Do You Run?

I do..!!

Do Eyes Speak?

Folks,

Few clarifications before we proceed to the post;

1. I am planning to increase the frequency of posts. It might dilute
a. Quality of the posts and
b. Interest of the readers

However, please don’t miss the un-highlighted word - “might”. Request you to share your thoughts.

2. These posts are never posted in expectation of any kind of comments. However, the comments (positive or negative; public or personal) are source of inspiration for me to write more. Appreciate your feedback.

3. Few of you had commented that my last posts were bit negative in nature (which I beg to differ). Hence I wanted to start this post on following note. However, as usual, I had to change my track considering the intensity/ gravity of the situation.

"Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored."
— Earl Nightingale:

I wanted to build on above mentioned note, but we can take a pause and continue on the same a bit later. And reason for the pause can be attributed to the picture in the post. I was considering the option of picture blogging when one of the friends suggested not to go for it.

That being that. Coming back to the point.I wanted to share this sketch, drawn by one of my friend. Simply putting, it’s beautiful. I might not be good at reading pictures or art. But this one is art personified.

A small child – around 7 years old – with birthday cake; so many feelings unsaid. It has no boundaries; the sketch could be of an Asian child or American or may be African. I don’t know what the lady artist thought while she was sketching it. Somehow, I am fascinated by thousand words that those little eyes convey without speaking. Is she waiting for someone? Or is she just happy?

That reminds me; do you feel like celebrating your birthday? As kids its fun, but as we grow up do we still enjoy the feeling of cutting the cake! Frankly speaking, I don’t have answer to it. Am I too grown up for my age? I don’t know, this is what I am listening to past few weeks now. However, I don’t agree to it at all. I am still a kid, you see..!

Okay, cutting it short, I sign off for the day. Will post something soon.

Anyways, Happy Birthday Gurl..!! Do you guys have a name for her? The post is open for your suggestions..!!

Alone

Past few days were better with lesser chaos, inspiring me to discover more about self. (It is process of discovery – which looks never ending as off now; anyways..!) As most of you are aware, my will power is as strong as straw! My February post was delayed and missed the post of March.

However, life is rolling and I am going with the flow without much thoughts and deliberation. I am not completely sure if I will have to relook into it. If yes, how soon is the next question!

It again re-emphasizes what one of my close friends used to tell me that life is all about solving questions, finding answers to those questions which lead to further questions.

However, it still does not disprove the fact that above points encourages thinking at local level without considering the bigger picture. I would still stick to and want to break the shackles of considering micro situation and would favor to jump to macro view for resolutions which are more strategic in nature.

Recently, I came across a concept called ‘Personal Leadership Brand’ which is highly motivating. (I won’t get into details of it. In other words, will not bore you guys.) So rather than getting bugged by routine issues, let us rise up and consider bigger picture. I am tempted to quote what Michael Angelo said -

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

Okay people, I won’t take this further. Enough of gas..!! Let us change gears and change the topic. Lately, I had many things to share. Many moments – some magical; some mystifying..! But I can categorize them as special. However, we can discuss them at stretch later.

Today morning, on way to work, I came across something very interesting in local daily, which I am too tempted to share.

Alone:

I take my wine jug out among the wood
To drink alone, without friends.
I raise my cup to entice the moon.
That, and my shadow, makes us three

(Khub jamega rang jab milenge teen yarr..! Laughs..!)

But the moon doesn’t drink
And my shadow silently follows.
I will travel with moon and shadow
Happy to the end of spring.
We share life’s joys when sober.
Drunk, each goes separate way.
Constant friends, although we wander,
We will meet again soon.


Pause..!

February Post

Thing is, I think I am over doing the travel bit. I mean seriously. And I think I am going to torture you with the details in the rest of this post, so if you're not interested, (‘cos this post has less to do with any ‘food for thought’) click that small cross button at the right top of the page.

Anyway, the current deal is a 2 week trip to work (in addition to other assignments at some different locations). Which means two half weekends spent travelling, and one whole weekend spent (technically alone) in the far-away land. Before continuing further, I need the reader, that's you, to know that I am bit stuck since past few days. 'Bit stuck' is not that strong a phrase I know. But the truth is stronger! And no, I do not believe in the 'but you can always meet so many new exciting people, and visit new places, it so much fun' nonsense. I don't.

