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There is a series ‘True detective’ on OTT- JioHotstar.

I was closely following the conversations between a lead detective and his junior. The lead detective is inquisitive about his partner’s way of working, his approach to investigation and his take on human relations.

This is how the conversation goes:

“Human consciousness was a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware. Nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself. We are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self, this accretion of sensory experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when, in fact, everybody’s nobody.

The honourable thing for species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.

What’s the point of getting out of bed in the morning?

I tell myself I bear witness,but the real answer is that it’s obviously my programming, and I lack the constitution for suicide.”

The senior guy tells his partner ‘ why the hell he had wanted to know more about him’. The other guys says you asked for it.

Two aspects that are striking in this conversation.

  • more awareness about self is detrimental to our own cause
  • why only a few opts for suicide is because they have the constitution and programmed to do it.

Invite your comments😊

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The following is how Gemini ai analysed the above conversations:

It sounds like you’ve been watching True Detective. That monologue by Rust Cohle is one of the most famous examples of philosophical pessimism in modern media. It’s heavy, dark, and intentionally provocative.

To decipher this, we have to look at the philosophy of Peter Wessel Zapffe and Arthur Schopenhauer, which heavily inspired those lines. Here is a breakdown of the core ideas and an analysis of the two points you found striking.

1. The “Tragic Misstep” of Self-Awareness

The senior detective is arguing that humans are a biological paradox.

  • The Mismatch: Evolution usually equips animals with tools to survive (claws, speed). In humans, it gave us “too much” consciousness. We are the only animals that know we are going to die, which creates a permanent state of existential dread.
  • The “Illusion of Self”: He claims the “I” or “me” you feel is just a biological trick—an “accretion of sensory experience”—designed to keep you eating and mating, even though there is no “soul” or permanent “somebody” behind the wheel.
  • Detrimental Awareness: You are spot on that he sees awareness as detrimental. In his view, the more you understand the universe’s indifference, the more painful existence becomes. Ignorance is bliss; consciousness is a curse.

2. The “Raw Deal” and the “Constitution”

This is the “anti-natalist” part of his argument: that the only logical response to a life of guaranteed suffering is to stop having children and let the species end.

  • The “Constitution” for Suicide: When he says he lacks the “constitution,” he isn’t saying people who die by suicide are “programmed” to do it in a mechanical sense. Rather, he’s highlighting a cruel irony: even though his intellect tells him life is a “raw deal,” his biology (his programming) has a powerful, visceral “will to live” that he can’t override.
  • The Conflict: He views himself as a prisoner to his own DNA. He stays alive and “bears witness” to the world’s horrors not because he wants to, but because his body’s survival instinct is stronger than his mind’s nihilism.

Summary of the Philosophy

ConceptDetective’s ViewHumanityAn evolutionary error; nature’s mistake.The SelfA fake story told by our brains to ensure survival.MoralityThe kindest thing we could do is go extinct voluntarily.PersistenceWe keep going because we are “programmed” to, not because it’s logical.

My Take

While the detective’s view is incredibly bleak, it’s a classic “glass-is-shattered” perspective. He looks at the same facts—human awareness and biological drives—but chooses to see them as a prison. Others might see that same awareness as a rare gift—the only way the universe gets to actually see itself.

He’s a man who has looked at the abyss so long it’s started looking back. It’s a philosophy born of deep trauma (which fits the character).

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Growth and Success are complimentary

Growth is not an aspiration for many.

It is stressful to visualise, orient and execute.
It saps the energy.
It takes a long time.
It induces severe competitive spirit that not only burns inside but makes adversaries.
It impacts family life.
It affects work life balance.
It prevents stability in work place.
It leads not to have a contended life.

Growth is an aspiration to only a few.

It keeps you motivated,active, vibrant.
It results in rewards – money, comfortable living.
It reflects in a happy family.
It elevates your self-esteem.
It raises your social stature.
It makes you value time.
It gets a wider canvass of opportunities
It envisions a strategy towards success.
It helps in having contacts in business

Success is a wonderful feeling.

Success and Growth are complimentary to each other.

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AI and Society

The technologists and businesses have been working hard to reap the benefits of AI. Data driven decision making is what makes AI a great tool for businesses.

How the advent of AI can transform the society?

Similar to the businesses leveraging AI, the governments do need to do the same in the areas of:

Public Health – early detection life threatening diseases like cancer

Education – how the curriculum can be tailored for a particular student or a group of students.

Transport – various types of data from the toll stations are analysed for vehicular movement, accidents etc.

Traffic Management – automatic signals can be synchronised to suit the waiting time and to monitor traffic offenders.

Crime monitoring – the police can be immensely helped to do surveillance of sensitive pockets of neighbourhoods and crowd management.

Here are some informative articles:

https://openethics.ai/how-the-era-of-artificial-intelligence-will-transform-society/

https://openethics.ai/the-fears-of-the-ai-era-where-ethics-is-needed/

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Intelligent Employee

The era of intelligent leadership is waning as it has become an integral part of the skill set. Those lacking it are either departing or awaiting removal. Furthermore, excessive time has been devoted to cultivating future leaders, and this aspect has undoubtedly been overemphasized.

The focus has now shifted to skilled employees. Rather than maintaining a large workforce, organizations are compelled to retain only a fraction of employees who are skilled, tech-savvy, and empowered with ownership. This approach is driven from the bottom up, with skilled employees discovering innovative solutions to customer problems. Innovation emanates from the lower rungs of the hierarchy. Where ownership is evident, rewards follow suit. Boards will likely reevaluate the compensation packages of leaders, given the widening gap between the average median salaries of CEOs and employees.

However, the question remains: what will become of the rest?

This poses a significant challenge for organizations, which have a social responsibility to uphold and cannot simply dismiss employees.

It is imperative for leaders to step forward and create new opportunities, secure new clients, spawn new businesses, collaborate with peers and start-ups, rather than merely focusing on protecting the bottom line and appeasing investors with dividends.

#intelligent_employee

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Success and Failure

“The word “success” has no meaning.

If what we want happens, we think it’s a success.

If we think that failure is certain and fail, that failure is a success”

Would anyone think and work towards a failure?

We may have across it in our past. In corporate life, the leader assigns a task or a project to be successfully delivered but the team thinks it is a mission sure to taste failure for many reasons. Yet they go with it and when they meet failure they are hardly affected. The team, in fact, considers it as a success.

In a dictionary, failure comes first before success.

Do you agree?

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Good times ahead…

Indians who are in 20’s, 30’s and 40’s are in the cusp of enormous opportunities and good times ahead as the country marches towards a $30 trillion dollar economy in 2050.

The statistics are looking very promising today and with the young population in a vibrant mode, we will wait to see a great nation that will be titled as a Developed nation to stand tall with other economic giants.

Projections suggest India could become the world’s 3rd largest economy by 2028, with ambitious goals to reach $10 trillion in the next 10 years, and up to $30 trillion by 2050.

The young Indians need to believe that it is an achievable feat, no matter whatever be the internal and external disturbances.

The naysayers always talk ill about what the nation or its leadership is doing. Ignore those nitwits and agenda driven individuals and groups. The more we ignore them, the better we are as an individual, society and nation looking to advance. The youngsters need to realise that they have a perfect platform for greater accomplishments and accountability and acceptance.

Enjoy the life and a beautiful way of doing it is unleashing your potential towards something notable and laudable in innovative avenues.

Awake, Arise, Accomplish!

http://www.beating.in

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Lie is the cheap weapon all the weak minded people have.

When nothing goes right, they indulge in propagating lies that seemingly make them appear distinctively big for some and dishonestly small for many.

When hard work eludes, success eludes.
When success eludes, weak mind takes over.
When weak mind takes over, sinister plans emerge.
When sinister plans puts into action, wrong narratives are set as cover.
And the wrong narratives come out as blatant lies.
When the lies are exposed, shame doesn’t bother.
And new lies are mouthed again.
The cycle continues as it takes a deep root in behaviour and attitude.

Haven’t we come across these pathological liars or mythomaniacs in our circle of contacts in personal, professional and public life?

Beware of these people for they don’t hesitate to pull you down to achieve their plans.

#personality

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Today parenting is challenging

Yes, in the world of insta, reels, advertisements and movies, the influence of parents on their children is going away. Children, especially the teens are hardly seen with their elders and not even on the dining table once a day. Parents on their part go out all the way to provide more than comfortable environment for their kids.

Separate rooms, trendy clothings, smart phones, pocket money and fine dining have all made the youngsters think that they are entitled to these perks and their parents have to give them all these because they brought them into this world. The school goers are no different than their elder brothers and sisters. They ape them and also their young moms and dads who too fancy swanky life style. The disposable incomes are raising with both the parents are working and extrvagent spending of parents catches up with their children.

