confirmation bias!

“In today’s settings, being a realist helps”- Perhaps a century ago, complications and challenges were still limited and hence the ability to propound “positive thinking” and “sharing the message of hope” were a key to get people back- who would have set a course to their own destruction! In today’s times, with the endless onslaught of information (much of which is unverified garbage- which sadly gets consumed and is allowed to impact our thinking) and societal compulsions rising with each passing day- Unless you develop frame of mind that is anchored on being authentic and real- you will always seem to falter and struggle even as you go about doing even the most basic of the tasks that you would normally do! Whether it is about that luck color suit you want to carry to the board meeting, or that supposedly amazing foreign vacation (which is now a question of your prestige- since you have already committed to your friends- you will be going and posting pics on social media) or that professional focus to hit your business numbers, irrespective of anything that comes in your way..the list is endless- Certainly there is nothing wrong in being ambitious or driven or as they usually call it- passionate (well do check out the dictionary meaning to the word “passion”- I am sure you will start using it less often!); the goof ups start to manifest and people start to crash and fall once they don’t have enough caliber within to deal with the manifestations that they are pursuing! Let me explain…

Consider this, you are a lovely fine, Boeing 737, calibrated to operate at a maximum altitude of say 40,000 feet and cruise at the max speed of 0.9 Mach. Now you suddenly find alongside of you a F-15 Eagle- Supersonic- speed excess of Mach 2.0 and an altitude ceiling of 55,000-60,00 feet, and you decide to race! Well, if you know the fundamentals of aviation and a dash of common-sense will you that- even this thinking is a recipe to a disaster- the two planes are made different to serve different purposes!This is what my point is, “The earlier you realise in an authentic and real way that each one of us (even twins included) different and is born to serve/ follow a unique path to achieve our calling-the better off you will be!” This understanding will save you form burning unnecessary dollars to buy that car, clothes, that house and ensure you stay focused on things and people that make a difference to your life so that collectively you can further value to the society that you roam about! Each of us, is Unique and there’s a good reason- it is the way it is! so bank on being Real- Authentic- no matter who says what- Life will offer you the highway or you will have to create your way- but since your baggage is lessened you will be able to enjoy the views and the journey too as it becomes a destination unto itself!

“You get to decide who impacts you and to what extent”- I remember, many scholars, management experts and “Gurus” of the world saying this, “You are the Author of your life”- You hold the pen and each day is a blank page wherein you alone have the power to write and create what you wish! Well this looks good, but we all know- real world doesn’t actually go that route. There will be people who will walk over you, tear down your most wonderful pages, scribble on your upcoming pages, write **** to you along the boundaries of your page, at times offer flowers and praises too, so basically your book as an author or for any of us- is never only about us as individuals- it is also about the people- the quality of people- that we are connected around with and how they express what they feel and think about us! This primarily depends on how we project ourselves into the world- What we communicate and how that communication is received/perceived- Even the best of the communication, with the most noble of interests can end up screwing you for life- simply because it was either ahead of it’s time and the receiver did not understand it or the receiver was out rightly dumb and you handed away way too much ink and page to that person to waste multiple pages of your life’s book! You think you know of any such book apart from your own life- well don’t look too far- pick up the religious texts of any religion/faith/practice across the world- irrespective of all the wholesomeness and goodness that has been mentioned in them- but what have we inherited ? A planet which is filled with hate and despise for fellow humans! A classic case of the receiver being dumb!

“No one really cares”- Well, this is the fact and a key ingredient to develop and build a formidable resilience! To begin with do you remember how healthy Galileo Galilei was, what were his hobbies, what was his favorite wine? Well, who cares, all that we care about is, his contribution to astronomy and the foundations that were created by him and others to help us understand our immediate universe! So what are his Great-great-great-great-grandchildren doing now? Any idea- well – at least I don’t know! Perhaps you can help me with that!Let’s zoom back to your own life- Remember the last time your boss walked upto you and asked you to go on a vacation because you have not taken a break in the last 6 months! Do you recall, the last time when the HR came up to you and said you are a great person to have on the team and we would like to offer you a double promotion and increase your salary to help you meet your kids college fees? Well all this seems stupid and way beyond reality isn’t it? Well, it is and why would anyone do any of these, because no one really cares! Each one of us is quite busy figuring out and charting a course to our own individual survival at the best, which is often disguised as meaningless milestones of job titles, income narratives, compulsive purchases and social media likes & comments!

