Red Carpet
January 29, 2012
January 05, 2012
Fawwaz On Your First Day Of School
Off you went this morning, with hardly a glance backwards, to grow and learn and discover all on your own. “You’re going to have so much fun” I said, and I didnt mean just today, I meant in your life. Because its the first step. Everyday you change a little, grow a little and become a little more independent. And every day, my heart breaks a little but I am at the same time filled with pride and joy. We have had almost six years together and now it is time for you to begin to find your own way.i understand that you don’t like the school but i believe you will adopt with Mandarin language.Chealla Kutty you are Always Best!!!
I miss you sometimes. I miss the baby, the two year old, the preschooler. But each time one stage finishes, each time another you comes along who is a little different to the last and a lot different to the first, there is so little time to mourn the passing because it is overshadowed by excitement and wonder for what is to come next. I’m letting go. Little by little. Seeing you forever changing and growing, and trying to keep up with you. It happens so slowy I dont notice until I think back to something you used to do, something you used to say, or just how you used to be half an inch smaller. It is bitter sweet, and amazing.
Fathering you has taught me so much. Yes, didnt you know that? You’ve taught me things too. We will continue to hang out together and learn together. But now it is time for you to reach out ever so slowly but ever so certainly from infancy and innocence to begin to discover the world all by yourself. Tiny that you still seem to me.
Watching you grow and helping you to become all that you can be is the most wonderful thing I will ever do. I wasnt far out of school myself when you came along, and you taught me to grow up a lot. Now it is my turn to teach you. I won’t be there by your side so much anymore, but I’m right behind you all the way.
2012 begin of your full time school days,Be good, be kind, be brave. Be confident and patient, but most of all enjoy.....Atta and Mama always proud of u Chella Kutty !!
May this new year all your dreams turn into reality & All your efforts into great achievements. Wishing you a fabulous 2012 with full of great achievements and experiences.A meaningful chapter waiting to be written HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I miss you sometimes. I miss the baby, the two year old, the preschooler. But each time one stage finishes, each time another you comes along who is a little different to the last and a lot different to the first, there is so little time to mourn the passing because it is overshadowed by excitement and wonder for what is to come next. I’m letting go. Little by little. Seeing you forever changing and growing, and trying to keep up with you. It happens so slowy I dont notice until I think back to something you used to do, something you used to say, or just how you used to be half an inch smaller. It is bitter sweet, and amazing.
Fathering you has taught me so much. Yes, didnt you know that? You’ve taught me things too. We will continue to hang out together and learn together. But now it is time for you to reach out ever so slowly but ever so certainly from infancy and innocence to begin to discover the world all by yourself. Tiny that you still seem to me.
Watching you grow and helping you to become all that you can be is the most wonderful thing I will ever do. I wasnt far out of school myself when you came along, and you taught me to grow up a lot. Now it is my turn to teach you. I won’t be there by your side so much anymore, but I’m right behind you all the way.
2012 begin of your full time school days,Be good, be kind, be brave. Be confident and patient, but most of all enjoy.....Atta and Mama always proud of u Chella Kutty !!
May this new year all your dreams turn into reality & All your efforts into great achievements. Wishing you a fabulous 2012 with full of great achievements and experiences.A meaningful chapter waiting to be written HAPPY NEW YEAR!
December 05, 2011
September 08, 2011
Speech and Action
Each individual composes the music of his own life. If he injures another, he brings disharmony. When his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed himself, and there is a discord in the melody of his life. If he can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life; he becomes himself by that much more alive. Whether conscious of it or not, his thought is affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another, and his power and vitality increase thereby, and the music of his life grows more in harmony.
One should say to the mind, 'Look here, you are my mind, you are my instrument. You are my slave and servant. You are here to help me, to work for me in this world. You have to listen to me. You will do whatever I wish. You will think whatever I wish. You will feel whatever I wish. You will not think or feel differently from my wishes, for you are my mind and you must prove in the end to be mine.' By doing this we begin to analyze our mind. We begin to see where it is wrong and where it is right. What is wrong in it and what is right in it; whether it is clouded, whether it is rusted, whether it has become too cool or whether it has become over-heated. We can train it ourselves, in accordance with its condition, and it is we who are the best trainers of our mind, better than anybody else in the world.