Do we blame the parents when the kids go astray and pick up habits and talks that are detrimental to their intellects and social behaviour? The blame is always on the children. If there are family or social gatherings, teenagers stand aloof and out of place. The grand parents look sad because neither they nor the parents are unable to get the children to be a part of any festival or weddings.

The malaise of both children and parents ignoring what is good for them is seen not only with affluent families but also with those who just earn to live on. Their children have different challenges as they try to aspire for what they see on the movies and phones. Their parents always quarrel and do not spend time with them. They see their affluent neighbours and yearn to live like them. They become angry and frustrated. They pick up bad habits and turn rebellions.

Parents, please come out of your own world. Be kind and converse with your wards. Create an atmosphere at home where they freely discuss their issues. Be a listener. There are 100s of things that impact their education and thoughts. We don’t have to be watch dogs but be attentive to what they do and speak with their friends.

Today parenting is on high alert than what it used to be with our parents decades ago. High end phones, make-up kits, costly clothings and expensive holidays do not always help to get the children to be responsible. The more the exposure the more is the damage to their education and careers.

Gen Z has grown up in a digital world and the impact is seen in the way they appear both inwardly and outwardly. They are setting up an example for the next generation and we, the parents, better wake up.

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Exit Interviews: A Missed Strategic Opportunity

Most organizations—especially in the technology sector—fail to use exit interviews effectively. The problem is not a lack of process, but a lack of intent. These conversations are often treated as formalities rather than strategic opportunities to understand why talent leaves.

Exit interviews should not be about last-minute retention efforts. They must focus on the employee’s aspirations and on what their next employer is offering that the current organization is not. Compensation is rarely the sole driver. Employees leave because they seek meaningful challenges, faster growth, and exposure to new roles—opportunities they no longer see internally.

Critically, exit interviews should be conducted face to face by the employee’s direct manager, not delegated entirely to HR. While HR plays an important role, managers are far better positioned to understand the business context, the technology, and the realities of the role. Yet in most organizations, HR alone conducts these discussions, resulting in superficial insights and lost intelligence.

When managers lead exit conversations, the feedback can be aggregated and presented to senior leadership to reveal how competitors are structuring roles, building capabilities, and attracting talent. This intelligence is invaluable. Organizations that ignore it will continue to lose people for reasons they claim they “didn’t see coming.”

ExitInterviews #TalentStrategy #Leadership #HRmanager

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The countdown has begun for another new year.

Looking back we wonder what we have achieved since the beginning of 2025 or for that matter in all the past years.

Well, we don’t look at each year to be filled with only achievements. If achievements only determine our life, then do we expect them to repeat it every year with a fresh set of goals?

When does it end?

What happens to us when we don’t achieve them? We become remorse, sad and sullying. If these take away our happiness and time, why do we need to set up goals and try to work crazy to achieve them? We become unmindful of near and dear ones and it leads to disconnect with them that we work for.

Could we expect to get promotion at work every year? We will then become a CEO at 20’s. Do we scale mountains every year? Do we break our own record every year? Do we want to be a winner all the time? Do we realise that gets us more enemies than friends? It is humanly impossible to do it year after year but we keep going at them.

Have we thought about putting up a stop to these pursuits that saps our energy and makes us sick?

Life has a higher and bigger purpose. Don’t we agree?

What does a happy life mean?
Money? Fame? Status? Luxurious life style?
What will we do if we get them all in a few years of our living with our own money or with that of an inherited money?
What will we do in the remaining years of life? Blow out the money doing nothing?

Then what are we celebrating at the dawn of a new year?

Every year we yearn for new hopes, success and happiness. Do we get to accomplish all of them?

Do we realise we have some unfinished agenda that has defined our existence? What are they?

Peace.
Peace to self and to others living with us in our homes, neighbourhood, city, country and world.

Preserve Nature.
We don’t exist if nature turns against us. And we do everything to destroy it. As we become more knowledgeable in worldly matters, we become less knowledgeable in protecting and preserving Nature. We learn new things and also unlearn olden good habits and practices.

Preserve Health
It is easier said than done. Inspite of our eating food more than what we need for our bodies, the same food makes us ill. We eat what causes harm to our bodily parts. Human body is designed to function in a specific manner and we do everything to alter it. Medical advancements make us to reset our body but the damage is already done and we only attempt to do how further damage should not be done and live on medicines.

Balance the wealth
Bridge the gap between the super rich and the utterly poor. It is good to be decently wealthy only for you and family in your lifetime. Accumulating wealth for the next 3 or 4 generations is meaningless as we don’t know if they get to enjoy them. Entitlement doesn’t keep them happy too. They may be deprived off that wealth one fine day by a Government of that time. Because it may be possible there will be a huge no of poor people who needed that money.

Recognise and Praise the Super natural power that brought us to the earth.
Millions of sperms died before one sperm met the egg to become what we are today. That sperm caused us to arrive at the world. And who designed that sperm or the biological / physiological nature of our body? It is The Creator who created the universe and a countless lives of humans and non-humans. Do we thank him enough everyday? Or do we say He is non-existent? Isn’t that foolish to do it when the earth that we live on is only a tiny dot in the universe that is controlled by the Supreme power?

The New Year is just hours away. Let us take a pledge that we work towards the unfinished agenda. We create happiness around us and let us be our own creators and seek God’s help to achieve it. It is the real achievement and an accomplishment that we will be proud of. It is not philosophical to think that way but a practical way of leading a life with a purpose.

newyearpledge

happynewyear

purpose_of_life

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Mentors, Coaches, and Internal Grooming: Knowing When to Seek the Right Support

The most successful executives are not those who face every challenge alone—but those who know when, where, and from whom to seek support.

Recognizing the right form of guidance at the right time can define the trajectory of a leadership career.

Leaders often speak about the importance of seeking expert guidance at various stages of one’s professional journey. Yet a critical question remains: when should an executive seek such support, and from whom?

Every career progresses through distinct phases, each presenting its own set of challenges. Not every challenge requires external intervention, nor is it practical to seek help at every crossroads. Often, a mentor plays a crucial role by offering perspective and outlining possible options. A mentor does not prescribe solutions; instead, they encourage independent thinking, enabling individuals to assess their circumstances and choose the most appropriate path forward.

A business coach, however, takes a more structured and goal-oriented approach. Coaching engagements typically occur within a defined timeframe and are focused on specific developmental objectives or transitional challenges. Business coaches are frequently engaged under formal agreements with an organization and work closely with executives preparing for expanded leadership responsibilities. This may include building capabilities to engage effectively with key stakeholders—peers, board members, line managers, customers, and the broader workforce. For executives stepping into senior roles, coaching often extends to managing interactions with industry analysts and the media.

Beyond mentoring and coaching, many organizations emphasize internal leadership development as a strategic priority. Senior leaders—often the Chairman, CEO, or Managing Director—identify high-potential executives at the second or third leadership level and actively prepare them for future roles. With a deep understanding of an individual’s strengths and development areas, these leaders groom talent to ensure continuity and stability when critical positions become vacant. Organizations that invest in this approach demonstrate a strong belief in growing leadership from within rather than relying solely on external hires.

As you reflect on your own leadership journey, consider this:

Are you relying on the right form of support for the challenges you face today?

Share your thoughts or experiences—mentoring, coaching, or internal grooming—and let’s start a conversation on how leaders can better prepare for what’s next.

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Stretching too far

The recent incident of Indigo reminds us of the need for exercising caution and restraint in running an operation in a factory or in a service sector like Airlines. In such a lifeline of an industry, the risk assessment needs to be far more vigilant and awareness of risk mitigation procedures. A business turning a blind eye is vulnerable in the long run. A CEO cannot work only to please the promoters and investors.

We had seen earlier that Sahara,Jet Airways and King Fisher got into different version of risk and the basic reason for their failures was a poor assessment of debt servicing and greedy promoters. ‘One cannot eat more than that can be chewed’ is an apt proverb that describes these case studies that made the lenders and investors poor with liabilities and litigations. Another glaring case study is the failure of Future retail group that borrowed more than it could re-pay and the business didn’t anticipate the risk of a new selling model – on-line sales that Amazon & FlipKart pioneered in India. The boards of these companies ignored their role in protecting the investors and customers and fell prey to the hypes surrounding the short lived successes of these airlines. The watch dogs of the government, the regulating bodies,turned other side and let the promoters have their own ways. The control mechanism woefully failed.

Another recent case study is that of Byju that was among the pioneers in online tutoring model but fell short of preference solely due to it becoming financially unviable and a loss making start-up venture. High profile advertising, heavy expansion across the country and the low cost competition aping the model.