And oh yes, somewhere in between all this running around, actually I completed 3 years of my professional career. Similarly, I celebrated my last birthday in Africa. And it so dint feel like a milestone. I think 26 is a most boring age to turn. Because, like 25, there is no announcing, I just completed a quarter of a century. Or to look at positive of 26, is celebrating entering my late twenties. Hmm, I don’t know how the coming years would be.

That being that; want to be back to regular routine life. Back to all things I always crib about, and am sure will do again soon. But that's fine I guess, and worth it, as long as it makes me feel the way I want to.

So, I will get back to my life, and you can go back to doing the more purposeful things in your life. And do come back when I post next!

Sandwiching Your Dreams..!

Hey folks, Happy New Year..! It’s been a long time I posted something. Anyways, I would take the liberty of saying that, past year was definitely eventful (a bit, if not more) for all of us. As they say; every day is a lesson learnt!

Past year also gave us some beautiful insights. However, my resolutions (if I had any) were not matched even to acceptable limits. Hopefully it is now set to change. There is so much to be done, accomplished, completed, achieved that if I don’t do anything I feel I have lost something valuable. Okay, enough of anything – something. I want to will get over the procrastination bug. And that’s what I hope to change in 2010..!

Yes, so let me come to the reason for this post. Many wise men came and went. What they left behind is legacy of quotes which may be far from being practical. Anyways recently, I came across a beautiful thought;

“All our dreams can come true, if we have courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney

On the above note, (which is a very wise thought; few may decide to disagree..!) let me take you through the google meaning of – Dream.

• a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep;
• imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake;
• ambition: a cherished desire;
• pipe dream: a fantastic but vain hope (from fantasies induced by the opium pipe)

For the purpose of this discussion, let’s pick #3; ambition: a cherished desire.

Cherished Desires..!! I will extend one of my previous posts; Is the grass really green? – Life is bundle of dreams, cherished desires, revolutionary ideas..! Different people have different sets of dreams. Some are passionate about money, others are inspired to achieve their goals, and few of charitable ones want to better the society..! Nevertheless, all of us grow up with certain ambitions and aspirations. As a child, I aspired to be a cardiologist! That’s a different issue, that now I can’t even stand blood. Similarly, all of us pick certain dreams and drop few of them.

If I were to analogize it with something more simple; its Sandwich..! (I found it apt, for it was my dinner past couple of days.) Different types of sandwiches have different ingredients. Likewise, different lives have different sets of dreams. You pick some, you (or circumstances make you) drop some. But the opening statement made by Walt Disney still holds good. (All our dreams can come true, if we have courage to pursue them. It’s just that we accept defeat and stop pursuing them) Now that one has decided to drop some aspirations, like the Jains drop stuff like onions & garlic (by choice) out of sandwich or Hindus drop beef (no hard feelings), similarly many of us drop few desires accepting the conflict as inevitable part of life. It echoes what Goldratt said in The Choice..! (That reminds me, I am yet to complete it; one more pending thing in my to do list!)

So to highlight it; a normal human being has multiples of dreams..! Few related to beautiful life, others to fulfilling career and rest linked to material fulfillment. No doubts there are some attributed towards selfless things..!

So as usual, let us try to answer few unanswered questions.

Is life just about running behind the dreams...!!?

My simple reply to the question posed above would be plain – No. It’s more than that. It is what you achieve/ gain or lose in the course of chase (run). Life is journey. The beauty of it is to enjoy the journey. This is what time has taught me. (It is a cliché though) Just imagine the day you passed the high school exams, the day you flunked the college semester exams, the day you met her, those very moments which got butterflies in your stomach, the moment somebody relied on you, any moment which made you proud, similarly there are several instances in each one of our lives which have carved a mark in our minds. If I were to put it more flamboyantly, those are inscribed in golden letters on the walls of your heart! For few wise minds, life is fulfilling dreams. Dream could be a happy family. If we define it, Raj Thackery’s ‘Marathi Manoos’ way, it is ‘Aadadhi bhakri khawi, pan ghari rahawe.’ – meaning eat half the roti, but stay home. Perhaps, that is the reason why Marathis are less of entrepreneurs while you will find Gujjus and Punjus all across the globe.

So to sum it up, it’s how you order your sandwich, how you want it to look like, what you won’t regret certain items falling out of it or how much would you regret it, how do you enjoy it (how do you capture it), how do you want your next sandwich to shape up, etcetera..! (We will touch the next sandwich again in couple of minutes)

Above all, is the achievement of our dreams really satisfying and worth losing what we lost in the course of achieving it... what if later on u realize that it wasn’t exactly what you wanted and wasn’t worth enough....