The heart must be tuned to the stage and the pitch where one feels at-one-ment with persons, objects, and conditions. For instance, when one cannot bear the climate, it only means that one is not in harmony with the climate; when one cannot get on with persons, that one is not in harmony with them; when one cannot get on with certain affairs, that one is not in harmony with those affairs. If conditions seem hard, it shows that one is not in harmony with the conditions.
The most important subject to study in this whole life is ourselves. What we generally do is to criticize others, speak ill of them, or dislike them; but we always excuse ourselves. The right idea is to watch our own attitude, our own thought and speech and action, and to examine ourselves to see how we react upon all things in our favor and in our disfavor, to see whether we show wisdom and control in our reactions or whether we are without control and thought. Then we should also study our body, for by this we should learn that the body is not only a means of experiencing life by eating and drinking and making ourselves comfortable, but that it is the sacred temple of God.
One should say to the mind, 'Look here, you are my mind, you are my instrument. You are my slave and servant. You are here to help me, to work for me in this world. You have to listen to me. You will do whatever I wish. You will think whatever I wish. You will feel whatever I wish. You will not think or feel differently from my wishes, for you are my mind and you must prove in the end to be mine.' By doing this we begin to analyze our mind. We begin to see where it is wrong and where it is right. What is wrong in it and what is right in it; whether it is clouded, whether it is rusted, whether it has become too cool or whether it has become over-heated. We can train it ourselves, in accordance with its condition, and it is we who are the best trainers of our mind, better than anybody else in the world.
The heart must be tuned to the stage and the pitch where one feels at-one-ment with persons, objects, and conditions. For instance, when one cannot bear the climate, it only means that one is not in harmony with the climate; when one cannot get on with persons, that one is not in harmony with them; when one cannot get on with certain affairs, that one is not in harmony with those affairs. If conditions seem hard, it shows that one is not in harmony with the conditions.
The most important subject to study in this whole life is ourselves. What we generally do is to criticize others, speak ill of them, or dislike them; but we always excuse ourselves. The right idea is to watch our own attitude, our own thought and speech and action, and to examine ourselves to see how we react upon all things in our favor and in our disfavor, to see whether we show wisdom and control in our reactions or whether we are without control and thought. Then we should also study our body, for by this we should learn that the body is not only a means of experiencing life by eating and drinking and making ourselves comfortable, but that it is the sacred temple of God.
September 07, 2011
Happy productive life
Ultimately, I reckon when you think about your life, to live a happy productive on a minimum basis and whether we deem a need for them or not ......
We need to be listened to and to listen… we need to be inspired and to inspire… we need to be encouraged and to encourage… be empowered and to empower… be enabled by action and to enable action … we need to be cared for and to care.
All of us here have experience of those basic actions and their relevance in our own lives
Our communities need a plan to create a better society, something that is better that what we left during our grandparents days. We need to take responsibility for part of this plan.
We need realistic steps to achieve that. All too often we hear about a general vision for Indian Muslim community life but ultimately we need engines..drivers to move it forward.
Many years as have many others have worked at the heart of the community of this important corner of the world for many years so that will not become stale and disillusioned. This have pursued this through massive transformation in the area -new houses, new generations, new shopping centres. Once again, a call has gone out that it is important that we build not only that we build for example a sustainable shopping centre but also a sustainable community with a strong caring attitude, people that will comment on or voice their concerns about what the community also needed.
We need to be listened to and to listen… we need to be inspired and to inspire… we need to be encouraged and to encourage… be empowered and to empower… be enabled by action and to enable action … we need to be cared for and to care.
All of us here have experience of those basic actions and their relevance in our own lives
Our communities need a plan to create a better society, something that is better that what we left during our grandparents days. We need to take responsibility for part of this plan.
We need realistic steps to achieve that. All too often we hear about a general vision for Indian Muslim community life but ultimately we need engines..drivers to move it forward.
