Our house is being painted. We are supervising the work.

We had expected to grapple with the following:

• Sorting all the stuff in the house
• Throwing away all the junk
• Cleaning the house
• Deciding what type of paint to use
• Deciding the color of the paint
• Negotiating charges
• Coaxing the painters into working fast
• Shelling out money
• Arranging transport
• Providing refreshments
• Rearranging everything once the painting is over

Pretty stressful and exhausting. Or, so we thought!

The painters we had contacted came, discussed the type and color of paint, gave good suggestions, and then made quick decisions. The next morning, they bought the paint and started work. Within half an hour, they had moved the furniture from a room, cleaned the walls and started painting. By noon they had moved on to another. We checked the first room they had finished – a coat of primer, three coats of distemper. The room looked new! After sometime, they made sure that the paint had dried and asked us where we wanted the furniture to be placed.

We realized we need not worry at all. They obviously knew their work. We needed to provide them the money and facilities they had asked for and keep well out of their way. They had even brought lunch with them!

The painters we had employed were trustworthy professionals. These people could clearly do without any micromanagement on our part.
So, we are standing back and enjoying the transformation of our dust-filled house into a colorful haven.

“…They say that the best weapon is one where you never have to fire it. I respectfully disagree; I prefer... the weapon you only have to fire once...”
This is a part of a dialogue delivered by Tony Spark, the main protagonist in the film Iron Man (2008).
Imagine my utter surprise when I saw it on my cousin’s final year mechanical engineering seminar report! It was being passed off as what a US Defense Secretary said during the World War II just before atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“But wouldn’t your teachers know?” I asked him.
“Never. Neither would they have seen the film nor would they know who the US Defense Secretary was during the Second World War, let alone what he said!” he replied.
His seminar report is on a certain type of bombs, the inspiration of which came from the name of a famous video game.
I can understand the cheeky antics of a 20-year-old to a certain extent. I can understand that he might not be as serious about a seminar report, which he feels is totally unnecessary.
I leave you with a few questions:

• Have we somehow fostered a system by which students feel that they can get away with such things?
• Are our teachers uncaring and ignorant?
• Have we turned apathetic?
• Doesn’t new learning excite us anymore?
• Don’t we realize the need for acquiring and applying new knowledge?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, we need to rethink our education and training systems. If you said no to all, I need to set my cousin right!

1. With hands short, IT firms leaving deals on the table
2. High attrition rate hits IT companies' bottomlines
   

Two articles. Same story.

Actually, it is also the same old story.

After every downturn when the market picks up and demand for IT services pick up, IT companies face the same two issues – high attrition and inability to fulfill demand.
I feel that the blame sits squarely on the shoulders of industry leaders.
Take the behavior of industries during the downturn.
Companies laid off their employees in big numbers, typically at the senior, middle and lower middle levels.
Companies deferred the joining dates for freshers who had been selected and did not go to campuses to hire the ones passing out the next year.
Companies did not roll out ‘promotions’ and did not increase salaries. Instead, many went on to reduce salaries.
Now, when the market has picked up, employees are hitting back at the companies.
Those who were denied promotions express their dissatisfaction with the poor attitude of the companies during the downturn – when their performance was not recognized. They carry the emotional pain and lack of trust in the company’s policies on recognition of performance. They understand the insincerity of leaders, who have now come back and are telling them that they are the company’s most important asset.
Not taking freshers and deferring the intake of freshers has led to two problems. One, there is a smaller pool of low-cost resources (which is the main reason for high profitability of Indian IT companies). Two, it will take time to bring in freshers in big numbers, train and deploy them. Slippages in projects, frustration with HR for not bringing in resources in time, will manifest in project managers sounding helpless.
Leaders showed poor leadership. They failed to take short-term decisions. They let go of their ‘cherished’ value system. They did not foresee what would happen the day after. They did not care for the employees when they were in trouble. They played safe to show quarter on quarter on performance, without thinking in terms of years.
True love is measured by care provided in times of distress and not by affection bestowed in good times. IT companies behaved very poorly during the bad times. They clearly showed that only money matters, employees don’t. Now the employees are telling them that only money matters, companies don’t.
We reap what we sow.

Learning is not good.
Aha! I caught your attention, didn’t I?
Let me explain.
If learning clouds your understanding, it is not good.
Let me explain further.
I have an acquaintance ‘X’, a postgraduate in English literature, with a diploma in journalism. He has 20 years of experience in editing.
He joined a company as the manager of an editorial team. As is the custom in most companies, he was introduced to his team members by the HR executive. After the introduction, he addressed his team members. “I see that there are two of you who have learned English literature. Good. Nowadays, I see a lot of people from other academic streams trying to sneak in as editors…”
Needless to say, the team members who did not have degrees in English literature were upset; whatever their academic qualifications, they were good editors. Within a year, all members of the original team left one by one. I hear that he is still searching for replacements.
X had enough knowledge and experience not to let this happen. However, this did not increase his maturity, wisdom or understanding. Instead it became a heavy mental baggage, clouding his consciousness. He considered himself an expert and in the process, was unable to accept that others might be as knowledgeable as him.
What can we learn from this? Never assume anything. Always keep an open mind. Somebody whom you consider an upstart today might actually be the biggest genius yet. An idea that seems outlandish today might turn out to be the major find of the century. Do not fight new knowledge or thoughts; learn them, adapt and grow.
Let us not be like X—he knew too much about what he knew that he never knew or cared what others knew.
I know! I know! I will stop here and let you ponder over it.

