“A life is lived in hours. What we do with our lives will be a function of how we spend those hours, and we only have so many … Life is full and life has space.” - Laura Vanderkam in the Busy Person’s Lies.
INSIGHT
Life is full and life has space, both statements are true. Evaluate your own time and discover how you can repurpose it to do things you find fulfilling.
The China Disneyland was inaugurated recently. One of the actions CEO Robert Iger took to push the deal, was to seek a personal relationship with China’s paramount leader, President Xi Jinping. On learning that Xi’s father, a revolutionary leader, had visited Disneyland in 1980, he pressed his staff to find a photograph. They found one which showed the President’s father, wearing a Mao suit, shaking hands with Mickey Mouse. Iger presented the photo to the leader as gift and a symbol of the partnership.
INSIGHT
Poor, peasant, privileged or president we all love to be made to feel special.
Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma already has an eye to posterity. He tells investors that more than 90 percent of key company meetings, decisions and events have been recorded on video to be analysed by future generations studying his company.
INSIGHT
When we are conscious of the legacy we are leaving behind, our present becomes motivated and energised by the envisioned future.
“We live in two worlds: one that is given and the other that is provoked by the attention we pay to it.” - Villem Flusser, Philosopher
Insight
We live in two worlds - the subjective world and the objective. The objective world is as it exists and the subjective world is the one we create from our experiences filtered through our senses. Occasional cleaning of the filters through reflection and introspection helps remove biases and prejudices.
The entire cast of the award winning film Thithi, comprises locals of a Karnataka village. Asked how he got such incredible performances from them, the film’s director R. Reddy explained there are two approaches to dealing with non-actors:
1. Don't tell your cast anything and create a work of art that only you know.
2. Tell them everything they need to know and understand to own and deliver a performance from their ‘within’ rather than your ‘within’.
INSIGHT
When the leader shares ‘his story’ with his people, it becomes ‘their story’, which becomes the canvas for together painting the larger ‘our story’.
....And stories have this simple and elegant charm about them. They create “mind seeds” for positive impact - from cave dwellings to digital walls.” - Julie Roehm, Chief Storyteller SAP
INSIGHT
Within the mindseeds created by stories, lie a flexible template ready for our experiences to be overlaid on them. The practice of periodically overlaying our different experiences on the evolving template creates deep learning, leading to lasting life lessons.
THOUGHT STUDY # 4
Marketing-software firm Hubspot wants to put its customers into a state of “delightion”. Employees are entitled to unlimited free food and vacation time. One of the founders of the company brings a teddy bear to meetings so that the idea of “the customer” they want to delight is less abstract.
THINK
What does the term ‘customer’ imply to:
- You
- Your organization?
THOUGHTS STUDY #3
Bing architect Craig Miller and his team run thousands of experiments a day. And whether it's a bug or a bad idea, there isn't going to be any finger pointing. “Zero blame,” emphasises Miller. “It has to be a learning culture, a culture that says ’we're going to learn from this‘.”
THINK
If an important project doesn't go the way it was meant to:
- How does your organisation treat it?
- How do you feel and act about it?
Who or what needs to change?
“I am a technology person who looks at any problem as a black box. Looking at a problem as a black box allows me not to be biased by the nature of the problem.Then we can find a solution dispassionately.” - M Jagadesh Kumar, VC JNU
Insight
Adopting or adapting visualization tools, techniques and concepts borrowed from professional, spiritual and experiential fields, can become effective problem-solving methods. - #TheThinkingCoach
Image: litemind
“I fight to be myself everyday in a world where we are constantly pressurised to be someone else” - Actor Kalki Koechlin in a statement about battling sexual abuse.
Insight
Man or woman, young or old, we are all of us constantly under pressure by our relationships, our workplace culture and society to be someone else. The boundaries we draw around each situation shifts in tune with our personal goals, life phase and perceived danger to our physical, mental and spiritual well being.
Can being shameless be a virtue? Kunal Shah, founder Freecharge thinks so. He believes it's a trained behavior because we want to fit in. But fitting in, he says, is a very dangerous thing because success is all about not fitting in. To him, people who are shameless ask for help, are more open to taking risks and do well in life.
Insight
A lot of pain in our life is caused by the labels we use to define it. Shameless or bold, virtue or vice, failure or learning, rich or poor are all self-chosen labels. Change the label, redefine, rejuvenate and address the pain - or relapse.