Many years as have many others have worked at the heart of the community of this important corner of the world for many years so that will not become stale and disillusioned. This have pursued this through massive transformation in the area -new houses, new generations, new shopping centres. Once again, a call has gone out that it is important that we build not only that we build for example a sustainable shopping centre but also a sustainable community with a strong caring attitude, people that will comment on or voice their concerns about what the community also needed.
June 16, 2011
Simplicity in life
“ Simplicity is an attractive quality. Those who remain simple and clear in how they think, interact and live their lives attract others to be the same. Greatness is revealed through being simple."
DISILLUSIONED by life in the fast lane, thousands are now choosing to simplify their lives. They feel materialism has got them nowhere and prefer to take a back seat and live a life free from stress.
In spite of the advancement of science and technology, are we any more peaceful and happy than we were some years ago? These days, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty. That is why it is important to live a simple and honest life.
Simplifying our lifestyle is a return to spirituality. There is a need in us for simple truths, simple insights, simply expressed and simply understood.
In simplicity, there is inner beauty, purity and clarity. Truth is always simple and profound. The words and actions of a person who treasures simplicity are straight-forward and transparent and such a person becomes a model for others to emulate. He is unswayed by shallow desires and, hence, free from greed.
Complications seem to be inevitable by-products of modern living. Simplicity gives birth to inspirations.
By maintaining a balance of living simply yet comfortably, and only using what I really need of the earth’s resources, I will always have an abundance in my life.
DISILLUSIONED by life in the fast lane, thousands are now choosing to simplify their lives. They feel materialism has got them nowhere and prefer to take a back seat and live a life free from stress.
In spite of the advancement of science and technology, are we any more peaceful and happy than we were some years ago? These days, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty. That is why it is important to live a simple and honest life.
Simplifying our lifestyle is a return to spirituality. There is a need in us for simple truths, simple insights, simply expressed and simply understood.
In simplicity, there is inner beauty, purity and clarity. Truth is always simple and profound. The words and actions of a person who treasures simplicity are straight-forward and transparent and such a person becomes a model for others to emulate. He is unswayed by shallow desires and, hence, free from greed.
Complications seem to be inevitable by-products of modern living. Simplicity gives birth to inspirations.
By maintaining a balance of living simply yet comfortably, and only using what I really need of the earth’s resources, I will always have an abundance in my life.
May 25, 2011
Leaders
Most leaders say the resource they lack most is time. But if you really observe managers for a day, you will see them rushing to meetings, constantly checking their Blackberry, dodging fires, believing they are attending to important matters.For 10 years, Bruch and Ghoshal observed behaviours of busy managers, and their conclusions: 90% of managers squander their time in all sorts of ineffective actions and activities. A mere 10% of managers spend their time in a committed, purposeful, and reflective manner. These 10% are usually classified as great leaders.Worst still, psychiatrist John Diamond found that 90% of people “hate their work.” They come to work to punch their time clock and can’t wait to go home. The difference between leaders who love their jobs and those that don’t – they take time daily to re-energise themselves and focus through reflection.
successful leaders, we find success driven by the quality of loving relationships within an organisation. These loving relationships are seen through behaviours like compassion, commitment, care, kindness, reflection, intuition, inclusiveness and forgiveness.
Prominent leader John Hope Bryant believes there are four laws of love-based leadership for business:
Fear fails Leading through fear is antiquated and crippling. Love is the antidote to fear.
Love makes money Long-term loving relationships with customers and employees make everyone wealthy.
Vulnerability is power When you open up, people open to you.
Giving is getting Giving inspires loyalty and confers true wealth. John D. Rockefeller, regarded as the richest man ever, was governed by love and believed it was greater to give than receive. People rallied to him because he gave. He later used his wealth to build universities and fund great causes.
successful leaders, we find success driven by the quality of loving relationships within an organisation. These loving relationships are seen through behaviours like compassion, commitment, care, kindness, reflection, intuition, inclusiveness and forgiveness.
