Five Point Someone !

During this weekend, I read this book named 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat. It's all about "What NOT to do at IIT". The book depicts how 3 friends - Hari,Ryan and Alok messed it up@IIT.. All the 3 were doing their Mechanical Engg course. This book will not teach you how to get into IIT.

1. They screwed up their surprise quizzes and exams.
2. Ryan and Alot are always head-on with each other.
3. Hari fell in love with Neha, who is the daughter of their HOD.
4. They try to steal the semester question papers and in turn get caught red-handed.
5. They had to face a severe disciplinary action and was banned for 1 semester.
6. Alok attempts a suicide and is in hospital for a month.
7. They end up with some 5 point grades out of 10.
8. Finally, they somehow manage to finish their course on time, via some hard work in the last legs of their semester.

In total, this books also looks into the entire system of IIT. While many people are so mad about getting into IIT, I feel that IIT kills the individual spirit and creativity of the students by applying too much pressure.

It's a good book(with some non-veg here and there) to read !

Show Someone You Care !

This story is extracted from Motivate Us.com.

I was sitting at the bar of a local restaurant having lunch and taking a break from the daily grind, sitting there thinking about how tough I had it lately and how I was sick of what I was doing. I own a landscape company and never felt I made a difference in people's lives.

As I sat there feeling sorry for myself, a girl who looked about 25 walked in and sat down in a booth waiting for her friend. She was tall, a bit dark and it didn't take long before I saw she was trying to stay hidden in a way from other people's gazes and my heart sank. You could see her hair was falling out and, at such a young age, she was receiving chemo.

I sat there watching her trying to remain composed and she was having a tough time of it. I ached for her, imagining what it must be like to go through this and yet I know some of her pain.

You see I buried my lover, the love of my life just a few short years ago and watched her slowly go away from me.

I needed to get a message of hope to this girl but how? What could I do?

Then it hit me! I called over her waitress and explained that I wanted to buy the girl and her friend's lunch but I also told her you can't tell her it was me, it had to remain anonymous. In doing so, I handed her a note to give to the girl when she told her that her tab was paid.

The note read as follows:
"Someone today thought you were beautiful, someone today thought your smile glowed with excitement, someone today thought your eyes lit up the world, someone today cared and wanted you to know this. Enjoy the rest of your day, pretty young lady".

About 15 minutes later the young girl asked for her check and I watched as she was told it was paid for. She asked why? Who? What for? The waitress simply handed her the note and informed her that the gentleman who did it left, as to keep me anonymous.

I watched as she slowly read the note. Her eyes teared up, for only a moment, and then came the smile! A huge, beautiful, hopeful smile! She lit up the room and then sat up straight, not caring who saw her. Her friend also beamed, not for what was done but because her friend was feeling beautiful again.

It's not how we look or what we have, it's not our houses or how many cars we have, nor is it how much money we can earn. No, it isn't. You see it's all about how much we care and what we do, even if it's making someone feel pretty only for a moment.

Yes, lunch cost only a few dollars but you see the wonderful part, the magic of making somebody feel happy,beautiful and important was free.

Make a difference today in just one life; it's free.

Passion to Manage and Lead Changes !

I attended a workshop on 'Change Management' for 2 days. It was an experience by itself. The trainer Uday(from Core Mind) was just too good. The design of the workshop was such that it was filled with case clinics,experiential learning, role plays and process themes. The focus was clearly on value addition to learning and development on change initiation,implementation and management.

I was very much impressed by the way in which the entire program was designed and executed. The idea of giving the people stickers to reflect their personality created a very informal atmosphere at the start. To top all of it the books were offered(Our Iceberg Is Melting, Tuesdays With Moorie) to all the participants as a gift . This was a clear positive indication that Uday was more focused to add value to the participant's learning and development curve, rather than delivering a training program just for the sake of money. In my view, this optimistic experience was lacking in many of the other training programs that I have attended until now. At the end of 2 days, I really felt energized and motivated.

If any of you are interested, I would request you to attend the repeat workshop, that will held in Bangalore on 7th and 8th of December'07. You will feel the impact of this , only if you attend this. I can assure you of the quality of the workshop and Uday will be there to facilitate it in a unique way.
You can reach Uday @ 99406 11230

Thanks a lot Uday, you and your team were rocking!!!