British star Carla Delevingne had bid goodbye to modelling to make a career in films, but has returned to it to become the face of Chanel’s eyewear. On her decision to to return to modeling, Carla says, “Over time, I came to realise that work and getting others’ approval isn't the most important thing”.
Insight
Life is a constant struggle between wanting to fit in, approval-seeking behaviour and wanting to do one's own thing. The last requires conviction and courage.
“I do use cookbooks myself. It's a myth that chefs don't. I own about 3500. Can I learn anything from all these books? Of course I can. You can use a book for ideas, but you can't learn to cook from books. That's impossible. There has be some natural flair”. - Gordon Ramsay in Humble Pie.
Insight
The process of learning new things and exploring & experimenting with ideas is lifelong. But it's only when you start executing on the ideas, that the process is complete.
Action
Is it time you considered putting the ideas in your mind into action?
It is time you contacted Coach Uday the Thinking Coach.
Xiaomi cofounder Bin Lin knows how to lead by example. On a day the company launched it's latest phone, packages were to go within hours of orders coming in. With thousands of deliveries in the pipeline, the pressure was on the assembly line, which was falling short of hands. Lin, apparently, jumped in and personally packed several of the phones to ensure timely shipments. The first phone was delivered to a buyer within a record time of two hours from the flash sale closing.
Insight
Wisdom in leadership lies in not only choosing when to be a hands-on leader, but also when to be hands-off.
The Vijay Mallya debt saga has become the subject of case study at B-schools. The IIM-B study is focused on corporate governance. It discusses the need of organisations to balance the interests of 5 stakeholders - customers, owners, employees, suppliers & society - for consistent high performance. Learning lies in how excessive focus on ‘pampering’ customers, or the obsession in companies to meet the interest of ’owners’ can lead to disaster.
Insight
Charismatic leadership is a double-edged sword. It brings results, but proves disastrous when the leader starts feeling s/he knows best.
"In our culture deck, which I like to show to a new team member coming in...one of the main things we talk about is not celebrating," says Siminoff (founder of startup Ring). "I see these startups celebrating every new funding round, and the reality is that there are always bad things that are going to happen to your business. I think it's really important to keep the team realistic." - Anna Hensel in Inc.
Insight
Not celebrating is overdoing things. Both failure as well as success need to be viewed realistically, so why not celebrate ‘learning’ in failure and a ‘job well done’ in success?
Popular productivity myths busted:
+ Long to-do lists change unconsciously to “what we haven't done lists,” creating stress and anxiety. Switch to a positive ‘done list’. Makes you feel good about yourself
+ Focus on failure rather than success so that you can identify threats to your success in time.
+ When you have a problem, talk to a rubber duck. Stating the problem loud, organises and simplifies information & engages more parts of your brain. Besides, the duck won't interrupt, yawn or say he's too busy.
- in.askmen.com
Insight
Bust the myths, face reality!
The ban on Maggi noodles resulted in Nestlé’s first loss in 17 years. But MD Suresh Narayanan believes a crisis is a blessing in disguise, and the best opportunity to recalibrate, redefine, reenergise and refocus yourselves.
Insight
Good times or crisis, sorrow or happiness, rich or poor are all states of mind and how we deal with the times separates the men from the boys (and girls from women too!).
Picture: applied neuroscience blog
In July ‘15, Bill McDermott CEO, SAP, met with an accident and lost the vision in one of his eyes. He is now back at the helm and says, “I am living proof that vision is not what you just see but it's what you feel and how you make other people feel.”
Insight
To the leader's mind’s eye, the promised land he wants to take his flock to, is clearly visible. But it is only when he FEELS the promise of the destination he is leading them to, that he can carry his people with him.
Suresh Narayanan, MD Nestlé India has a simple mantra:
1. Be Fast - Be empowered & take a few risks
2. Get Focused- Know what you do well & not ape what others are doing
3. Be Flexible - In terms of market outcome, future MS & evolution
He believes by unleashing these three behaviors into the business, it can be run better & can come up with newer, more compelling business models for the future.
Insight
Behaviours are useful tools for cultural transformation in an organisation as they are observable and measurable. Being aligned to the organizational vision, they also help to institute a mindset change.
Flash back It was several years ago that I met him on a Bombay Walk - the ones where they take you around to see and learn about the colonia...