Prominent leader John Hope Bryant believes there are four laws of love-based leadership for business:
Fear fails Leading through fear is antiquated and crippling. Love is the antidote to fear.
Love makes money Long-term loving relationships with customers and employees make everyone wealthy.
Vulnerability is power When you open up, people open to you.
Giving is getting Giving inspires loyalty and confers true wealth. John D. Rockefeller, regarded as the richest man ever, was governed by love and believed it was greater to give than receive. People rallied to him because he gave. He later used his wealth to build universities and fund great causes.
May 08, 2011
Happy Mother day and Happy Birthday Amma.....
Of course mothers should be worshipped every day but since this is not always possible there is this special day to remind your mother of your love and worship for her
"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."
special wish to my mum ..Halimah bt Mohd Mydin
Happy Mother day and Happy Birthday Amma.....
"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."
special wish to my mum ..Halimah bt Mohd Mydin
Happy Mother day and Happy Birthday Amma.....
Managing Tacit Knowledge in Projects
In software projects, when we talk about knowledge management it is usually about managing explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is disseminated with the help of knowledge assets like documents, standard operating procedures, etc. Tacit knowledge cannot be passed on easily and deals mostly with implicit or unstated knowledge. The individuals who possess this knowledge either don't know that they posses some unique knowledge that can be shared with others, or they think that it is routine and do not know the value of the knowledge they posses. This is where the need for managing tacit knowledge arises, and most often, teams realize the importance of tacit knowledge in crisis situations.To understand better, let us start with a real life scenario. Suresh was the project manager of a maintenance project, which was running successfully for 1 year with 100% Service Level Agreement adherence. The project started with a team size of 20 out of which 13 were fresh people.The system was developed in a legacy technology, so he had a combination of problems to tackle:
Train the team in the technology
Ensure that the transition happens without any glitches
Due to the effort of the senior engineers in his project they moved into the steady state and wrote success stories for 1 year. This was also due to the knowledge management practices that they adopted. The team developed Books of Knowledge on technology and the system they were maintaining. After 1.5 years Suresh had to release 5 of his senior engineers for other opportunities. The release was planned 2 months in advance and Suresh ensured that a proper transition took place. After all the planned activities were completed, the release happened. The next two days saw a flurry of cases from customer as it was the quarter end. There were some major issues and suddenly the team was panicking. The frantic and clueless team approached Suresh for the contact numbers of the engineers who left the project.Now what could have gone wrong here, after such careful planning and meticulous knowledge management ?why was the team not able to cope up with the flurry of cases? The answer is simple; Suresh missed a few tricks of tacit knowledge management in his project.Some of the tacit knowledge management practices, which can be adopted in projects, are:
No knowledge is too less to share and too trivial not to disclose: Ensure that the team understands the importance of the routine jobs they might be doing, and ensure that such routine jobs are identified and recorded properly.
Rotation of tasks: Ensure that people are rotated across modules in the same project and that proper training takes place during such rotation. The team should record special cases that were not handled in the transition, and which they came to know of only after working on the system. This can be identified easily when a particular task is taking a longer time to complete with a new set of people.
Working with gurus: In every project, we come across gurus. This is because they have grasped the technology/system better than others in the team, or they have found a way to work smarter. Allow people to work with gurus on a rotation basis and tell them to record any steps that the whole team is unaware of.
Eureka mails: Encourage the team to send eureka mails, when they struggle with a task, and eventually find a solution
10 min knowledge sessions: Schedule daily recap sessions of the issues encountered. A scribe should be allocated to take down the major issues. The scribe should record such issues in a daily tips repository and send out emails, whenever a major issue is solved.
From the above mentioned points it is quite clear that interaction between team members is the key to managing tacit knowledge. The team is the strength of any project. Therefore, as a project manager, managing tacit knowledge equates to being a facilitator to interactions within the team and innovating new ideas to make these interactions more productive and interesting.