I do not know. There - I have said it. What do I not know? Well, the list is long.
However, I am not embarrassed because I have always felt that ‘I know nothing’ is a good starting point. To quote Socrates, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
I am not saying that ignorance is bliss, and hence, let us all remain ignorant. Quite the opposite! I like competent, dependable people—people who know what is going on, what is not and what is to be done to rectify that.
However, only if we realize that we do not know something can we learn. Experts in psychology say that people learn in four stages.

1. Unconscious incompetence: The stage where we are not even aware that we do not have a particular competence.
2. Conscious incompetence:  We want to learn how to do something but are incompetent at doing it.
3. Conscious competence: We can achieve a particular task but are very conscious about everything we do.
4. Unconscious competence: We have finally mastered a task and are not even conscious of it while we perform it, such as when we learn and ride a bike well.

These stages relate to the psychological states involved in the progress from incompetence to competence in a skill.  This is also known as the conscious competence learning model.
So I am at stage two as regards my long list. Hope to reach stage four soon. I am trying.
Do you have a list? Have you checked where you are?
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If you wish to check what skills you have and at what proficiency level you are now, maybe we can help. Click here, register for free, identify your training needs and find training programs.

Why do we share? We share because we are part of a larger collective system.
What does the larger collective system have to do with sharing? The system knows it is not perfect and is trying to become better. It is perennially in the path of becoming better and attaining perfection. We share because we want the larger collective system to become better.
What is management? It is bringing awareness and making use of the best practices that have been evolved by someone somewhere by some others somewhere else.
Sharing is innate.
Voluntary sharing. We voluntarily share just for the sake of it. We speak words. We write them. We give willingly, and sometimes anonymously, expecting nothing in return
Then there is sharing in exchange for recognition. A beautiful poem we have written. A lovely snap we took. A new restaurant discovered. We like to be patted on the back and told, “Wow! that’s great, you are wonderful!”
Then there is our contribution to a solution to some problem. We suggest ways in which something can be solved. Someone asks us the direction to a church in our locality and we guide him or her. We are asked about something we can provide and we do it.
Then there are the bigger issues—issues that are common to us, for which we are trying to find solutions. How do we get rid of poverty? How do we make this world a safer place? How do we protect the environment? These problems are shared by all of us. However, we do not know of a perfect solution. Therefore, we have to try to find something better.
We have our arguments. We have our opinions. We have our experiences. We have our notions of good and bad. We share them. We also listen to those shared by others. Our thoughts undergo change. Our ideas change. Our opinions change. We transform. So do others. And thus, we collectively change. We become better. The world becomes a better place.
We are better
We are worse
We will be better
We will be worse
The sum total is better for sure!

X is going to resign her seven-figure salary job and work with an NGO for six months.
Is she deranged? No. Far from it.
She manages a team at a multi-national bank and is rated one of their best employees.
“So what happens after six months?” I asked her.
“I don’t know. I will decide then.”
She seemed at peace at what could be the defining point in her career. She is one of the many who are making conscious choices to leave the rat race and pursue personal satisfaction. 
I realize that we live in an age where the image of success is sometimes more important than actual success. However, people have started asking themselves: What is the definition of success? Do material possessions define life? Do we have to bear the drudgery of a job we hate?
They are finding that their definition of success is far different from others. However, they are not bothered; they do not fear being isolated from the mainstream.
So how do they do it?  They believe in:

• Appreciating themselves and their achievements
• Discovering  interests close to their heart
• Visualizing their future
• Developing realistic expectations
• Defining what success really means to them
• Choosing/changing their jobs/careers wisely
• Focusing on goals
• Not worrying about results

Are you dissatisfied with your current job or career? If not, retrain yourselves and choose another. For more advice on career change, read the resources given here. You can profile your skills, identify your training needs, and check the list of training programs given on the Individuals page at our site.
Find the work you love, train yourself and excel at it. Why leave your heart at home when you go to work?

Mistakes make the world. Many of the greatest inventions are outcomes of mistakes.

Why such profound thoughts, you might wonder. I happened to see a friend’s chat status message: Never say, "Oops." Always say, "Ah, interesting."

That, I think, is a wonderful approach to mistakes.

We are afraid to make mistakes because we tend to associate them with criticism and punishment. Some of them should be and rightly so! For example, if you steal groceries from your neighborhood shop and try to pass it off as a mistake, you will certainly be punished by law.

I am talking of the other kind—the harmless, everyday decisions and actions in our lives. In our personal lives, we may have better support systems to deal with the negative consequences of our mistakes. Unfortunately, this may not be the case at our workplace.

All employees, irrespective of their competence or designation, make mistakes. However, most do not know how to act in such circumstances and this is their undoing. Let me try to list some ways in which we can deal with our mistakes.