An operation in a factory or a service line is capable of with standing a certain limit with a tolerance factor and stretching it both on financial and humanitarian fronts is inviting big trouble that cannot be undone overnight and calls for rebuilding absorbing the fianancial loss and losing the goodwill of customers.

#safety

#riskassessment

#operationalsafety

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Resistance to change – how our brain works

If we want to take to a new habit or a new routine or a new home, our brain doesn’t accept it for some days because it is used to the same way of doing things. It offers resistance when we change our habit or routine.

We are used to wearing our watches on the left hand and when we move it to the right, we feel it weighs more. We want to switch it back immediately to our usual hand. But when we keep wearing it on the right hand for some days, the brain accepts it and we no longer feel it weighs more.

Similarly we are used to do our morning walk on the streets we are familiar with. When we change to a new route, our brain doesn’t feel comfortable for a few days.

Any new habit or routine takes time to get used to.

Achievers, as they say, do things differently to be successful.

Watch this interesting clip on how we need to embrace change from the routine.

#newhabits

#brainfunction

https://lnkd.in/enkgv-FV

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Rural India – what it needs besides income generation

I don’t know if there is an index like Rural Improvement Index – RII or Ri2 index. I am also not aware of any Indian or state government agency tracking these metrics and taking corrective actions for a sustainable and happy living.

This index needs to define the following metrics and is published as a score of x/10. The coordinating agency must work with individual government initiatives addressing these important aspects rural population and rural India. The mass migration of rural youths migrating to bigger towns and cities must be arrested for a better balance of opportunities and economic progress.

*Health – Reach, infra and affordability

*Education – Relevance, Vocational curriculum and affordability

*Jobs – New jobs, employability and geo relevance

*Entrepreneurship – growth areas, financial assistance and mentorship

*Governance – People friendly, optimal resource utilization, Merit focused

*Sustainability – Preservation of wet lands, water sources and forests

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Perspectives – there is no right or wrong.

It is all about perspectives that shape the opinions of people. Every action or complaint has two versions of perspective – one of the doer and the other of the onlooker. The justifications of action or complaint determine if the action was right or wrong.

Example: an interesting forward in my WA feed. Source unknown. But beautifully put across….

One Story, Two Perspectives

A famous book writer sat in his study. He took out his pen and began to write:

“Last year, I had surgery to remove gallstones. I was bedridden for a long time.

In the same year, I turned 60 and was retired … quitting a company that I loved so much. I had to leave the job I’ve been doing for 35 years.

That same year I was abandoned by my beloved mother who passed away.

Then, still in the same year, my son failed his final medical exam because of a car accident. Repair costs from the car damage marked the peak of bad luck last year.”

At the end he wrote:
“What, what a bad year!”

The writer’s wife entered the room and found her husband who was sad and pensive. From behind, the wife saw the husband’s writing. Slowly she backed away and left the room.

15 minutes later she came back in and put down a piece of paper with the following words:

“Last year, my husband finally managed to get rid of his gallbladder which had been making his stomach hurt for years.

That same year, I am grateful that my husband was able to retire in a healthy and happy state of mind & body. I thank God he was given the opportunity to work and earn for 35 years to support our family.

Now, my husband can spend more of his time writing, which has always been his hobby.

In the same year, my 95 year old mother-in-law, without any pain, returned to God in peace.

And still in the same year, God protected our son from harm in a terrible car accident. Our car was seriously damaged by the accident, but my son survived without any serious injuries.”

In the last sentence his wife wrote:
“Last year was a year full of extraordinary blessings from God, and we spent it full of wonder and gratitude.”

The writer smiled with emotion, and warm tears flowed down his cheeks. He was grateful for a different point of view for every event he had gone through the past year. A different perspective of the same events now made him joyful.

Dear Family and Friends, in this life we ​​must understand that it is not happiness or joy that makes us grateful. It is gratitude that makes us happy/joyful! Let’s practise seeing events from a positive point of view and keep envy away from our hearts.

”We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Abraham Lincoln

Good to re-read this piece even though you may have read it before.

Have a nice day 😊😊😊

Image courtesy: Silaii.com

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How much enough is enough?

We keep multiplying wealth all the time. It is very rare that people don’t have this habit. We always feel so insecure in both our career and profession, we tend to think far ahead about us and our children. Additionally we have the fear that our life is unstable as countries go to war, calamities strike nature, people protest and diseases are on the rise.

Many of us have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that has 5 stages starting from Psychological needs followed by safety, love & belonging, esteem and self-actualisation needs. But over the years researchers added another need as you could see from this below research report.

“In the time since Maslow published his original paper, his idea that we go through five specific stages hasn’t always been supported by research. In a 2011 study of human needs across cultures, researchers Louis Tay and Ed Diener looked at data from over 60,000 participants in over 120 different countries. They assessed six needs similar to Maslow’s: basic needs (similar to physiological needs), safety, love, pride and respect (similar to esteem needs), mastery, and autonomy. They found meeting these needs was indeed linked to well-being. In particular, having basic needs met was linked to people’s overall assessment of their lives, and feeling positive emotions was linked to meeting the needs of feeling loved and respected.”

When all these needs are taken of,what makes people to accumulate wealth more than they need in their life time or in the life time of next generations. We used to hear in villages about wealthy people that they have accumulated wealth for 7 generations.

In a country like India where per capita income is not as high as some western countries, the income doesn’t get distributed to the needy or there are no avenues to make that per capita income higher. We don’t have to follow communist mind set to distribute wealth equally but resources cannot be cornered by people who are already wealthy and they have to be made available to every citizen rather than the super rich ( businessmen, politicians etc) going on the crazy path of wealth accumulation.

To get back to the topic’ enough is enough’, how do we develop a mind to say No to further wealth creation. Will that erode our confidence or create a sense of contentment? Will the mind refuse entitlement and let go to others? Will it diminish our superiority in the society? Will it make us less powerful and authoritative?

It is not only we develop this attitude of ‘enough is enough’ but inculcate it to younger generations because they are the ones who are poised to create a world that is peaceful and orderly.

‘Enough is enough’ needs to go deep rooted in our minds.

#enoughisenough

#wealthdistribution

#hierarchyofneeds

* https://www.thoughtco.com/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4582571

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Scientific prowess needs to take over the management mindset

Not a correct statement, one would think.

Let us think about the Indian context. We spend 0.64% of GDP on R&D. This speaks volumes of our apathy towards deep research, innovation and IP creation. We are no way comparable to China, Japan, US and Israel.

We are so engrossed in creating managers for today and tomorrow but have failed to recognise the fact that science is a fundamental factor to succeed as a nation or a super power. We have had enough of managers and let us focus / spend more on science and scientific efforts. Young minds have to be prepared towards research and innovation for the future. Academicians and parents have a responsibility to encourage students to opt for science curricula.

Thankfully the crave for Information technology engineers have vaned in the last few years at the engineering institutes and attention is turning towards more enrolment in core engineering and science subjects.

Corporates on the other hand are not spending enough on science or creating / supporting more scientific bodies that propel R&D efforts to a different level to compete with other superpowers.

We have progressed well in space and defence technologies but going slow on medical research, agricultural research, live stock research, health care research etc. Government bodies like CSIR, DRDO, ICMR, ICAR, NRDC, NIBMG have to step up on the pedal with the support of big corporates.

The whole world has moved towards AI and lacking in fundamental research and R&D initiatives will only retard our adoption to AI in every sphere of industrial automation and innovation.

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Our habits are shaped by corporates

Frequently, younger generations caution us that our diets lack sufficient protein, which can compromise our muscle and bone health, causing premature aging.

Nonetheless, our eating habits are shaped by corporate entities seeking to promote their products. Surveys, often unsupported by credible health organizations, exaggerate mineral deficiencies in our diets. These findings benefit Ready-to-Eat and Food Supplement manufacturers, who exploit our concerns to boost sales.

The trend of kitchenless homes and the abundance of dining establishments threaten our tradition of home-cooked meals. Although our eating habits may seem to have changed, we are, in fact, consuming the same traditional foods.

The fashion industry has skillfully engineered our preferences, creating a cycle of consumption fueled by emotional appeals. It is vital to scrutinize advertisements and surveys, recognizing the potential for manipulation.

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Surviving is not the same as Succeeding

You have been at a place for many years and always lament that you are not getting noticed. At the same time, you also see some of your colleagues who have been with you for a long time get the boot. You wonder what is this and why you are not pushed to the exit.

Managers hunt for associates who are warming the seats with no real hunger to meet the timelines and not being creative to solve problems. It is not out of sympathy you did not get pushed to the exit but inadvertently you may have shown sparkles of brilliance or hard work at times and that have helped you in good stead.

Are you happy at what you are doing and feeling you are just surviving?

This is the question that comes to the minds of many and they are at cross roads where to go and what to do.