Train the team in the technology
Ensure that the transition happens without any glitches
Due to the effort of the senior engineers in his project they moved into the steady state and wrote success stories for 1 year. This was also due to the knowledge management practices that they adopted. The team developed Books of Knowledge on technology and the system they were maintaining. After 1.5 years Suresh had to release 5 of his senior engineers for other opportunities. The release was planned 2 months in advance and Suresh ensured that a proper transition took place. After all the planned activities were completed, the release happened. The next two days saw a flurry of cases from customer as it was the quarter end. There were some major issues and suddenly the team was panicking. The frantic and clueless team approached Suresh for the contact numbers of the engineers who left the project.Now what could have gone wrong here, after such careful planning and meticulous knowledge management ?why was the team not able to cope up with the flurry of cases? The answer is simple; Suresh missed a few tricks of tacit knowledge management in his project.Some of the tacit knowledge management practices, which can be adopted in projects, are:
No knowledge is too less to share and too trivial not to disclose: Ensure that the team understands the importance of the routine jobs they might be doing, and ensure that such routine jobs are identified and recorded properly.
Rotation of tasks: Ensure that people are rotated across modules in the same project and that proper training takes place during such rotation. The team should record special cases that were not handled in the transition, and which they came to know of only after working on the system. This can be identified easily when a particular task is taking a longer time to complete with a new set of people.
Working with gurus: In every project, we come across gurus. This is because they have grasped the technology/system better than others in the team, or they have found a way to work smarter. Allow people to work with gurus on a rotation basis and tell them to record any steps that the whole team is unaware of.
Eureka mails: Encourage the team to send eureka mails, when they struggle with a task, and eventually find a solution
10 min knowledge sessions: Schedule daily recap sessions of the issues encountered. A scribe should be allocated to take down the major issues. The scribe should record such issues in a daily tips repository and send out emails, whenever a major issue is solved.
From the above mentioned points it is quite clear that interaction between team members is the key to managing tacit knowledge. The team is the strength of any project. Therefore, as a project manager, managing tacit knowledge equates to being a facilitator to interactions within the team and innovating new ideas to make these interactions more productive and interesting.
April 26, 2011
What house are you building?
Building a solid house can only be done through reflection.
“Keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll get what you are getting. If that is good, great. If it’s not, you better change.” – Ang Hui Ming
A FEW years ago, I heard about an elderly construction worker who wanted to quit. He told his boss of his plans to leave. His boss was sorry to see such an excellent worker go and asked him to build one last house as a personal favour.
The construction worker said yes, but his heart was not in his work. There was no passion left. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials, cutting corners to get the work done.
Finally, when the house was finished, his boss handed him the keys to the house saying, “This is your house. It’s my gift to you.” The construction worker was stunned and full of regret as he knew he was sloppy working on it. If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.
Isn’t it the same with us? Often we work hard but after a point in time, we dish out less than stellar performances. Our attitudes differ but we console ourselves by saying it doesn’t matter. But in most cases, it does matter.
Each day, we build our lives, one transaction at a time. Each day counts as we build our life’s building. When I worked at General Electric (GE), people always spoke about the “house that Jack built.” Jack Welch, painstakingly, for more than 20 years, built the foundation of GE, then its rooms, its roof and finally completed a remarkable turnaround. This took patience, time and years.
When we don’t get the promotion we crave, or we fail to get what others get, we are surprised. Could it be because the house we built doesn’t have strong foundations or good materials? It’s not just last year’s performance or last week’s deal that counts – it is your cumulative effectiveness on a daily basis.
So, how does one ensure that you are effective daily? Based on our research, it requires an equilibrium of action and reflection. While most leaders are biased towards action, the best leader balances contemplation and action, creating daily solitude for effective action.
Ineffective leaders
Most leaders say the resource they lack most is time. But if you really observe managers for a day, you will see them rushing to meetings, constantly checking their Blackberry, dodging fires, believing they are attending to important matters.
For 10 years, Bruch and Ghoshal observed behaviours of busy managers, and their conclusions: 90% of managers squander their time in all sorts of ineffective actions and activities. A mere 10% of managers spend their time in a committed, purposeful, and reflective manner. These 10% are usually classified as great leaders.