If you are working, as long as you help the metrics meet, your job remains- doesn’t matter what equation and understanding you have with your manager- even if you have any- it’s a matter of time that chain of command will break once there is no value getting created within and you will be exposed- with or without the understanding that you have with your boss! Likewise if you are into business, as long as you offer the products or services at a price that is competitive (as perceived by the buyer) you will float else you will sink, irrespective how hot the model in the commercial of that product was! If you are an artist, scientist, politician or a creative force- as long as you serve the purpose which helps others in a way or other you will be rejoiced- the day your findings and approach don’t serve the majority you will be neglected and forgotten! This paragraph perhaps looks bleak right? But that is the truth- the reality- whether or not you accept it- this is what it is! and It is here to stay and outlast it will even after you are gone! The point that I am making here, is pretty simple- “It really doesn’t matter! No matter who says what, the fact is no one really cares for you (apart from your immediate family) and in the times that we live in, you should count on your blessings if you have one! They are the ones’ who will be impacted because and only because of one thing- that your action/inaction impacts their access to quality of life, that’s about it!- and you had started to think about emotions? I mean really?

“Remain grounded and indifferent to the bouquets and brickbats”– This is perhaps the most important attributes that one must have, to ensure you maintain your sanity at least through your life time! The irony of humanity is that even as we are collectively comfortable to be called as social animals, deep within we also seek solitude and aloofness and these diametrically opposite forces dominate us all through our lives- these tend to impact and shape our thinking and behavioral patterns – which further may play havoc- at times leading individuals to take reckless and harmful decisions- sometime recoverable and yet at times completely unrecoverable! The only way to get around this bit is practicing the art of being grounded and indifferent! Ancient text – especially in Hinduism and also across many other religions of the world have always urged humans to remain humble,simple and grounded irrespective whether the times are good- working for them or times or adverse- working against them! This virtue is what helps people gravitate towards each other to build stronger person-to-person contact which goes on to build a formidable mental resilience so that whenever shit happens and disasters strikes- individuals aren’t left to fend for themselves, rather the entire society/unit rallies behind! We can see this in animal kingdoms, when large predators attempt to take down young ones from the prey herd- there is always a fight, an attempt- may or may not work but that resilience is there to try and fight heavy odds and make peace with whatever the outcome may be! This is the trick that helps you manage yourself through whatever life can come offering you!

Another formidable example of mental strength can be found among the officers in uniform the world over! They operate in conditions and challenges that would make many of us outright uncomfortable- forget fighting the enemy- even standing guard would be a big tasks for many of us- but this is what the Forces of any nation are trained on- Mental agility, Resilience and Fortitude- with a single focus- stop the enemy- It is not any of us- then it has to be no one on the ground ahead! Simple, straight, objective and pragmatic thinking! You may earn your incentives this year, next year, then you may not, you may not get them this year, you may earn twice of what miss the year after that- that is what it is and will always be! Not allowing the circumstantial developments cloud your thinking and judgement is another vital element to develop and build resilience!

“Make peace with what can’t be changed”- Like I explained in my earlier paragraph, once you know whether you are a Boeing 737 or a F-15, you will be able to make peace with all that is around you and this will, believe me take away around 75% of all your unwarranted thinking which keeps on playing the “what if” game with you 24×7! This, is easier said than done, but there is really no other way around it, each one of us is unique and we are the best, the very best at what we are meant to be, problems start when we leave that and start pursing everything else but what we must! Finding out “what that is” well, is a story for another article!