Survival doesn’t take you anywhere in your career and it makes you to blunt all your skills. One needs to be at the top of the game to remain relevant in the organisation. Sharpening the skills, adding more to your skill set and a lot of self motivation helps you to get noticed and that is the sure way to move up. If you are finding it hard to self-motivate and mend the flaws in your system do seek a good mentor to nudge you to be always sharp and to possess a mindset to seize opportunities.

The bottom line is never be content with surviving each day. It requires a huge commitment and consistently hard work to succeed.

Survival blunts the skills, Success sharpen them!

Without ‘U’, sUccess never happens.

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The Tariff Trades

A tariff negotiation is like a ping pong game. The more spin and force you use, the more will be the counter actions.

Global trade today is similar to the barter trade between countries. A country imports goods that it cannot make. The same country exports goods that it has in abundance. In olden days it used to be ‘goods for goods’ based on a notional value and that’s how trade had flourished over the centuries. Today tariff on goods of another country is used by countries as a tool to buy their goods.

Let us look at what governments want. They want the best possible landed prices for their products to make them affordable to the consuming public. In a tariff game, you want to import what is not available or could not be made within the country.

A country cannot make a product or produce an agricultural commodity overnight as many factors come into play – raw materials, skilled labour, technology or weather. No company wants to get into that segment that has high dependency on these factors and has a long period of ROI. Businesses weigh pros and cons and take decisions that are viable in their balance sheets. Nationality sentiments do not play any part unless they do business for charity.

If a country does not remain in a comfort zone of imports and exports with another country , it evaluates alternate markets for their country made products or help the local manufacturers to make their products that are competitively priced for exports.

Better sense starts prevailing when the industry bodies caution the governments on tariff rates that impact the local market and purchasing power of people.

Let us not forget that it is the people who finally determine the tariff rates because they only know how much is there in their wallets. Governments must listen to them to keep the vote bank intact.

A news item says ‘ Americans are going to pay each $ 1200 extra annually once the new tariff comes into effect’

#tariffwar

#tradewar

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An Indian IT major is cutting down 12000 jobs soon

This is a major business news item that impacts the sentiments of the bourses as well as the IT outsourcing industry. We are used to seeing similar headlines from multinationals of Bay Area, NA but this news coming out of TxS is a shocker as we haven’t heard such a mass retrenchment in Indian tech / IT industry.

The impact of new emerging technologies, more so AI, is being felt in a big way across the entire industry spectrum not limited to IT industry alone. The technology is rapidly forcing organisations to have a fresh look at what would be the downside of their business with the focus now being solely on how to keep the workforce employable and billable.

Re-skilling is inevitable both for the employers and employees as they need to co-exist in an environment that is changing faster than that was anticipated a few years ago.

Bain projects that India’s AI industry will generate 2.3 million jobs by 2027. However, the talent pool is estimated to reach just 1.2 million—leaving over a million positions to be filled through upskilling and training initiatives. Specialists with 10-12 years of experience in Java or Python are no longer needed and young engineers with AI skills are much preferred.

More skills are turning out to be redundant and that’s where the IT organisations are grappled with a dilemma of whether to lay-off associates or not. The most impacted areas is Infrastructure maintenance ( due to organisations moving to cloud), BPO (more automations are happening here) and mushrooming GCCs that have taken away the work from traditional IT companies.

Well, the bell is tied around the cat by TxS and it will definitely be followed by other majors. Another interesting phenomenon is that the retrenchment is aimed at senior and middle management cadres (meaning managers and senior managers) who are always hands-off from technology. Re-skilling them is a tough call as the cost of retaining them is huge. The bottom of the workforce pyramid is going to be still broader as the salary of middle or a senior manager takes care of more new juniors.

There is also a heavy pressure on organisations relying on IT outsourcing to Indian majors especially from NA, Canada and Europe. They too have an agenda to cut IT infra, application and outsourcing costs drastically as their business is also facing the shift in tech trends.

Once the darling of the bourses is on the verge of a big shake-up and the industries’ cutting down on new hires and the serving associates will hugely impact the unemployment scenario besides those passing out of engineering colleges. The recruitment model revolves around hiring young, self-taught engineers — even before they graduate.The entire educational supply chain would need a revamp to adjust with the changing tech trends.

#techtrends

#ai

#layoff

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Separation – Voluntary & Involuntary

Separation from an organisation,once served for long, is an emotional act. But it is an action of one’s own volition that is planned for many months and executed. There is no remorse or pain when such a decision is taken.

Involuntary separation, meaning termination of employment , is the most painful and scary action for an individual who is so naive in not anticipating it. He or she has been so dumb and failed to notice the clues from a reporting manager or a trusted colleague.

If that day arrives, how does one react to it?

Would you go though all job postings on portals and click ‘ Apply now’ button? It doesn’t work with most recruiters as they are always flooded with such applications.

Would you activate your known network and ask for a referral? You will be asked many questions as to why you lost the job? Embarrassing questions that you may have to answer.

Would you think of your own start-up? Yes, if you have a good bank balance and have a wet towel wrapped around your tummy for some time. High risk. Your dependents also need to survive.

Would you choose a company that is willing to take you but at a much lower salary? No, it would take years or even decade to rebalance your spends with earnings.

One of the better ways is to market ‘YOU’ as a brand rather than an individual looking for any job.

  • Make the best use of the time ‘ in between jobs’, to aggressively self-market your visibility, competence and credentials.
  • Be active in social media like LinkedIn, professional forums and groups. Contribute your worth by sharing your experiences and competencies.
  • Take time to attend technical and professional workshops that enhance your resume.
  • Work on your resume to make it more attractive by engaging a good coach.
  • Seek mentorship / guidance and other renowned experts who may recommend you to their contacts.
  • Don’t rely on your old network or colleagues for a job and it is better to work with new influential contacts. Known contacts may invariably speak not in glowing terms about you but rather lowly. More harm than good.

Don’t take up ‘a’ job in a hurry but buy your time to land on a job that is worth waiting for. Exude confidence, that is a sure shot way to create opportunities for you.

Happy job hunting! ( and not a sad job break)

#jobhunt

#involuntaryseparation

#termination

#jobsearch

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Successful yet lonely

It is alright one sets his or her goal to win everything – best marriage,best spouse, best house, best children, best holidays, best job, best salary and best boss ( unfortunately you can’t choose best parents).

You may or may not have got everything you wished for.

In that pursuit you burn all the energies, health, relationships, leisure etc but feel you are alone and surrounded by emptyness. Is it worth to set these goals?

At times, it is good to fail and the failure teaches you to be grounded. Hence accept it. There are people around you to build relationships with. Millionaires and billionaires are not made only with successes. They have tasted many faliures and came back on track after rectifying the faults.

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The evolution of human potential

The evolution of human potential has been huge since the Stone Age. God created the same brain on every human and of the same size and structure.

So what has been the primary reason for a human to multiply the potential of his brain many times? Was it the biological reason? Was it the cultural capabilities that increased the intelligence, creativity or adaptability over time?

Stone Age human walked leaning the body forward and who taught him to walk straight today? It is his biological change that altered his personal trait. Ancient human understood sign language as that was the main mode of communicating with others. Over many thousands of centuries, he learnt to speak languages that had meaning and his cognitive abilities increased leaps and bounds. We then learnt to adapt to different environments from sub-zero temperature to a hot humid climate and took to different life styles. Civilisations, Technological advancements, cultural beliefs and social interactions have been making huge impact on humans in the way they used their brains for a better living and peaceful co-existence.

The advent of Artificial Intelligence has made humans think of exponentially increasing the human potential through new solutions and what we see today is a human with immense creativity, tools and highly trained brain power that thinks about the impossible tasks.

There is a great interplay between biological and cultural processes that constantly alters our thoughts and develops our intelligence and capabilities.

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Great leaders make great decisions

A Decision is always based on circumstancial evidence and data points.

If the evidence and data points are wrong, decision goes wrong.

An average Leader relies on available material and makes a decision that goes wrong.

A great leader looks at the probability of decision going wrong with the available data points and sources. If it is high he seeks for more data.

The buck stops at the leader and he has no one to blame but himself when decisions go wrong.

There are many examples of well known organisations winding up because of poor decisions. They were supposedly led by competent CEOs but what made them to fail the organisations they were leading well until they started taking decisions that had put the company at risks.

There is no definite formula for success and it depends on intentions, resources, risks, execution and customer goodwill.

Of all the above, good intentions are what make a CEO / Leader great. Great organisations thrive for decades and they all have had great leaders.

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Ethical Corruption

Is there really a way to do it?

Industrialists or businessmen who want to get things done with a Minister or a politician or a government employee often have the dilemma of whether to bribe or not. The conscience says No to it but unless it is done there is no way of a project or a payment or a work gets approved. A delay is a cost.