Worst still, psychiatrist John Diamond found that 90% of people “hate their work.” They come to work to punch their time clock and can’t wait to go home. The difference between leaders who love their jobs and those that don’t – they take time daily to re-energise themselves and focus through reflection.
Reflection
The practice of reflection goes back centuries and is rooted in numerous institutions including the Japanese samurai. Ben Franklin, one of my leadership heroes, had a rather systematic approach to reflection, which was a fundamental part of his daily life. He developed a list of 13 virtues and each day he evaluated his leadership relative to these virtues.
A sincere examination of ourselves is never easy. It involves the willingness to face and acknowledge our mistakes, failure and shortcomings. Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Prize winner, believes reflection in life is critical to leadership as it allows you to take into “account what you have neglected in thoughtlessness.”
Interestingly, a key step in the Alcoholics Anonymous programme asks participants to make a probing and courageous moral inventory. Steve Jobs went to India to reflect prior to starting Apple.
In business, reflection provides an opportunity to consider the ramifications of the services they provide and how to keep raising the bar. Business grows when they look within.
So, what does one achieve by reflection and contemplation? Productive action relies on a combination of three traits:
1. Focus – the ability to zero in on an objective and see the task to completion
2. Energy – the vitality that comes from concentrated personal commitment.
3. Learning – the ability to correct past mistakes and improve oneself
Focus without energy results in lethargic execution or burnout. Energy without focus leads to aimlessness or artificial busyness. And not learning from your mistakes ensures you repeat them.
All three pieces can only be obtained through reflection. Procrastinators are usually people with low levels of energy and focus. Leaders with high focus but low energy never inspire and generally end up ostracising the troops. Managers with high energy but low focus confuse their employees with chaotic activity.
Reflective managers are purpose-driven with high energy levels, learning from their mistakes. They start their day in reflection to ensure purposeful execution and action.
Focus
Confucius once said, “A man who chases two rabbits catches neither!” In Star Wars Episode 1, Qui-Gon says to the young Jedi Anakin, “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” There is an ounce of truth in that Jedi wisdom. A focused person usually attains his/her goals.
At the end of a tiring day, if we focus on how tired we are, generally we will remain tired and end up vegetating in front of the TV set. If we re-focus the mind from being tired to needing to be healthy, there is a bigger likelihood we will exercise.
It is easy to stray with all the distractions, TV, Internet and mobile devices that we have today. These distractions can lead us off-tangent, stealing our focusing power. Reflection corrects that.
Energy and passion
Reflection generates passion and energy. Energy comes from passion. Passion is self-generated as you can motivate yourself to be excited about what you do.
Author Bill Strickland writes: “Passions are irresistible. They’re the ideas, hopes, and possibilities your mind naturally gravitates to, the things you would focus your time and attention on.”
Strickland believes that only by following your passion will you unlock your deepest potential. “I never saw a meaningful life that wasn’t based on passion. And I never saw a life full of passion that wasn’t, in some important way, extraordinary.”
Learning from mistakes
Reflection allows us to learn from mistakes. We all make mistakes – I have done so spectacularly at times. We have all been in situations where things don’t go exactly to plan. But how often do we take the time to sit down to reflect on where it all went wrong?
Plato’s great words “know thyself” implies that a lifetime of self-investigation is the cornerstone for knowledge. John Dewey states, “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”
In fact, the Kolb Learning Cycle, is based on the belief that learning for real comprehension comes from a sequence of experience, reflection, abstraction, and action. All learning can come only through reflection.
Check your attitudes daily
Living an extraordinary life is done internally through the daily positive alignment of your attitude. Your attitudes and the choices you make today build the house you live in tomorrow. Build wisely! Build with commitment, pride, joy, love and passion.
Your attitude is contagious and sets the mood for those around you. Your employees get excited when you are excited. They are energised when you are.
Plato opened up The Academy in Athens at the age of 40, when life expectancy was 36. He ran this first university, training Aristotle and others, until he was 80. Pursuing focused positive dreams arms one with high energy and leads to an extended, rewarding life.
I don’t have time to think!
This is a pretty common reaction: I don’t have time to reflect.