I will leave you here, and urge you to build resilience and ensure you create a formidable,real understanding of who you are and develop a technique wherein you have a clearly defined lighter version of yourself for mass consumption and an authentic real version to carry on with the real work and duties of the real world- always ensuring there is safe distance between the two! Don’t forget- at the end of the day- It’s your story and you are the Author! So grab your pen, protect your pages and watch that ink! No one is really watching your show! No one cares enough! Each person is calibrating their individual survival with flashes of real and curated “I am fine” all the time! Harnessing the power of resilience is the only way to foster clarity and keep ambiguity away!

Ciao for now, will back with another article soon! Time for some coffee!

Post pandemic-Talent acquisition.

March 31, 2020March 31, 2020 ~ PA ~ Leave a comment

As unlikely as it may seem, but this worldwide lock down/ slow down necessitating a reassessment of priorities at global, national and organisational levels will eventually impact the way we go about our lives in a more permanent way- in many ways, then one can imagine for now! This short piece is trying to see what will possibly change when it comes to organisations as they seek talent to meet the new challenges that seem to gather over the horizon ahead!

Depending on where you are on the world map now, either you have emerged out of a local lock down, or are in one in or will be entering into one! Likewise businesses have either started to count their damages, are trying to mange the situations day-to-day basis and doing the best they can for each instance or they are coming up with a business continuity plan to brace for the lock down coming their way! In all these factors, if there is any common thread that runs through (irrespective of the nature of business), it is – The Talent that the business has – the Intrinsic talent pool that an organisation has or that it is planning to build as soon as the situation becomes normal! This will be critical and vital not only for reclaiming business positions and accelerate growth but also to endure a stronger and much formidable resilience for organisations in times ahead when something like this hits next! So what can we expect- well read on…

Automation will get cautious- As strange as it may seem, but this will be a fact, organisations will be forced to look again at the human element and strike a balance between automation and availability of skilled and talented people to ensure that the show goes on even during tough times! Vocations like medical research, pharma research, doctors, paramedics and all businesses that are centered around people and have people at the core of their strategy would have by now understood one thing clearly- no matter what your balance sheet says- If you don’t have the right people during a crisis the balance sheet will continue with a same story which can eventually ending up writing off the business completely off the business horizon!Businesses and Organisations that have anything and everything to do with people- will have to switch their age hold talent acquisition strategies and ensure they have the right balance of experienced- amateur- bright stars and eccentric people at the right time and at the right places within the organisation! This may be an additional burden on the balance sheet of the organisation- but this is the only thing that will stand between the existence and wipe out of the firm!

Methodology of Talent Acquisition- This factor will also see a change, globally where we have a blend of hiring strategies which range from in-house talent acquisition teams to outsourced agencies which can use online -preset forms and test banks to filter and assess talents- well you will be and should be surprised as these things will change a big deal and no matter who says what- the good old personal interview will be back to the forefront with the only aim of cross-checking and being sure completely that the hiring is right and this is what is needed-especially with regards to personality attributes! The essence of Human connect will be at the forefront, certainly this will also depend on how technically or even in general the interviewer is skilled to be able to make the best use of this opportunity- but well that’s a different story in itself! This person- to person connect will be to check more on the soft skills and other personality attributes more then the technical ones’ because technical things can always be trained and made good but if you have someone who wilts under pressure- well the the kind of investment needed to make that change- is simply beyond the investment capacity of an average organisation in times like these! Moreover as said earlier,the whole space around talent scouring will be wrapped around hiring personalities and attributes who can display specific behaviors whenever crisis hits next for the organisation so that the business runs as smoothly as possible with minimal or no disruption! Need a proof- well even in these times – just see around and think about two to three professions which are holding the fort for humanity- Law enforcement, healthcare workers and aviation warriors- now what is common to all of them being selected into the profession that they have chosen- yes you got your answer- tough selection measures and training , training and training for instances like the ones’ that are unfolding right now! Trust me, if you run a big business and are always talking about the next 100 million dollars, it is professional attributes shown by these warriors that you want your team members to have! The whole selection process will move ahead to analyse and seek attributes that show steady resilience, patience, calmness and an ability to perform under pressure, certainly technical skills as demanded by a task will be of importance as well- and one more important thing- workplaces will become quieter- essentially you will be seeking people who are soft spoken, speak less and when they do speak- they wrap it up! Days ahead will be difficult for social butterflies in the office environments!