As a leader or CEO, how will we handle this situation?

There is a way you can be ethical and still please the person who demands it. Look around and solicit some sane advice from people in your circle as to what may please that person instead of cash bribe. Today every politician has many businesses or activities that require incomes or facilities. One of these outfits could be the beneficiary of this largesse.

No more ethical dilemma!

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Categories of leaders

There are 4 types of leaders in Indian business:

Visionaries – they anticipate the industrial needs of country and expectations of people and set up industries that serve every common man- The founders of business empires, TATAs, Birlas, Godrejs…

Path breakers – they imagine big about the hidden potential of people and the country and bring them out to create revolution – Verghese Kurien, Dhirubai Ambani, M S Swaminathan, Walchand, Narayana Murthy, Sundaram Iyengar…

Super Managers – There is a long list of names in this category. They own businesses and head them too. They are largely entrepreneurs and still work as executives in their organisations. Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Bhavish Agarwal, Falguni Nayar, Lakshmi Mittal, Deepinder Goyal, Nithin Kamath, Dilip Sanghvi, Sridhar Vembu, Radha Vembu, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Radhakrishnan Damani..,,

Professionals – all those in public sector and private sector CEOs and MDs.

There is no dearth of leadership in India and hope it is leveraged more than what is being done now. We need their collective wisdom to achieve $5T economy sooner than we had planned for.

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Confidence

Many people say someone or a group is over confident in pursuing an objective to its logical conclusion.

There is nothing like over confidence or under confidence in dictionary. Confidence denotes the ability to gather resources and skills to achieve an objective or a goal. The people who do it, know very well that they are capable of succeeding in their attempt. They believe they have the skills or expertise. For an outsider, evaluating an individual or a group to be confident or over confident is more due to a perception of strengths and weaknesses of people attempting a goal. Their perception may not be always correct yet they discourage any such attempt.

Confidence is belief and belief is an awareness of inner strength and to know what is possible or not. A student is always in top 5 in a class and if he or she believes she could be the top student in the class, then it is a belief of own ability. On the contrary if he or she is in the bottom 10 in a class, believing that he or she could top the class is said to be over confident by others.

Know your strength and skills before believing in your ability to succeed.

Confidence is always a positive feel and cultivating it helps in dealing with people the right way. It shouldn’t be construed as arrogance but plain belief in oneself.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” – Eleanor Roosevelt.

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CIO & changing priorities

A CIO is no longer a person managing IT infrastructure, software applications deployment and keeping them running . The role today calls for closer involvement with the marketing team too. The customer feedback or competition provides a lot of data to the marketing team who in turn look upto CIO to slice and dice the data to re align their marketing strategy. The data is all about changing customer demographics, customer influencers, competition, income parity, cultural influence and pricing models. CIO needs to analyse these data and for this Data analytics is an essential tool.

Data analytics is crucial is for a business to survive and move forward. There are many software tools available to do this work and CIO would need experts to help them to analyse and interpret the data.

“Data analytics converts raw data into actionable insights. It includes a range of tools, technologies, and processes used to find trends and solve problems by using data. Data analytics can shape business processes, improve decision-making, and foster business growth”.

We,at Boardconnect India, help you in your efforts to achieve digital needs to grow and stay competitive.

http://www.boardconnectindia.com

#bci

#dataanalytics

#digitalttransformation

#digitaladvisory

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Globalisation Today – 3 mega trends!

We have seen some decades in the past causing the world more harms in terms of economic and social disturbances. The decade of 2001-2010 was undoubtedly the one that derailed both social and economic worlds. We saw 9/11 attack that had sent the shivers down the world of what proportion the terrorism had reached as it plucked away so many innocent lives. Towards the end of that decade there was another catastrophe in the form of the Great Economic recession that left many jobless and countries had to suffer its aftermath for the next many years.

The decade that we are living in today,2020 onwards until this moment, has been the most dreaded and forgettable period. We are still in the middle of this decade and we shudder to think what lies ahead till 2030 and beyond. We had witnessed millions of people getting affected and losing their lives due to COVID. Further we are in the midst of two wars that don’t seem to be ending anytime soon and again millions have lost their lives and were displaced. The leaders of the nations have to be more responsible shedding away their intolerance to fellow mankind, embrace peace that will allow people to stay focused on living their life.

These happenings prove beyond doubt that technology has advanced to an extent that we could come up vaccine to arrest the loss of lives in a shorter period of time but the same technology has also made the warfare more dangerous than the previous world wars.

The slowdown of world trade that resulted from the financial crisis was exacerbated by protectionist policies and nationalist movements in recent years. The COVID-19 health crisis that brought economic collapse has prompted policymakers to take deliberate steps toward deglobalization. While the current trend is not likely to end globalization, some argue that “globalization can be reversed, at least partially.” ( Reference note # 2)

The social integration of people has been so rapid due to digital technologies but the economic integration of businesses or inter-trade between countries has somewhat diminished with countries becoming protectionists.

The UN says that there are three mega trends seen today that are related globalisation: shifts in production and labor markets, rapid advances in technology, and climate change. ( Reference note # 3)

The below mentioned notes are older but they seemed to be happening today.

Notes

1. KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Press release. KOF Globalisation Index: Weaker World Trade Slowing Globalisation External
 October 23, 2019. Back to text

2. Douglas A. Irwin. The pandemic adds momentum to the deglobalization trend. External
 Peterson Institute for International Economics. April 23, 2020. Back to text

3. United Nations General Assembly. Fulfilling the promise of globalization: advancing sustainable development in an interconnected world. Report of the Secretary-General. External
 2017.

Trends in Globalization – Globalization: A Resource Guide – Research Guides at Library of Congress

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What is ailing Indian education system?

The majority of students that come out of schools and colleges lack both in employable and social skills. The unemployed care a damn about social skills and they fall apart in a set-up that is responsible, compassionate and yielding. To destroy a country, it is enough to lower the quality of education by preparing the students only to write exams or allowing cheating in exams.

We have been discussing for a decade about how Indian educational system is short of practical aspects of learning and innovating and not broad based. The stake holders of education – students, teachers, parents, academia, industry bodies and Governments- have consistently failed to revamp the system to be in tune with technological and social necessities. The National Education Policy is attempting to bring in a semblance of equitable, inclusive and a holistic approach to primary and school education and the fruits of this initiative will take time to see the results.

How do we rectify the system so that it imparts skills that are relevant today and tomorrow? Many educationalists have elaborated on it but fundamentally what is preventing it to be accepted is those politicians with parochial interest and an hidden agenda. They don’t let the experts to do their job and attempt to dilute the curriculum with their own ideology. Secondly the teachers have to be brought upto speed to new methods of teaching rather than coaching students to ace the exams. They don’t get themselves updated with newer teaching methods and tools besides not knowing how to deal psychologically with students.

The education in future will be teacher centric and technology is going to play a huge role in shaping both teachers and students. The students need to have a growth mind set, curiosity, experimenting capability and risk taking attitude besides a making them to learn to accept failures.

Many agencies have to be drawn into the discussion / action with no interference from politicians manning the government. PTA, academic experts, technology experts, psychologists, industrial bodies, corporates have to come together in this mammoth effort. The future belongs to students of today and let us all participate to make them technocrats, scientists, professionals and social leaders with moral ethics and good work culture.

#educationfortomorrow

#qualityofeducation

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Transformational Leadership

It is not about making wholesale changes in business or in a social venture or in a government. It is a step by step process that is well thought out for its impact and the changes it would bring in people and their actions. Any changes that would not contribute to positive change in status quo should be avoided as they would only create chaos and confusion.

The changes that are being planned are encapsulated in a larger program called Transformation and they could be in adapting best business practices, innovative culture, process automation, increasing people potential, inclusive, becoming more socially relevant and above all feeling pride in what people, organisation or country do.

The leaders driving these changes need to de aware of the change in the behavioural pattern of the people that are part of the exercise. The leaders have to push people towards peak performance without them knowing it or exerting pressure on them. The team needs to be always aligned with the goals and that leads them to give their best without expecting any huge rewards. The impact it has created is itself a reward as they find new motivation, enthusiasm and energy to deliver the results.

History has taught us such transformations have done wonders to great organisations and countries and the leaders that drove these transformations are still revered for their foresight, perseverance, objective and compassionate leadership.

Transformation has to be for the greater good of the society or organisation and not for petty, narrow minded attitude and actions that are disgrace to people leading it and are part of it.

Let us support all such efforts of leaders who thrive for uplifting the society and bring out the pride in what we do.

#transformationalleadership

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Why do we make average quality products in our MSME sector?

There is an interesting comparison that I received in my FB today about how we fare poorly compared to emerging economies in manufacturing quality products. This has been the bane of this sector and it may be one of the reasons that stifles the growth of this segment.

