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Showing posts from 2013

another 'inspiration' in the in-box

commodified 'inspiration' lands again in my in-box, commodity - trading is important than consuming it and to be in trading daily means quantity of commodity blinds any quality in your persona. in commodifying an unique human experience that is felt and consumed in direct contact, the traders of the inspiration de-humanize humans. call it 'information', 'communication' or whatever, i will decide if it is inspiration for me or not. stop trader, i am not from your economic model.

re-imagining organizations!

the future of manager selection questions will have to be re-defined - "have you managed a venture that is socially relevant?"  "have you been eco-sensitive in your management practices?" "did you previous experience promote a holistic and just economic system or was it peddling the same old inequitable economic order?" you can't shape a different world with the parts and imaginations of the old world. 

how system labels and reduces those who don't fit-in

in conversation with a friend from the corporate world - 'how does one rate drifters ' she asked and later, 'how do we understand rolling stones ' though she didn't mean it in any negative way, the terms she used (and repeated during the conversation that was centered on her frustration with the corporate world) got me thinking...when did these terms come about and why? the below online search results gives some idea...looks like these ideas came into vogue only with the onset of large scale industrialization and the 'taming' of man (and women) into 'workers' in 1900 and increased in 1950s reaching the peak in 2000.  in India, being 'rooted' in one place is more like being 'settled', and someone un-rooted may be considered as 'drifting'... rolling stone noun plural noun:  rolling stones 1 . a person who is unwilling to settle for long in one place. "he was a rolling stone, with no ties to anyone

conflicts of being in senior management...

someone sends you a document of 'strategic' nature what you knew last year and was hoping more work on that knowledge was built all the time - failure on your part to communicate what you knew? failure in getting the right person? lack of knowledge management that old documents are not studied? or just bad communication? every situation has several causes, some known some unknown every solution is a beginning to unravel the causes starting somewhere, we reach all or none depends on the intent and spirit of the action intuition and training of the mind is all that one has so much for professionalism and strategy!

whom will you vote for in 2014 elections?

i am not inclined to vote either of the national parties (or their allies), they both don't impress me enough i suspect both will commit the same mistakes and end up using similar tactics but, one trend i don't want to encourage and definitely will ensure i don't do is - NOT TO VOTE THE LOCAL GOON!

crowded times and...old habits!

crowded times - much activity all around, intense discussions,  imminent decisions, immense possibilities,  amazing opportunities, large impact potential and increased responsibility. however, growing up to these  is a struggle  against persistent self and its  old habits! to kill the habit is to destroy a self that created the crowded times. to not overcome is to revert to a beginning  that exists no longer struggle to re-discover the self without destructing that which it created itself of and yet unknown to self! faith!

change and permanence..

from i have to change to i am changing to i have changed is a status shout however, if i had some permanence in me and couldn't change whatever it is that i wanted to do i 'change' the need to change? if i don't see a need to change does it make me obscure sure?  how about permanence? if that which changes can't be changed, and i don't resist nor bother comprehend does it mean i don't change? to stay as something that  does not change and remain in that despite change neither through resist nor through effort but, by just 'being'  what is the need to change? time is relative, so is space longer and farther  don't often change  that which is closer than the next moment inside and around perhaps in seeking change we secure our mortality deeply embed ourselves  in our 'limited' self?

...event centric socialites

...move from event to event, neither committed nor to comprehend, wallowing in the goodness they create about themselves and those like them, reducing every social issue into a newspaper item and quite to disappear once the media shifts focus, trading on human goodness, never shifting or elevating human consciousness, a tribe of nowhere people whose well mended faces crowd the medium that lays the path to oblivion...accumulates karma of an unknown kind this phenomena in this land of chitta shuddhi!  

Indian Inequality

All wise women (and men) of the land sell buddha-hood, While most people just want their daily bread! The wise cater to a different land while the land stays deprived of wisdom! Inequality India - the priority of the privileged class has to change.

eggs and cocoons...

chicks and caterpillars come out of eggs and cocoons to become and live an adult life, only we humans want to often 'go into a shell' or 'be cocooned' and live a life we far outgrew!  Humans must be the only species that can 'choose' to refuse even the natural order of maturity and responsibility towards oneself and the world.

how do we pick-up threads...