Dealing with our mistakes:

1. Accept the mistake and own up. Do not try to hide it, or blame others or situations.
2. Apologize to the concerned party.
3. Be objective, and find out what went wrong and why.
4. Learn from the mistake and remember what we have learnt.
5. Correct the mistake.
6. Laugh at ourselves.
7. Be positive.
8. Keep on trying.

Dealing with others’ mistakes:

1. Do not be upset or angry.
2. Accept apologies gracefully.
3. Understand what went wrong; what is still working and what is not; and what can be done.
4. Give objective feedback.
5. Suggest improvements and/or better methods.
6. Avoid negative criticism.
7. Communicate requirements clearly.
8. Motivate to perform well.

I wish us all enough guts to take risks and make more mistakes and wisdom to learn from them. As Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and author of several nonfiction works, said: Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

Now that you have made the mistake of reading this post, go ahead and make many more. The more the merrier!

 “Nobody understands the challenges I face because they think I am idling away at home. This is so unlike a 9-hour job; there is no let-up!” said a close friend who gave up her career to be a homemaker.
This one is for you, dear unsung heroine!

She plans the budget for the month, carefully allotting money for school-related fees, household expenses, payments for investments and savings, and salary for hired help.

At the supermarket, she compares the quality and price of different brands of many products. She would beat any quality inspector or auditor easily. She has mastered the art of spotting better quality within the restraints of a strict budget. 

Every day, she deals with the complaints of her maid, with the patience of a saint. She hires hardworking people to work in the land around her house and negotiates payment with them.

She keeps in touch with the vendors who supply her with newspapers, milk etc. She maintains good business relationships with them so that they provide reliable, quality products and service.

Second helpings of a delicious dish? Washed and ironed dresses in cupboards, ready to wear? She does them all. She always ensures that her family is well looked after and happy. Think of the family as a firm and its members as its stakeholders; if so, isn’t this a good example of stakeholder satisfaction?

She finishes her work on time so that other members of the household are able to leave the house on time (on weekdays) or just to relax and have a good time (on weekends).

Fight between children? Mother-in-law ill? Husband angry? Death in the family? She marshals resources, provides leadership, maintains peace, or works as a team player in any crisis and see to it that nobody is affected.

Her job is certainly not a bed of roses—it has no fixed timings; there is no rest, and in most cases, there is no stand-in person. However, she carries on with minimum complaints and a great deal of equanimity.

She may not rush out every morning with a laptop and a smart phone. However, as C. S. Lewis said, the homemaker has the ultimate career. And, we need to learn more from her.

(I have referred to ‘she’,’ her’ and ‘women’ in this post for ease of writing. No offence meant to either gender!)

“I am ready to scrap the blogs,” my boss told me. “I don’t want you to write because that is your job; I want you to write because you enjoy it!”
It reminded me of a website I had visited: SlowPlanet.com. As they themselves describe it, “Slow is not about doing everything at a snail's pace; it's about working, playing and living better by doing everything at the right speed.”
In one of their blogs, I read a post called Feeding my Literary Tortoise by Elise Collins.
In it, she mentions what she calls killing her literary tortoise:
Stage One: Expectations.  “It has to be perfect!”
Stage Two: Limitations. “It has to be done by 10 o clock!”
Stage Three: Obligations. “It has to be brown, square, dull, blegh…”*clicks on facebook*
Result: Overwhelmed Overthinker.
She goes on to write, “My mind loves to create obligations and starts thinking up a whole bunch of others to keep the original ones company. Ironically, I end up wondering why writing a blog on slow is proving tedious while a million thoughts race through my head. Blogging becomes that square, brown, dull box. My literary tortoise is sick.”
Coming back to my story, here I am happily typing away, humming to myself. Why, you may ask? Because what my boss said, was music to my ears. Moreover, my mind has not yet thought up any obligations and my literary tortoise is as of now, quite hale and hearty.   
When we do not answer calls, keep commitments, frequently change schedules, forget important tasks and neglect our family and friends, maybe it is time to step back and check what is going wrong. Doing a lot in very little time is not important; what is important is working efficiently and effectively.
If we set expectations we can match, we will be able to manage the pressures that life and work exert on us. One of my acquaintances is a great role model—he puts in 5-6 hours of dedicated work hours a day and then goes home to watch news, read, and generally relax. It helps that he is a news editor and whatever he reads and watches adds to his knowledge base. His boundaries are clear; he achieves what he wants and delivers high-quality work.
Of course, there are exceptions—on some days things go wrong or on others, such as when the budget is announced, there is more work. He works longer hours than usual only on those days. He might be less paid than his peers but he avoids ill health, stress and general dissatisfaction!
We see a lot of people doing what the hare did in the Aesopian fable—rush forward at great speed, leaving behind the tortoise in a bid to reach the finishing line, wherever or whatever that represents. However, the tortoise won the race in the fable, didn’t it? Just as Aesop’s hare, modern-day hares may also face failure because of the breakneck speed they are trying to achieve.
Let us do what we enjoy at a comfortable pace, knowing that we would accomplish what we set out to do, like the Aesopian tortoise. Let us be strong and healthy, but not to beat others.