Let us see how do we compare with other nations:

Micro-, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) on average have only half the productivity of large companies, and less than that in emerging economies.

MSMEs’ economic and employment contributions in 16 countries account for more than half of global GDP. Their contributions relative to large businesses vary widely from country to country, but boosting the productivity of these categories of enterprises could substantially increase GDP, especially in emerging economies.

India has a long way to go in improving productivity. Stop chasing quantity but run after quality.

The picture attached here ( Courtesy: McKinsey&Company) is an excellence depiction of how we lack in producing quality products! MSMEs are born with sparks in the founders’ minds to create differentiated products or services for the consumers. The start seems to be always with good intention but down the line the pressure of growth, lack of funds and RoI assumes priorities and the quality suffers. ‘Chalta hi’ attitude at every stage of production or workmanship results in average quality.

Do you agree?

#excellenceinmanufacturing

#msme

#qualitynotquantity

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What type of person are you ?

Do we ask this question to ourselves? Or did someone ask us this question?

As managers, knowing ourselves is a challenge because we behave differently at different times both in the work place and at home. We are good at thinking and solving problems but not so good in handling people. Some of us handle people nicely, neither bossy nor appeasing. They act with tact and sensitivity to get things done.

Carl Jung, a management expert of the past century pioneered the study of personality types. He thought that people oriented themselves towards the world in two basic ways. “ Introverts” are most happy when they are by themselves, doing their own things; they do not pursue social activity and often feel uncomfortable in it. “Extroverts” give their lives meaning from interaction with people. They are depressed when left alone.

Human beings are complex and don’t fit into boxes. Jung advocated some theories, as a starting point to self – analysis. He defined four functions – Thinker, Intuitor, Sensor and Feeler . The four quadrants of the above picture explains the traits of these types of persons and where they could fit in the work place or society.

A leader could use these inputs to delegate the right type of work to people who fall into those categories and try to get the best out of them.

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How to become a better manager and a boss?

A few decades ago, I read these 100 tips but not sure if I had practiced all of them. They apply at all the time and for all the managers. Surely many of them got into my head and stayed there without me taking any extra effort to remember when you had already imbibed them into your daily routine.

That’s how a manager or a boss stays on top of what is happening with his/ her business and people.

The author had indeed distilled the wisdom with his interactions with many professionals and given it here for our benefits.

#thehighperformancemanager

#highperformanceboss

#managerialtips

#howtoexcelasaboss

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The Entrepreneurial trap

Entrepreneurship is a springboard for some to achieve great things as successful businessmen and is a trap for many to stay put where they had started, deeply engrossed in day to day mundane work that takes away their focus to stay and grow the business.

Most entrepreneurs don’t take help to push them out of their zone to know how are they doing and what they are doing is right or wrong. Entrepreneurial journey is not a short stint but a life long marathon that saps the energy, resources and family life. It requires great determination to stay rooted in the journey with unwavering motivation, a committed team and a supporting family.

Entrepreneurial burn-out is the most talked about syndrome in the start-up business world. One runs after money in the initial phase and later spends a lot of time in acquiring those first customers. Most of the entrepreneurs do pro-castination and fail to focus on productivity that is so essential to sustain their business.

Let us look at some of the tips from coaches that would help those running their business.

Flexibility

Businessmen are so engrossed with their day to day problems that they forget about their families and friends and think about only money. Too much focus on one issue becomes burdensome and there is no one to tell them to step out and get another perspective.

Procrastination

Some businessmen become obsessive and get bogged down about trivial administrative issues. They fail to notice other larger issues that are impacting their business that eventually derail it. They don’t know how to solve them.

Delegation

Entrepreneurs are keen to monitor everything on their own and spend a lot of time in doing it. Expanding their business and new customer acquisition get less attention. They fail to delegate routine jobs that don’t need their time and effort.

Automation

Move away from manual work of keeping accounts or calculating salaries for employees. Automation of tasks makes you organised and you find you have more time on hand to spend on business. Automation can be extended to your processes too. It may cost you more but benefits will repay the costs.

Handling debts

It is not right to deploy all your funds in the business. You have your family to take care of. Loans are essential to expand your business or for product development. Don’t shy away from taking a loan that can be managed and repaid on time. Accumulation of debts takes you towards huge cash outflows as interest payments and eventually that kills your business. Always keep the debts to a manageable level.

Books of accounts

It is a good habit to know from your accountant about the incomes / expenses, tax obligations, tax benefits and government notifications. Tracking your book of accounts once in a fortnight helps to avoid surprises at a later date.

Help from a coach / expert

It is not wrong to take guidance from coaches/ Experts to help with you inputs about the market, competition, strategies and your strong & weak areas. Sometime you forget the real value in you.

It is a great feeling to start a business but running it to earn good profits requires deep commitment, a good team, good understanding of customer expectations and a supportive family.

All the best !

#entrepreneurship

#entrepreneur

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Work- Life Integration

Work -Life balance has given way to work – life integration. In the traditional way, we used set aside 8 hours for work, 8 hours for family & prayers and 8 hours for sleep & rest. This is a disciplined way of leading our life when we worked in a factory or an office. In the IT era , we worked without any boundary to our working hours, working with our laptops at the airports, cafeterias and even at home dining table.

This led to a new concept of work-life balance to enable we spend a good amount of time with the family. Work and life were made to look disconnected and there was a hard line separating them. Vacations were encouraged, family days were invented and weekend work was discouraged. In spite of these arrangements, were we able to switch off our minds totally from work? Physically we were with the family but mentally we were still at work. Didn’t we? Both employers and families didn’t seem to get the best out of this system. Boss was unhappy and wife/ kids / parents were unhappy too.

But did our ancestors follow this pattern? Somehow I feel they were more organised and seamlessly brought in work -life integration. Agreed, they were not running after money, their lives going at a leisurely pace and doing this way they accumulated wealth for their next generations.

How did they do?

They used to sit at the front porch speaking to family members and also instructing workers what they must do and where they need to go. Men travelled with family to attend to some functions and at the same time attend a court hearing or buy something for their farms. Women did the daily chores but were also planning for the years ahead and did what was needed for the elders, the children and the husband. The list goes on…

A new concept is now emerging – work -Life integration.

Work-life integration creates flow and harmony between all aspects of our life. Instead of separating work and home, responsibilities get done when they need to according to the schedule that fits us the best.

But work-life integration isn’t about finding a ‘perfect’ balance between work and life. It’s about finding a balance that works for you. It’ll look different for everyone and change over time as your circumstances change. The key is to create a balance that works for you and be flexible and adaptable.

Here are some tips:

Take your family along on a business trip

Have business meetings at far away places with spouses spending their time on their own or together.

Establish yoga center or walking clubs or Exercise spot that keep the minds and the body agile at the work place.

Have a flexible WFH or a part – time work schedule, not like the one we had during COVID that had a burn-out effect on people.

If the spouse or kid is unwell, do your work from home.

Prioritising & Delegation are important aspects of work-life integration. You just can’t do all the work yourself that keeps you occupied all the time with no time to family.

Keep your video calls or zoom meetings short in day to day work. You will find you have a lot of time on your hands that you could use for the family.

Conduct awareness programs to employees on work-life integration and how it will help them and families.

Working mothers have tough time to mange infants. Let them choose their own work hours that go with the child’s sleeping schedule.

The rewards of WLI is huge if planned well and followed by everyone at the office. You could manage attrition in a better way with more satisfied employees.

Go on and read this stuff:

https://www.betterup.com/blog/work-life-integration

There are loads of stuff and suggestions on this subject is available on the Internet. Choose the best approach that suits you if you are a leader in an organisation.

#worklifeintegration

#worklifebalance

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The power of our voice

Most of us are indifferent to what is happening to others – injustice and discrimination. We get affected only when they happen to us. We don’t stand-up and voice our opinion or view when others go through a tough situation that seems to be out of prejudice, inequality, racial or communal view. As long as they don’t happen to us, we remain unperturbed and unsupportive to the affected persons.

We remain in oblivion and fail to establish the fairness in dealing with people. We don’t ask questions when discrimination happens in front of us. We don’t speak up and voice what is right and wrong.

A society becomes more aware of its duty when individuals become aware of their rights and obligations to that society that is essentially a collection of individuals.

The young minds in our midst need to be educated as to why they should stand up against unfairness. It starts at our home.

A video that has come up in my WA feed is a poignant reminder of what we are supposed to do and know how our voice could bring about changes in people and the Government.

#discrimination

#inequality

#injustice

#raiseyourvoice

Thanks to original maker of this video

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Time-out

How often we use this gesture in our daily life, be it professional or family ? We have seen it happening in sports but that is to do with strategising the moves in an on-going game. The coach animatedly shouts down the ears of the players during these time-outs.