The above thought reminds me of a recent movie ‘3 Idiots’ where our hero Mr. Rancho kept on insisting that follow your dreams and success will follow automatically. However, what about majority of those who haven’t yet discovered the aim, ambition or the goal of their life?

Certainly, lots of us eat up entire life time to discover the goal of life. But if I were to summarize the thoughts, we can conclude that all of us have dreams which are dynamic in nature and our dreams, our aspirations will keep on changing with ever changing world. That doesn’t mean that we stop chasing or pursuing our current dreams. At any given point of time, we need to keep reminding ourselves of the goal and pull ourselves in structured manner towards attainment of it. No doubt clear the vision, better the picture; better is the journey and the end result.

So my humble suggestion to all you wise people is to start dreaming (if you are not) and continue dreaming..! (pursuing it is obvious next step)

Happy Dreaming..!!

PS: The above post is inspired by couple of friends; one who lives in dream land and other beautiful lady who expresses herself in innovative manner as follows -

A dream is like a sandwich...! You have many of them, some are small, and some are big... Small ones are like tomatoes.. You have it in your sandwich but the taste is not always in your mouth, big dreams are like southwest sauce, they are yummy and liquid i.e. jumping to get noticed by being around your lips all the time, and practical difficulty to achieve those dreams is like the parmesan oregano bread which stops the sauce from tasting to its entire potential..!!

On that note, I will leave the forum open for discussion. (I can expect few inputs from your side now!)

Humara Bajaj...!!

This is NOT written by me! But wanted to cherish it, hence posting it. Will appreciate your thoughts on the same. However, somehow it could be prudent business decision (i dont know..!), but I am extremely unhappy about the idea of phasing out the legendary, the iconic, the fabulous - "Humara Bajaj"!! (I never had one..!)
Anyways, read on..!

The End of an Era..!

The demise of Bajaj scooter represents a passing of not only an era, but a consciousness. Nothing captured the complex reality of existence in Middle India better than this hybrid creature that offered mobility and convenience, albeit grudgingly.

If the Indian middle class man were to be reborn as a product, chances are it would be as the Bajaj scooter. Squat, a belly going to pot, wearing a grey safari suit, undistinguished, but resourceful. With a wife perched uncomfortably at the back, Gudiya squeezed between the two and Cheeku standing up front. No product came close to capturing the essence of middle class India as well as the Bajaj scooter. For decades, the scooter was both literally and metaphorically at the heart of the Indian middle class consciousness, imparting its own unique flavour to how we lived our lives.

The scooter carried with it an aura of safety (over its macho cousin the motorcycle) that its engineering does not quite merit.

Its smaller wheel size actually made it a less stable vehicle than the motorcycle, but the air of safety that it so convincingly carried had to more to do with images that surrounded it. It had a stepney, which provided a welcome safety net on independent-minded Indian roads. It had space to squeeze in a full family, a place to carry vegetables, a dickey to store sundry needs of the family- in short, it seemed safe because it catered to the all those stable, worldly things that made a man a ‘responsible’ person.

Most importantly, the scooter hid the machine from view. Unlike the bike which revels in displaying its muscular architecture, the scooter covered up the beast within with rotund blandness. The rounded soft shape of the scooter helped it be seen as a domesticated beast of burden, anonymously performing the duties asked of it.

Overall, the scooter was middle class and safe because it went out of its way to advertise its lack of masculine ambition; it wore its unprepossessing modesty on its sleeve, by eschewing any heroics.

This was evident in the manner in which the scooter negotiated the road. If the bike saw the road as a woman to make love to, the scooter preferred instead to haggle with her. The bike hugs the curves of the road, melting the rider onto the tar; the scooter maintained an awkward distance, unconvinced that continuous mobility is a natural human condition.

If the bike purrs, the scooter stammers; where the bike is a gushing river, the scooter a spluttering tap ;if the bike an untamed stallion, the scooter a recalcitrant mule. The bike pillion rider fuses into the driver- dropping a girl home on a bike is a rake’s pleasure, on a scooter a ‘cousin brother’s’ duty.

If John Abraham is the poster boy for bikes, Amol Palekar on his way to the ration shop is the abiding scooter role model. ‘Heroes’ on bikes wear bubble helmets and boots, on scooters they chew paan and give signals with their feet.

