Monday, July 21, 2008

Lessons Learnt from Go KISS THE WORLD !

Yesterday, I completed the book written by Subroto and today I registered my feedback and wishes to Subroto(in his blog site) for coming out with such a book that adds a lot of value to the life of every professional(IT or non-IT).

Some key take aways for me are the following:

1) Open your mind before you open your mouth - Many times I have never done this in my personal and professional life. Life will be so much better and happy we are able to practice this.
2) When you make a choice; you also choose the consequences that come with the choice.
3) To get; you must first give.
4) Self doubt is positive.
5) Frustration is always a function of your ambition and your capability.

Frustration = f(Ambition - Capability).

High performance achievers set very high standards for themselves and for others. The also expect others to follow that - which will not happen in many cases. Hence they get frustrated easily, because of their inability to change the system. So to reduce our frustration levels, we have only 2 choices - Reduce your ambition or enhance your capability levels.

6) Practice humility and simplicity.
7) Great leaders do not emerge out of brilliance; but out of resilience.
8) Connect with people.
9) Passion always takes you higher.
10) Give importance to small people down the line - Pleasing your boss is not important, but making your team member comfortable and happy is very important.
11) Life is all about constant negotiation in every sphere and there is nothing to feel bad about this.
12) Money is not the source of happiness.
13) Look beyond yourself - try to see the pain of others.
14) Forgive yourself and others for the mistakes.
Finally,
15) It's all in the mind and mind only !

Thank you Subroto for this book and more for the lessons that I learnt from your priceless masterpiece.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Go Kiss the World !

The above words are not mine; but I am able to relate to them very easily. These were the last words of Subroto Bagchi's Mother - so motivating and powerful; that it made him to discover a great company called "Mind Tree". Infact I am now reading this book written by Subroto Bagchi. Half way through this book; I find myself at a bit of crossroads. I recently did come out of Alcatel( organization that I was working for the last 8.5yrs) and joined another organization.

But at this point of time; I am finding it very difficult to disconnect from Alcatel.Every step I take, every move I make, every method I implement, every individual I interact - I have realized that Alcatel has dominated my thoughts,actions,feelings and emotions. It's been hard for me to come interms with the reality- that I have now joined another organization. Even when I am exchanging greetings with others; I still tell them I work for Alcatel. Then somewhere my mind rings a bell to ask - " Are you still with Alcatel"?

I don't know why this is going through my mind- May be Alcatel was my 1st job, was with the organization for the last 8.5yrs, was more like a 2nd home,excellent mix of people,great teams to work with,wonderful leaders who had a great vision to see the invisible,great friends,positive culture and motivating environment. I also started my career there and progressively evolved with the organization.

After I started reading the book written by Subroto; the question that comes to my mind is the following :

Did I make a mistake by coming out of Alcatel? May be yes, may be not? Could be due to the vulnerability of my age, my maturity(or the lack of it) and certain other support systems I did not have when I made the decision. Should I have been talked into by somebody?
I really don't know and don't have an answer to these questions that keeps coming back at me in a hard way. But if I had make a mistake - I don't feel bad to accept that and learn from my mistake. Emotionally- it's been a down for me( I wouldn't say an up); I take these lessons as part of my learning curve and move forward.
Do I have a choice? For whatever decision I have made - I can blame nobody else, but me and me only.

When I left Alcatel; I wanted to learn six sigma? This was the core reason. I am very much doing that and infact more learning interms of Agile,Scrum etc. But at the same time, I have very much understood that there is another angle that enhances the breadth of your learning - which is the attachment,respect and passion that you have towards your organization? Did I miss this angle somewhere? Is it a irreversible miss?

Though workwise,I do not see an issue - emotionally yes, I am finding it hard to seperate myself from Alcatel. It's a continuous battle between my mind and heart. I will have to wait and see who wins the battle?

Monday, July 14, 2008

Back after a long time!

I am back into this after a long time and this time it's special - bcos Arjuun is just sitting on my lap and giving me instructions on how I shud go thro with this post. Special thanks to Shiva for helping me to come terms with my blog. I very well know that my blog was almost dead for the last couple of months; due to certain variety of reasons. I will be more frequent from now on. Not in a position to complete my write up today;since Arjuun is not allowing me to proceed further.

Want to post some thoughts on change management aspects; will do so tomorrow. Until then take care and have fun. Arjuun says a big HI to all of you !

Monday, May 5, 2008

No Time 2 Blog !

I am back to this space after a very looooooooooong time,more than 2 months infact. Honestly speaking,I was just on my toes for the last couple of months due to a variety of changes. Yes,change - The change so far has been good,tough and has pumped in a lot of learning. Overall it was constructive and has my opened my risk taking abilities.

- Change in my job.
- Change in my work culture.
- Change of environment.
- Change of people.
- Change in work location.
- Change in my mode of travelling.
- Change in the distance that I need to commute(daily).
- Change in my attitude.
- Change in my thinking.
- Change in my daily routines.
- Change in my health patterns.