The Turbulent talent pool- Two things discussed above become possible when we have the necessary pool available from the immediate society. This fact brings to the forefront the quality of education and the state of educational facilities in a given society. Societies and nations where the quality of education and infrastructure is ready to rapidly develop and embrace new topics and add that to the skill set of the future professionals will see a better fit into the industry demands and this will provide the much needed edge over other competing markets ad players to emerge as a leader ion a given sector! This will also bring about a much needed change on how campus hiring are done and this will impact on how institutions are selecting aspirants for specialized courses- all in all, it will be certainly a step in the right directions- however, as the onus will squarely shift to quality over quantity- everything in the value chain from education to campus hiring to final placements – the total cost of talent acquisition will see a rise and yes- this will again translate into a new way that organisations would like to operate in the future..which takes u to the next point!

Lean, Mean and Agile- A certain outcome that we all will witness is that businesses will become leaner- they will use a balance (of course will depend on the business as well). Irrespective whether they are process centric or people centric- they will work towards striking a balance between process automation and number of people (the whole idea will be to ensure every business has just enough and just the right people at the right levels and places)- This will over ride factors like age, gender and will solely rely on talent, skills, competence and experience that is needed and what one gets to the position! Organisations will want to move towards an ongoing arrangement with majority of workers – read variable term contracts and will only have critical and fixed assets as part of full time contracts- this will create a pattern wherein people will have to earn their way into a secured access to income- which will be completely driven upon individual competence and skill requirements of the employer! Finally many businesses will build in business resilience through managing and developing robust BCPs (business continuity plans) which will not only be multi-location but also will be across continents and will depend on the nature of business and importance of its operations!

The dilemma of the talent!- Even as we discussed the various aspects about what scenarios may emerge- one important aspect and perhaps the most important one- The Talent! The talent- who is part of the societal fabric and during this pandemic- is up to something- either neutral and calm, anxious and nervous- or angry and frustrated- reactions can occur in many hues and colors! What exactly an individual has dealt with will go a long way to reinforce some belief systems that they have, while other may get broken apart and yet in few cases new belief systems may emerge-now which of them are right and wrong- is a very complicated call- and solely depends on the individual in that place- one person’s nectar can always end up being anothers’ poison! As businesses engage and start to interact with the talent available around- more and more interviews will end up leavening the interviewer drained and choked (unless they are skilled and wise enough) to know how to engage and deal with people as they emerge from a 21 day hibernation! The talent walking into the Interview room will be wearing layers and layers of psychological protective gear and unless the interviewer does not use the skills of interviewing which are able to build a connect with the talent across the table (possibly over a cup of coffee)- there will be instances of good talent being lost and incorrect talent getting hired! This would have been happening in the past too- but with the changed dynamics of businesses world over- these mistakes now- will end up doing far more damage then ever before!

Well, knowing the limitations of a blog, I will leave you here, so that you may be able to reflect upon your own work arena and irrespective whether you hire talent or you are the talent- this is the time where, you must be aligning your future with clarity more then ever before- hopefully the isolation that you have already come out of , or are into or will be getting into one, will help you to do a comprehensive navigation check for your professional and personal life and by the time you are ready to rock again- you should be clear about the music you want to dance to and the discotheque that you want to be at!

Ciao for now, I will leave you here and will be back soon with another interesting piece with a more generic topic! Keep guessing! Like always should you want to suggest a topic, reach out to me and drop me a message!