Which begs the question: Do you have time to make the same mistakes over and over again? Or to remain unfocused, running around like a headless chicken? Or lack energy to fulfil your dreams?
I remember an old boss once told me that I was not paid to sit around and think. On hindsight, that was probably the worst advice I received. Leaders should spend at least a quarter of their time thinking about the future of their company and reflecting on the past. It may seem ludicrous to spend time reflecting but “real work” can only be done right when you know where you are going and have the energy to get there.
Final thoughts
If we could do things over, we probably would do many things differently. And better. But the problem is, we cannot go back. We are just like the construction worker. Each day we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall in our career, family and lives. Are you doing it with focus and energy? Are we improving ourselves by learning from our mistakes?
If the fire in our eyes has diminished and we are going through life in auto-pilot, with the joy of life seemingly leaked out, it is time to take stock of life and reflect.
Socrates, Ben Franklin and most great leaders believed that reflection led to a productive and fulfilling life. And don’t say you don’t have time. After all, as Buddha aptly puts it, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll get what you are getting. If that is good, great. If it’s not, you better change.” – Ang Hui Ming
A FEW years ago, I heard about an elderly construction worker who wanted to quit. He told his boss of his plans to leave. His boss was sorry to see such an excellent worker go and asked him to build one last house as a personal favour.
The construction worker said yes, but his heart was not in his work. There was no passion left. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials, cutting corners to get the work done.
Finally, when the house was finished, his boss handed him the keys to the house saying, “This is your house. It’s my gift to you.” The construction worker was stunned and full of regret as he knew he was sloppy working on it. If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.
Isn’t it the same with us? Often we work hard but after a point in time, we dish out less than stellar performances. Our attitudes differ but we console ourselves by saying it doesn’t matter. But in most cases, it does matter.
Each day, we build our lives, one transaction at a time. Each day counts as we build our life’s building. When I worked at General Electric (GE), people always spoke about the “house that Jack built.” Jack Welch, painstakingly, for more than 20 years, built the foundation of GE, then its rooms, its roof and finally completed a remarkable turnaround. This took patience, time and years.
When we don’t get the promotion we crave, or we fail to get what others get, we are surprised. Could it be because the house we built doesn’t have strong foundations or good materials? It’s not just last year’s performance or last week’s deal that counts – it is your cumulative effectiveness on a daily basis.
So, how does one ensure that you are effective daily? Based on our research, it requires an equilibrium of action and reflection. While most leaders are biased towards action, the best leader balances contemplation and action, creating daily solitude for effective action.
Ineffective leaders
Most leaders say the resource they lack most is time. But if you really observe managers for a day, you will see them rushing to meetings, constantly checking their Blackberry, dodging fires, believing they are attending to important matters.
For 10 years, Bruch and Ghoshal observed behaviours of busy managers, and their conclusions: 90% of managers squander their time in all sorts of ineffective actions and activities. A mere 10% of managers spend their time in a committed, purposeful, and reflective manner. These 10% are usually classified as great leaders.
Worst still, psychiatrist John Diamond found that 90% of people “hate their work.” They come to work to punch their time clock and can’t wait to go home. The difference between leaders who love their jobs and those that don’t – they take time daily to re-energise themselves and focus through reflection.
Reflection
The practice of reflection goes back centuries and is rooted in numerous institutions including the Japanese samurai. Ben Franklin, one of my leadership heroes, had a rather systematic approach to reflection, which was a fundamental part of his daily life. He developed a list of 13 virtues and each day he evaluated his leadership relative to these virtues.
A sincere examination of ourselves is never easy. It involves the willingness to face and acknowledge our mistakes, failure and shortcomings. Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Prize winner, believes reflection in life is critical to leadership as it allows you to take into “account what you have neglected in thoughtlessness.”
Interestingly, a key step in the Alcoholics Anonymous programme asks participants to make a probing and courageous moral inventory. Steve Jobs went to India to reflect prior to starting Apple.
In business, reflection provides an opportunity to consider the ramifications of the services they provide and how to keep raising the bar. Business grows when they look within.