- Change in my weight.
- Change in my hobbies.
- Change in my work life balance.
- Change in my working methods.
- Change in my learning rate.
- Change in my communication management.
- Change in my blogging patterns.

In my new company, there are certain policies which prevents the individual from blogging using IDs that has extensions like yahoo,gmail etc.Since I also do not have a net connection at home,I really cudn't accomodate a specific time slot for my blog.Hence it just went out off track.
So it's time for me to get a net connection at home.

One aspect that I have realized after changing my job, is that the change process helps an individual to come in terms with new opportunities and challenges. It just enhances an individual's risk taking possibilities and makes him/her more confident,competetive and aggressive in the market. This is what I have experienced.


I still do not know,if the change is good or bad - I am just going through it at the moment. But I should say it is definitely constructive and opens up a new dimension. You now get a feeling that you are no longer swimming inside a tumbler and the whole world is open for you to explore,learn and contribute.

I would say that even if you are contemplating for a challenging change, go for it - it is only a temporary feeling/phase.As an individual it helps you to learn,experience and appreciate the change management process that life has in store for you. At the end it helps you to accept and come out of the challenge with more zeal,enthusiasm and diverse experience/learning.


Monday, March 3, 2008

Love that has broken all the Boundaries !!!

Yesterday, in the news paper I read the article about the return of the Indian Prisoner named Kashmir Singh from Pakistan, after a looooong 35yrs in jail. Kashmir Singh was arrested by the pakistan authorities on the charges of spying 35 years back(He was 30yrs at the time of his arrest). His wife Paramjit Kaur, was just 25yrs when he was arrested and until today she is eagerly waiting for him. 35yrs gruelling years has passed away and Paramjit Kaur is now 60 and her husband is 65.

Parmajit Kaur has taken care of her mother-in-law till her last moment, until she passed away in december 2007. Paramjit Kaur is now waiting on the border to have her husband after 35yrs. She has expressed that she is very much apprehensive of the emotions that she will go through since she was just 25yrs and her husband was just 30yrs, when he was arrested.

I was really moved when I read this. What a sense of true sacrifice from Paramjit Kaur. She has lived a life that has broken all the boundary's of true love.

Her love is truely unconditional that was full of hope,patience,optimism,strength,
lonliness,trust,caring,attitude and what not..... I just don't have the words to express.

But definitely she has shown to the world what LOVE is all about.Her love is just spontaneous and
real that is beyond sex,comfort,money,expectations,luxury,property,security,
sharing,togetherness,relationship and opportunities.

I pray to god to give Paramjit Kaur and her husband all the good health,wealth,happiness and prosperity in the years to come. Finally, true love will always create a WIN - WIN !!!

Friday, February 22, 2008

IPL : High Profile Cash Cow !

Indian Premier League(IPL) auctions that were held couple of days back, really saw some big names being auctioned for heavy cash. IPL was launched by BCCI, as an opposition to the ICL but I am not sure if it is doing good to the spirit of cricket.

International Cricket League(ICL) was promoted by Kapil Dev to develop and nurture the talent of the players who were not provided opportunities by BCCI. Then it was backed up by many senior players like Sandip Patil,Madan Lal etc whose skills and talents were not utilized by BCCI. ICL atleast provided a good platform for these players and coaches to contribute back something to cricket and at the same time earn some money. But it did not spoil the spirit of cricket and the value of the players.

IPL was then launched with the sole intention of hitting back at the ICL and they found a very good means of making more money by involving the business men and cinema stars. By this way BCCI has made huge sum of profits and has opened a new door for rich people to become richer and richer.

- High profile film stars and business men has used this as a good avenue to invest their black money and buy out the teams.
- They very well know that they can make huge profits here without too many risks from marketing,ads,sponsorships,selling the coverage rights and having some star players in their team.
- Also for the players it's a good money making proposition.

But finally is IPL really helping the spirit of cricket? or is it all out to attack ICL
and confirm it's monopoly in India. This is a huge question mark? But
only the common man and cricket fans are bothered about this -Neither BCCI/IPL nor the players/stars?

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

It's time for a Change !

I was always interested in the dynamics of change management, bcos I firmly believe that any change is always good. It opens you up to a completely different environment, learning,development, perspective,people and thought process. After 8 yrs of my association with Alcatel -Lucent, I have put down my papers inorder to pursue new career opportunities. It was a very difficult decision for me to take, but I had to take it at this point of time inorder to enhance my learning curve. This will take me out of my comfort zone and will expose me to a new positive environment.

- In that way, 2008 has given me a good start to move forward.
- 2007 was a stabilization period for me, with lots of fun and love with Arjuun.
- 2006 was bad, bcos I went through a personal crisis. I came out of it only in the year end and it took yr 2007 to stabilize and come back in control.
- 2005 was the best of all, with my son Arjuun coming into my life.

From my learning, I now believe that we should be able to embrace any change with a lot of positive energy and this will help us to move forward successfully in life.