...with some it is at an instant, perhaps the deeper confidence between people is far stronger than the gap in time, with some it is hesitant, the confidence is shaken not by time gap as much as the perceived gap in the mind, so the time it takes to comfort the mind is the time it takes to pick-up threads again, with others it is a fresh introduction, the mutual feeling of distance has to be overcome to pick-up threads if there is an intention  or necessity to do so ..so goes life. 

a Captain anointed...

A new Captain to the Ship is appointed, one that has neither had a ship nor been in sea before... ...the captain discovers new things as the ship sets its sail...walking one day on the deck, the 'paint locker' is discovered, the details mentally noted. next day the first officer talks of lack of quality of paints and issues due to that and the Captain with a self-satisfying smile, "yes, paint, 5 boxes in the paint locker", surprised the first officer says, "yes" muttering to himself, "there are four more paint lockers in the ship"...the issue is forgotten...another day, the Captain insists on helm, watches beautiful dolphin for an hour as the ship drifts from its course... ..the ship drifts some times, other times at anchor in mid-sea, it goes into speed when question spew out of the company, Captain goes into hiding in the cabin when the weather gets stormy leaving the steering to the crew, other time calls menials to trade small privile

...fighting for an inspiring cause, fighting spirit...

The competitive world in which we operate has made 'fighting' a rather important aspect of describing our transaction with the world for a lot of people. We are desperate to 'give a good fight', 'win', declare 'victory', 'sharpen our weapon', have many 'weapons in our arsenal , be 'fast to shoot', 'target' people, ideas and opportunities,  score 'bull's eye' ...the old books says that in some cases a war is desirable if in-justice in society is beyond bounds and a war is required to waged at all, then it goes on to add the qualities of a war - "that the fight has to be towards an inspiring goal" and that not fighting that war is seen as "infamy" for the fighting class ...guess in a class-less society, this applies to all of us. But, how many of us fight for a 'inspiring' cause or to right an in-justice, most of our wars are made up in our minds and the victories /failures too not fe

working with talented teams...

working with talented teams - the weak person with no confidence, feels threatened the mediocre person with no competence, feels overwhelmed the moderate person with capacity to learn, feels blessed the competent person with confidence, feels at home.

hierarchical systems sans the feedback loop...

officers of the govt. are not used to providing feedback! i realize it more as i continue to work with some of them. information in govt. is a bottom up flow and authority a top down one, so, when any information goes to the top, they assume that is the role of the person below to send a message and if they don't have any clarifications to seek, they stay silent. in my case, it adds another problem - i deal with all of them as equals, they are not used to dealing with equals, they either deal with people above or below. so, the minimum courtesies of team work that people working as equals, in terms of communication - is completely lacking with them. it is not that some individuals are bad, it is just that the system doesn't expect them to provide any such feedback and they are happy not to do so.

to U...a self-proclaimed social entrepreneur and leader

social leaders that stand the test of time start by listening, listening is premium in leadership and the 90% of communication. you never listened. aggression is not confidence, often you got it all mixed up. you masked your lack of time to think through things with un-warranted aggressive act to show your confidence, no one except you was fooled. in your ambition to do many things, you often assumed that you already knew all of them, in some cases you do, in others you were merely given an opportunity, in others, you were being perhaps tested by fate. you felt all of this was divine ordination, that it may be, but, the purposes could differ each time. 'divide and rule' is a very old control freak tactic, employing them in the long run, you isolate yourself from your team - each and everyone of them. there is no sense of either learning or of history unless it was personally delivered to you with a big bang or a sense of drama - drama is unnatural and often in the eye

new definitions is what we want of things we take for granted...here is one

a typical 'official' justification....for mediocre existence

"Oh! you know today we had this silly environmental activist! as soon as he entered at lunch time (his sessions was after lunch) he objected to the plastic plates being distributed for lunch and how they were all non-degradable, such a fight he picked up!", moaned a junior  manager. "I know this man for quite some time, he has a panache for making large impressive presentations, impressing the higher officers, he makes big promises, but is unable to deliver, all his projects never reach completion. i know him, such people are capable of coming and pointing our mistakes very well", commented the Senior Officer. The junior manager was happy to get away with his non-eco-friendly gesture and nods understandingly.  If only the Senior Officer had not used that opportunity to find fault with someone else and score points and instead used it to enhance the work culture (by adopting an eco-friendly practice), it would have been so much  better. This is how oppo