Do we use this technique if we get into a quarrel or argument with our partner or friend or colleague or parent?

It is an excellent way of calling a truce for sometime, think over on what caused the disagreement and later get into a chat in a calm manner. Some people gets into meditation after a time-out before resuming the discussion. It is important that a dialogue happens to appreciate the point of views and to put an end card to argument. In a team meeting too, this time-out technique could be used by the convenor of the meeting of groups when they are at each other’s throat.

After all we don’t want to hurt our partner or spouse or colleague 😊

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Hack your own mind

Today the world talks more and more about hacking of personal data and company data compromising sensitive information that results in loss of trillion of dollars.

In a normal parlance, as we understand, the word ‘hack’ is related to hacking a network or a computer server. In a simpler term, it is stealing or changing the data through unauthorised access to a network of computer system. It is a punishable crime.

What if we decide to do an ethical act of hacking our own mind? It is a laudable action !

Our mind, over the years, has accumulated a lot of garbage that prevents us from performing to the best of our ability to think and act better. Plenty of stored unwanted data in our mind clutters our thinking process because these data about people, places and society not only harms our growth but others too. We always surround ourselves with negative vibes like jealousy, hatred, vindictiveness, pompous, demeaning behaviour, bad habits, unnecessary fear, bad addictions, strained relationships etc and they are the road blocks to our happiness and growth.

How do we do an ethical hacking of our mind?

* One can take a spiritual way of staying clear of unpleasant thoughts. Follow a person who can help achieve this objective.

* One can decide to watch and hear only good thoughts that cultivate friendliness, happiness and fairness.

* One can read books of stalwarts who inspired us. Their life stories carry a lot of information on how they achieved a pinnacle of status that we would want to emulate.

* One can take a renewed interest in people near and dear to you because a happier family of relatives and friends makes you to keep in mind their success, well being and happiness also.

* One can start devoting some hours to reach out to those who need a lot of help, empathy and compassion. Helping them to alleviate their sufferings in a small way makes you feel wonderful.

* One can start moving with a group of people who you find are like you but happier than you. Such a company of friends or people takes the burden of bad vibes off your shoulders and feels light and wanted.

* One can start praying to the Almighty, if you believe in Him, because prayers help to channelise our minds into good actions.

Well, there could be many other ways to hack your own mind and cleanse it to turn into a happy father or mother or son or daughter or spouse or friend or co-worker. You then become an ethical hacker of mind like all those renowned gurus and leaders.

Hacking of your mind is not a one time process but a continuous self-cleaning and self-healing process.

There are plenty of books available about Mind Hacking but you choose what is best for you to read and follow.

Happy Hacking !

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Retirement – when is the right age and time?

We have read about young billionaires retiring early from active work and enjoying the sun set days that was advanced on their own volition.

A young billionaire with prudent investment decisions is assured of passive income that keeps the life going with not much change in life style.

We have also heard of wealthy individuals, though not in great numbers, turning into a spiritual or a philanthropic life spending their life earnings on poor people. That indeed is a laudable and noble achievement.

Could everyone aspire to be in any of the above categories? Definitely not.

How do we and when do we make that decision to retire from active work? There are some possible scenarios that look adequately safe to take that decision:

– you are in mid 30’s and you are left with a fortune in the form of real estate and stocks that could only swell year on year. The earnings keep you going as long as you are not a lavish spender.

– you have landed in a job due to your technical / business acumen and that you earn a high compensation. You work there for 12-15 years, save enough money with wise investment decisions and retirement year seems nearer when you are not avarice to earn more and more. Yours is a high pressure job that affects your health and you think of retirement . Your family fully supports you as your time is available to them all the time.

– you have worked for 25+ years, your children are in a position to take good care of themselves, saved enough money, created good assets but don’t want to continue in the high pressure work environment, has a liking towards travel with your spouse. Retirement is no problem for you.

– you are running your own business, have grown it to a reasonable size, created successor from within or outside the family to run the business, takes good returns from the business, finds it no longer exciting, takes a liking towards starting NGOs to help social causes. Retirement is not a hard decision for you.

– yours is a double engine run family of husband and wife with practically no commitments ( double income with no children, parents not with you). You have high savings that will sustain you for long years and hence retirement becomes a good option to take.

What could be other reasons or scenarios you think of ? Feel free to share your views.

#retirement

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Digital Transformation

It is a catchall phrase these days for every business organisation, however small or large it may be. It is different from a Business Transformation initiative as it is not time bound and is a continuous exercise to become more agile, efficient and customer centric.

It is not an easy exercise to start unless the leadership of the organisation is clear about the following aspects:

  • ensuring the availability of business process knowledge upfront with documentation.
  • evolving a clear strategy to create a business value
  • assembling technical skills that work closely with the business teams
  • making available data about every aspect of the business – customers, vendors, products, markets, financials, machinery, infrastructure and competitors.
  • ensuring faster technology adoption or innovation that is best suited to the business.
  • driving the change management, frequently communicating with all the stakeholders and securing their buy-in.

Here is an interesting article about Digital Information ( courtesy: McKinsey & Company)

#digitaltransformation

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-digital-transformation

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Every day is a Happy day

It is bewildering to see, we Indians, attach so much importance to a new year when we have seen so many new years in the past. Both good things and not so good things happen every year and it is how our lives go on. By welcoming a new year in such a grand style, we are not going to control what is going to happen. It is a legacy left over to us by Britishers. They invented a long week of celebrations following Christmas until the New year eve, because the cold winter needed a respite for people to come together. We feel happy to spend the new year eve, rejoicing and regaling with friends and families. Some people go to church or a temple to pray and a few others make resolutions to do some great things but do we need a new year day to pray or do good deeds. Good things are meant to be done all the time. Every day is a happy day, if we think so.

⁃ Sivakumar Gopal ( http://www.beating.in)

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Power is the ability to influence others and not to dictate to them

Power of an individual or a leader or a politician is like a two sided weapon that could motivate or harm others.

We have seen how power corrupts leaders especially politicians when they constantly indulge in abusing it.

In a social set-up, many individuals make an impact with their empathy and compassion . People remember them for long for their good work and the positive vibes they create around them. They are like good Samaritans that jump in for the right cause and help bring in sanity in thoughts, discussions and actions. In our midst we see only a few people doing it and others are just happy to tag alongwith them. Why do many of us refrain from involving deeper for a social cause or justice and creating an impact ? Time may be a constraint but 24 hours in a day is too much not to do any good. The fear of failure or criticism makes them not to attempt a more vigorous approach to a just cause. A society, community, organisation and Government need many such people who could make those positive contributions. That person could be heading a government, a social service leader, an actor, a saint or a preacher.

In a business organisation a leader has to exercise power that doesn’t drive away his team out of fear but that gives them stability and makes their realise self- worth.

Power is the ability to influence others and not to dictate to them. True power is not having to use it. Cultivating a mind set is difficult for many of us but the fruits of reaching that state of mind is enormous and fulfilling.

#power

#influence

#powerabuse

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Sustainable Agricultural Practices – SAP

We see a lot of stuff being written about sustainable business practices across many industry verticals but we hardly see any concern towards safe and sustainable agricultural practices in an industry that is being harped as the lifeline of India.

We hardly see any concerted effort by India’s retail conglomerates, agricultural bodies or Governments towards improving organic farming output besides educating the farmers the need for them to practice sustainable practices in farming.

We hear the agricultural produce that we buy today have metals and chemicals beyond permissible quantities and is it not an utter neglect by the people who are responsible for safe food to citizens?

India’s top business houses that deal in agricultural products should set aside funds under CSR to help the farming community to be made aware of sustainable agricultural practices that would save our next generations and they will continue to get edible food besides this saving our land from turning into barren lands of rock and stones.

Here is a sneak preview of what we have failed to do until now and what needs to be done towards SAP. A good read.

https://tractorkarvan.com/blog/sustainable-agriculture-in-india

#sustainableagriculture

#saveourland

#savenaturalresources

https://lnkd.in/e8HEEJJM
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Human Brain – the greatest symphony creator

Our brain is like a symphony creator. It creates notes to each sinew of the body and instructs how to perform. It is like a symphony creator hands out notes to each section of the orchestra – the players playing piano ,violins, cellos, flutes, trumpets, violas, brass, clarinets etc to play a symphony in unison. If an unsuitable note is handed out to a violinist or a trumpet player, the output is jarring. Similarly the brain also can send a wrong signal that results in imperfect limb movement or incoherent speech. Dementia, Alzheimer, Parkinson’s, Paralysis, all these happen because of brain’s malfunction and it’s notes going haywire. Our physical ailments or well-being not withstanding, it also sends signals that make our emotions erupt in a joyful or violent manner. It makes us to be kind to fellow humans and but also makes us to act in a cruel manner to cause harm to others.