The scooter celebrates the functionality of motorised mobility, not its recreational energy. At a time when we coped with scarcity with heartbreaking dignity, the Bajaj scooter was our imperfect solution.

It needed to be kicked incessantly, first aggressively and then pleadingly, at times it needed to be tilted at an impossible angle for the fuel to start flowing and its spark plugs needed more cleaning than Bihar politics, but it blended in perfectly with how we lived and what we believed in.

Restrained, repressed, modest, versatile in an unassuming way, the scooter spoke for us and our way of life like nothing else. No wonder the Hamara Bajaj campaign rung so true- for once advertising made us look into a mirror and told us a truth we all recognised.

With the Bajaj scooter gone, we have lost a vital part of our connection with our sense of our own middleclass-ness. It is not just Hamara Bajaj that is gone, but a reference point to our idealized way of life that is no more.


Courtesy: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/latest-news/Bajaj-brings-an-end-to-our-idealized-way-of-life/articleshow/5325364.cms

Crisis..!!

Planet earth is on the path of rejuvenation after the battering effect of the sub-prime crisis; a type of recession which hit the world and badly affected the fundamentals!
The time tested theory of Darwin –‘survival of fittest’ – again held good and only the fit companies survived the storm.

General tendency is to react to the ever changing environment. However, being reactive will be less helpful than being responsive. If any company which is stock rich and fat (instead of being fit), it losses the ability of responding and in turn compulsorily has to react to the changing markets. This dynamic behavior can be attributed to the amount of stocks lying in the supply chain.

Essential point to appreciate here is that companies don’t compete but the supply chains do. Higher the amount of inventory in the supply chain, lesser responsive the companies are. In turn, such situations led to the downfall of the companies during the tough times of recession which called for immediate change in the prices and orders which inevitably forced the companies to alter the manufacturing and supply chain practices.

Those companies which managed to adapt to the change survived. Operational Excellence (OE) / LEAN is the foundation for Business Excellence (BE). OE ensures the basic stability of the working where the health of machines, continuous flow of material, short throughput time and excellent quality ratio are the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the organization as well as decide customer satisfaction. Needless to say, customer is king and it is essential to heighten his/ her satisfaction levels to delight stage to survive in the market.

The strategic parking position of the inventory decides the responsiveness of the supply chain. Now, to maintain optimum inventory at the upstream levels is the key. If the inventory is upstream that is at the raw material form (towards supplier end) is good. Best would be just in time! Concepts of producing to takt time (customer demand rate) and shortest throughput times (time to manufacture) are not mere concepts there but real requirement.

Readers will appreciate that concept of JIT is very glitzy. However, to reach the stage of Leanness, parameters quoted earlier should be considered. And one can reach this destination of LEAN by a structured program for continuous improvement. It is known by different names; some call it TPS (Toyota Production System), others WCM (World Class Manufacturing), some call it KAIZEN – all world class companies have different names for the structure. But as it is said, ‘All roads lead to Rome.’ All systems lead to one destination of world class performance.

And, at the cost of repetition, I would like to mention that world class performance was necessary just to survive the storm of the situation. Many organizations resorted to cost cutting initiatives and in turn cut the muscles and not the waste. What we intend to say is rather than attacking the muscles, one should hit the fat – the waste in the system by cost management and not cost cutting.

Identification of bad actors quickly is important and cost – benefit and time – benefit analysis of the problem solution holds key. One should start from the low hanging fruits and keep moving towards tougher targets. Now is not the time to get lost in semantics, one has to identify where the value is lost, identifying their causes and rapidly acting to fix them. Problem solving capability at all levels is vital for the above mentioned points. If we relate this further to the culture of the organization, it should be conducive to highlight problems which lead to improving the current situation.

Hence, the fundamental principles of operational excellence program, as mentioned below, should be adhered to.

i. Process & Results: Focus on processes along with results, instead of results only approach, if the processes are right then results will follow automatically!
ii. Total Systems: Entire value stream should be considered vis – a – vis local island of excellence.
iii. No Blaming: Organizational culture should nurture open environment which enables the value builder to highlight the problem without any fear. Employee empowerment leads to a situation that every new problem identified is celebrated.

To conclude this article, I would like to quote Benjamin Franklin. As he rightly said “Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship!” So, watch out for waste and sail smoothly even in stormy weather.