All Good Deeds have a Natural End!

Yesterday, my cousin sister's Father In Law passed away suddenly. He was a good man, know for his good deeds. His only motive in life was to help and serve others. He was quite close to me for the last 6 yrs. Whenever, I was in a state of confusion on making a decision - I always counted on his support. Many a times, when I went out of track - he was always there to pull me on the right course of action. He was a perfect guide and mentor for me and for sure his death was a personal loss to me. For the last few weeks, I wanted to see him and I didn't. Suddenly yesterday when I learnt that he has passed away, I couldn't take it. I still have the guilty feeling of not visiting him during the last few weeks of his life. A lot of people whom he has helped came over to see him and they were unable to take his death. He was such a great man know for his humility. Even his family members do not know how he goes out of the way to understand others problems and help them just in the hour of need.

Yesterday after his cremation, I was able see him reduced to just a box of ashes. That's the real meaning of life! Finally we all fit into a small box of ashes.

In between all this - why are we competing for power,money,wealth,assets,fame,name etc.

Let's all love each other...Love,Love and Love only.

May his soul rest in peace.

Our Iceberg is Melting!!!

This weekend, I had the opportunity to read the book 'Our Iceberg is Melting" by John Kotter. The main crux of the book was on - How to suceed under constantly changing conditions. It was all about change management, which was narrated in the form of a fable based on a colony of penguins living on the icebergs of Antartica. It helped me to realize that changes are good and healthy signs of stable progression. A penguin named 'Fred' discovers that their iceberg is showing the signs of dis-integration. How he analyzes his findings,support his facts, takes this message to the other penguins,makes others understand the situation,communicates the new vision,forms a core group to guide the changes and succeeds in totally a different way of life forms the rest of the story. It was a great eye-opener for me.

8 important steps for managing the change :

1) Create a sense of urgency.
2) Pull together a guiding team.
3) Create a change vision and strategy.
4) Communicate to others and get the buy-in.
5) Empower others to act and make the new vision a reality.
6) Produce short-terms wins.
7) Don't let up
8) Create the new culture.

This can be applied to all spheres of life inorder to guide the change management smoothly. Personally, I felt that I got hold of the book at the right time,since I am seriously planning a couple of changes. I have decided to use this book as platform to guide my change management process.

After reading this book, I started the following self-introspection:

- Is my iceberg melting?
- Is my iceberg showing an indication that it could melt in the near future?
- Do I have my new vision?
- Should I take the help of others to conceritize my new vision?
- What changes should I make to envisage my new vision?
- What's my new strategy?
- Am I complacent?

Yes, It's time to come out of my comfort zone,rock the boat and enjoy the changes!!!

Happy B'Day JUJU : 24-10-2007

Arjuun turns 2 on 24-10-2007.

Thanks to God and my wife for giving me such a adorable son, who has added more colour to my life. Life has changed a lot after Arjuun's birth since interms of priority he tops my list. All my thinking,activities and changes are centered around Arjuun's happiness.

Happy Birthday Arjuun!!!

True Measure of Customer Satisfaction

Last sunday, I went to the Rain Forest Restaurant for dinner. It's a theme restaurant located at Adyar near my house. The entire set up of this restaurant is like an amazon forest with caves, water falls, animals like deer,python,lion,tiger,crocodile and ducks. It was a very good experience. This is my 6th visit to this restaurant and this time Arjuun really enjoyed the entire forest like set-up inside the cave. I also had a great time with him.

The restaurant crew consisted of group of people along with a Manager. This time I also noticed a new lady in the crew and she was constantly monitoring the way the entire crew was functioning. A number of times, I also saw the crew members collecting the feedback feedback from the customers and handing over the same to the lady. After some time, I went up to the lady and asked her if she is working in the restaurant? She informed me that she is responsible for Customer Satisfaction and her objective is to exceed the cutomer expectations. She also monitors the way the crew members work,serve,talk with customers, ask for the requirements. She informed that she provides a feedback about the performance of the entire team inorder to improve the overall performance of the sytem to enhance customer satisfaction.

I was able to related this directly to the Producer Gap : Minimize the gap between 'What the customer has requested' and 'What the customer actually got'.Hotel industry is one where we can get an immediate measure of product quality and customer satisfaction.