How do we better take care of this wonderful symphony creator called brain?

We, as ordinary humans still don’t know ways to directly control our brain functions that activates our body parts. The brain functions in a normal way when each of our body part does what it is supposed to do. There is a perfect rhythm and sync in what it does. So keeping our body parts in prime condition is one way of helping our brain to continue doing its work. The following tips form renowned gurus and doctors make our body and mind to stay healthy. Let us try.

Eat moderately, eat right and on time

Exercise or walk or jog or run daily for 20-30 mts

Surround yourself with people having positive energy

Create more family time

Control anger and let go your ego and jealous

Mindfulness or meditation helps to recharge yourself

Believe in THE supreme power

We have come to this world to do what we are supposed to do and do it right.

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What makes people to grow and excel?

We all know a Comparison is a measure of how others perceive about performances. We also know that Competition is a measure of what outsiders see about individuals, organisations or countries.

Analysts compare and conclude who is competing with whom and who is doing better than whom. It is not an exact measure of the what they think these companies or countries are capable of. It is a measure of a relative performance and they conclude with a limited data and information. It also reveals the perceived weakness that may not be correct.

For an individual or an organisation or a country, it may be a motivating factor that ranking helps them to know where do they stand in a competitive world. But it is not a defining factor. They know their capability and the opportunities in front of them and take a self-assessment of how these potentially are to be put into action to derive the maximum outcome.

  • An individual should realise his or her capability and how it needs to be enhanced to achieve the goal. A good mentor will help achieve that objective.
  • An organisation should dwelve on its capabilities and limitations that inhibit its growth and strive to work on them to improve its standing in the market place. A good strategy needs to be revolved that considers all aspects of business that grinder the growth.
  • A country needs to tap all its resources and channelise them to unleash its hidden potential to achieve progress. Implementation of policies and achieving outcomes must be the focus for the bureaucrats and ministers.

We don’t grow because others want us.
We grow at our own will and show the world that we have ‘it’ in us to excel. It is always the potential that we would want to showcase not the weakness. Great individuals, Famous organisations and Developed countries have demonstrated that nothing succeeds like the focus,determination and hard work.

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Perils of Re-org

The most dreaded word in any organisation is Re-org. It sends shivers down the organisation pyramid. Usually a few select senior leaders with the help of an external consulting firm gets into this exercise and the outcome is either a great hit or a damn squib.

It may be noted that a business reorg due to a merger or acquisition is different from a structural & operational reorg of a running business.

There are multiple reasons why re-org is attempted by a CEO or the Board of Directors.

  • the organisation’s top line is not growing enough to keep pace with the industry growth. New opportunities are not pursued.
  • the CEO himself had just taken over with a mandate that a double digit growth needs to be assured. The first thing he attempts to do is an re-org.
  • there are too many senior leaders in the same role for many years and a sort of complacency or duplication of responsibilities has set-in that impacts the organisation’s performance.
  • the organisation is drifting away from
    being customer centric and long time customers are parting ways.
  • a new acquisition or merger has happened and a new org needs to be created to accommodate the executives of the acquired / merged entity.
  • the organisation has turned into a behemoth and is no longer nimble to absorb the changing technological trends and show consistent growth and profitability across all revenue streams.
  • a recent dent in the brand image of the business due to an internal operational issue or a market reaction or increasing customer complaints compels CEO to shuffle leaders.

If the re-org doesn’t produce the desired results, chaos sets in, leaders lose focus and the employees become a confused lot. Attrition happens fast and new hires are not on-boarding. The old org’s hang over and hierarchy still rule the day to day operations and the new org is unable to take complete control. Conflicts happen at all levels and customer interests are compromised. Revenue streams are juggled and sales teams are demotivated.

Reorg is mostly an organisation’s internal matter and when it fails, skeletons are out in the open and the blame game starts. A successful reorg exercise should clearly consider:

  • communicate, why reorg is needed
  • get the buy-in from all stake holders
  • define new responsibility matrix
  • name unit and sub-unit owners
  • lines of business to be dropped/added
  • new revenue streams
  • expected increase in top/bottom lines
  • customer retention strategy
  • internal and external threats to org
  • employee retention
  • revised competitive strategy
  • finally be empathetic to employees

A reorg helps some and disappoints many. So due care must be exercised before it is conceived and implemented.

#reorganisation #customerretention #employeeretention

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Better planning and execution in Supply chain results in profits

Managing the constituents of a supply chain in a business is vital for achieving incremental profits. We usually focus on managing cost reduction in supply chain but never look at it as profit that could be measured at every stage – parts sourcing, conversion, value addition, packaging, logistics, inventory management and distribution. Each component contributes to incremental profit and the business owners of these components need to align with the overall objective of the organisation. If we think cost reduction in supply chain helps in keeping sale price constant to retain customers, then we don’t think of it as a profit. Is cost cut a holier word than profit? Not at all.

In a competitive market, it is an art to keep the sale price of a product constant to hold onto market share but keep increasing the profit as far as possible, in-spite of variations in input and conversion costs. The job of the cost accountant plays an important role in achieving this objective. How many companies have this dedicated role, especially smaller organisation where this responsibility still lies with the promoter. The costing team takes the feedback from sales team, sourcing team and manufacturing / subcontracting team to arrive at the optimum sale price of a product that can be sold in high volumes during both on-season and off-season. The cost accountant also keeps a tab on the operations running costs like energy, fuel, salaries, infra maintenance etc.

Sourcing – every business has more than one vendor for a part or service . Spreading the supply risk among them and helping them to manage their input costs is important to keep the purchase costs within limits. Low cost alternate materials in parts or assemblies help to keep the production cost in check. Making short term and long term forecasts using machine learning algorithms is vital for the business.

Conversion – at the manufacturing plant, parts get converted or assembled to make the final product. Any savings in operational steps or routing or reducing maintenance down time or value additions go a long way to reduce the cost of conversions.

Value addition – a specially made tool or machine at the suppliers’ place can be replaced with an in-house tool modified to do the same operation helps to negotiate better price from the supplier.

Inventory Management- Maximising profits by managing material holding cost, planning for surge in customer orders is an art. How much buffer is necessary for each raw material and each finished product is statistically analysed and planned.

Packaging – since the advent JIT concept, sub– assemblies or parts do not get packed if the supplier and buyer are situated close by. Re-usable packaging or Returnable packaging as in the case of barrels or moulded trays or wooden crates substantially reduce the packaging cost that results in incremental profit.

Logistics – it constitutes a good percentage of final price of the product and it is important to control this cost by deploying a fleet management system ( either own or sourced outside) that offers the lowest transportation cost per piece or tonne or Kg. Again JIT concept helped in increasing the efficiency of logistics. The 3rd party logistics companies are a boon as part loads of parts or final products are shipped at reduced cost.

Distribution – the most horrendous part of supply chain and distribution is making available the products at the retailers’ shelves or meeting JIT deadlines. There needs to be a logical method of distribution based on past consumption history, prior knowledge of principals’ production quantities, planning for weather uncertainties and social disturbances. Demand forecast at the retail end is again done using supply chain planning softwares and analysing volumes of data to know the purchasing pattern and peak demand points in distribution network.

Today we have many softwares that help in integrated business planning, sales & operations planning, demand forecasts, inventory optimisation and response / lead time calculations. Choose a software that fits your business needs for the best supply chain planning and execution strategies.

#sapibp

#netsuite

#oraclescm

#precoro

#anaplan

#sapscm

#netstock

#microsoft365scm

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Is Digital still a buzz word ?

‘Digital’ continues to be a buzz word for both IT and non IT companies for more than 5-6 decades. In fact when the first semi conductor chip was invented ( in 1958), we had also transitioned from analog to digital in every sphere of our life – in appliances, electronic instruments, computers, space vehicles, automobiles ( remember your first Casio digital watch?) etc.

We still talk about digital revolution in business and in our day to day life and haven’t yet found an alternate word. Frankly speaking, Digital experience has seemlessly merged with our life long ago and it is not a differentiator today. It is no longer fancy to brag that we do digital transformations.

It is good to note AI and ChatGPT are taking the world by storm but these are not new either. They are surely huge improvements of previous inventions that are already in use.

Today the challenge lies in how we integrate different technologies and platforms and what new use cases we could develop that will make our lives much easier. As we make our lives easier we get more time to invent newer technologies and that’s how the cycle of inventions and deployment goes on.

Human intelligence makes Artificial Intelligence more powerful. Our responsibility lies in limiting its use and not harm humans and the mother nature.

#digitalbusinesstransformation #artificial-intelligence #human-intelligence