So, what does one achieve by reflection and contemplation? Productive action relies on a combination of three traits:
1. Focus – the ability to zero in on an objective and see the task to completion
2. Energy – the vitality that comes from concentrated personal commitment.
3. Learning – the ability to correct past mistakes and improve oneself
Focus without energy results in lethargic execution or burnout. Energy without focus leads to aimlessness or artificial busyness. And not learning from your mistakes ensures you repeat them.
All three pieces can only be obtained through reflection. Procrastinators are usually people with low levels of energy and focus. Leaders with high focus but low energy never inspire and generally end up ostracising the troops. Managers with high energy but low focus confuse their employees with chaotic activity.
Reflective managers are purpose-driven with high energy levels, learning from their mistakes. They start their day in reflection to ensure purposeful execution and action.
Focus
Confucius once said, “A man who chases two rabbits catches neither!” In Star Wars Episode 1, Qui-Gon says to the young Jedi Anakin, “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” There is an ounce of truth in that Jedi wisdom. A focused person usually attains his/her goals.
At the end of a tiring day, if we focus on how tired we are, generally we will remain tired and end up vegetating in front of the TV set. If we re-focus the mind from being tired to needing to be healthy, there is a bigger likelihood we will exercise.
It is easy to stray with all the distractions, TV, Internet and mobile devices that we have today. These distractions can lead us off-tangent, stealing our focusing power. Reflection corrects that.
Energy and passion
Reflection generates passion and energy. Energy comes from passion. Passion is self-generated as you can motivate yourself to be excited about what you do.
Author Bill Strickland writes: “Passions are irresistible. They’re the ideas, hopes, and possibilities your mind naturally gravitates to, the things you would focus your time and attention on.”
Strickland believes that only by following your passion will you unlock your deepest potential. “I never saw a meaningful life that wasn’t based on passion. And I never saw a life full of passion that wasn’t, in some important way, extraordinary.”
Learning from mistakes
Reflection allows us to learn from mistakes. We all make mistakes – I have done so spectacularly at times. We have all been in situations where things don’t go exactly to plan. But how often do we take the time to sit down to reflect on where it all went wrong?
Plato’s great words “know thyself” implies that a lifetime of self-investigation is the cornerstone for knowledge. John Dewey states, “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.”
In fact, the Kolb Learning Cycle, is based on the belief that learning for real comprehension comes from a sequence of experience, reflection, abstraction, and action. All learning can come only through reflection.
Check your attitudes daily
Living an extraordinary life is done internally through the daily positive alignment of your attitude. Your attitudes and the choices you make today build the house you live in tomorrow. Build wisely! Build with commitment, pride, joy, love and passion.
Your attitude is contagious and sets the mood for those around you. Your employees get excited when you are excited. They are energised when you are.
Plato opened up The Academy in Athens at the age of 40, when life expectancy was 36. He ran this first university, training Aristotle and others, until he was 80. Pursuing focused positive dreams arms one with high energy and leads to an extended, rewarding life.
I don’t have time to think!
This is a pretty common reaction: I don’t have time to reflect.
Which begs the question: Do you have time to make the same mistakes over and over again? Or to remain unfocused, running around like a headless chicken? Or lack energy to fulfil your dreams?
I remember an old boss once told me that I was not paid to sit around and think. On hindsight, that was probably the worst advice I received. Leaders should spend at least a quarter of their time thinking about the future of their company and reflecting on the past. It may seem ludicrous to spend time reflecting but “real work” can only be done right when you know where you are going and have the energy to get there.
Final thoughts
If we could do things over, we probably would do many things differently. And better. But the problem is, we cannot go back. We are just like the construction worker. Each day we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall in our career, family and lives. Are you doing it with focus and energy? Are we improving ourselves by learning from our mistakes?
If the fire in our eyes has diminished and we are going through life in auto-pilot, with the joy of life seemingly leaked out, it is time to take stock of life and reflect.
Socrates, Ben Franklin and most great leaders believed that reflection led to a productive and fulfilling life. And don’t say you don’t have time. After all, as Buddha aptly puts it, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”
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