Corporate world flies in such frenzy that people find themselves delusional and develop certain behavioural habits influenced by their context and past. The problem with such conception is that such behaviour tends to be farfetched from reality and may result in incorrect and superstitious behaviour. Sometimes we need to kick our own ass and pull us back to reality. Perhaps the points below may help us to live a ‘kick ass corporate life’.
1) You are grown up. So behave like one.
2) Show only happiness. In corporate life others think that they are the only ones suffering in the world and everyone else are just jokers. So let be it.
3) Never try to defend or justify yourself. It’s a sign of weakness.
4) You are perceived as mere lifeless entity in the corporate world. You are rated through your attributes and results. So take nothing personal.
5) Practice positive visibility. Let men who matter know you for things that matter.
6) Develop strong timing routine that beats the crowd and work for you.
7) Get your work started early and get it right the first time by attending to details. First time is the best time to do things correct.
8) If you work early or stay late, let your boss know that by positive means.
9) Stay off from people who bug you. Don’t react. That’s what they want.
10) Respect your deadline. If at all you are annoyed, express your concerns the first time the deadline is offered.
11) Make your own deadlines within deadline. Sub plans makes things move faster. Know where you are moving.
12) Make sure there are no pending tasks on Friday. Bosses jump over their first opportunity to make you stay on weekend.
13) You are what you are. If others judge you what the hell! In a longer run people who mind their own business are respected more than those who try to please others.
14) You are the owner of your job till the deadline. Beyond that you are its slave.
15) Think straight. There is no way round the bushes.
My pleasure!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Melodrama
Yesterday I discovered a whole new concept the YouTube could offer – listening to speeches. When all other stuffs like cricket, songs and movies got boring, I made a search for ‘Harvard’ out of curiosity. After all it’s selling its case studies for a price, so I just explored to find out if they have done something of that sort in video space. Of course I could not spot any lectures. But what I did find out was some of the gems of speeches I have ever heard. Truth be told, I have read few books ever since I went school. In fact a lot of them! Those books always gave me new insight, new thoughts that gave me a fresh feeling. The books were the one that took me out of the agony of scoring less when leaving school and took me away from the feeling of being let down by myself. The books give you the impersonal embrace that you shape according to your own context and manoeuvre it for your emotions. But the speeches hit you straight in the face. It’s so tangible that you perceive things far beyond what the words had to offer. The excitement; the agony; the inspiration; the fear all comes and surrounds you all over without uttering a word. It gives you the insight of the personality and the spontaneity of the character. It gives you the excitement to do, not just the thought provoking intellectual dual that you undergo while reading a book.
I came to realise how lucky those Harvard dudes are. It often comes as a privilege of being associated with a brand. Their guest lecture list includes Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Ali g(??) etc. And as the search thread continued I came across speeches from Steve jobs for Stanford and Jack Welch for some trade union. Everyone was undoubtedly unique. The free flowing, no-nonsense style of Bill Gates; the dramatic Clinton; all nonsense Ali G; emotional jobs and the opinionated Welch - everyone had different styles and different opinions. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were more sedate in reading out the prepared speeches. (I later came across the i-Phone presentation of Jobs which was spontaneous and equally ecstatic. But that’s technology). Whereas Clinton and jack Welch were spontaneous. Clinton was more melodramatic. He builds up the steam for where he leads his speech. But Welch pulls you down to earth. He seems to have answers even before the questions arise. For him everything is black and white, has an opinion for everything and never bothers to be diplomatic. Could be the secret of success for this street-smart manager!
What unites them all was the undoubted belief in the potential of the youth and all of them have valid reasons in believing so and not merely going through their motions or emotions. Gates said things like, ‘the most privileged like you and I should be solving the problems of the least privileged’. ‘Pick out one global issue, make use of the technology available to understand it and then focus your career in solving the issue. Don’t let complexity to get into your way’. See, as I mentioned before, reading this takes the whole tangible aspect out of this. But when I heard it I almost got chilled in my nerves. Because I was just thinking on how the global issues have become a global fashion statement. Somehow the rich were the only ones seem to be speaking about it and I also wondered if anything could possibly be done on it. The solutions for those problems look overwhelmingly complex, totally unpractical and can take a life time of effort out of you. Sometimes you wonder if it is worth pursuing it. But Gates said something like this, ‘It is not possible to provide a holistic solution, but by thinking about the issue and working towards it we can make a difference that people can feel and touch. And that is all is required. Again don’t let the complexity to stop you from working. Few years ago malaria or rabies are incurable. They took life in millions. But now there is no malaria or rabies in America. But still millions of children are dying of diseases that we can cure’. Surely the more you gain in the society the more is expected and the powerful you become to implement it.
Clinton was more melodramatic. He seems to be short of words in the beginning. He was even dismissive of him being invited for such a glorious occasion. But as time passed by he made a stunning build up of passion, drama that made a narration look like a movie script. What helped was that he was spontaneous, didn’t read any prepared speech and more down to earth and related himself with the students. He spoke about how a tsunami took him to make a visit to people whom he would have otherwise never met and about the brave family who took the loss of their entire family members in stride and was looking for a new beginning. The intent was clear. People are suffering elsewhere. See what you can do for it.
Steve Jobs spoke none of this sort. No fuzz, no frills. He just said he wanted to tell three stories. Filled with emotions that he refuses to reveal, he narrated stories from his own life on how he was thrown away from his own company and how he clawed his way back into the top. ‘Love your job and don’t bother to think of the defeats or success or events. Because ultimately the love you have on your job will sail you through any passage of life’. It’s amazing how the life of the most successful people isn’t necessarily a fairy tale. They had rocked their boat, lost their names and got abused. Definitely not a fairy tale!
Jack Welch is in a league of his own. There are no grey areas for him in his life. For him management style is dramatically simple. He has a simple philosophy and work the hell out of it in his own words. I have read some of his books before and unlike most other books I cannot find a difference in reading him and listening to him. He kicks ass. Make your whole management effort to nurture people and the people will nurture your business. How I wish he should be my manager! He conducts appraisals 4 times a year in his own admission. No sophisticated tools, manipulative methods or frills. Just a piece of paper is all it’s enough to convey your message. He looks too aggressive for his age and I wondered how he would have acted when he was young.
By the time I finished listening to all this it was already 3 AM. I was so excited that I can go out at that time and can hit a hell out of a cricket ball or run all my way through to the office. With some help from no traffic of course! But when the excitement fused away and when I started retiring to bed I realised, it’s not just the half hour of speech or rhetoric, but a whole new paradigm of thinking beyond accumulating wealth and a thought process beyond your needs. Obviously some wealth in your kitty will help.
I came to realise how lucky those Harvard dudes are. It often comes as a privilege of being associated with a brand. Their guest lecture list includes Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Ali g(??) etc. And as the search thread continued I came across speeches from Steve jobs for Stanford and Jack Welch for some trade union. Everyone was undoubtedly unique. The free flowing, no-nonsense style of Bill Gates; the dramatic Clinton; all nonsense Ali G; emotional jobs and the opinionated Welch - everyone had different styles and different opinions. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were more sedate in reading out the prepared speeches. (I later came across the i-Phone presentation of Jobs which was spontaneous and equally ecstatic. But that’s technology). Whereas Clinton and jack Welch were spontaneous. Clinton was more melodramatic. He builds up the steam for where he leads his speech. But Welch pulls you down to earth. He seems to have answers even before the questions arise. For him everything is black and white, has an opinion for everything and never bothers to be diplomatic. Could be the secret of success for this street-smart manager!
What unites them all was the undoubted belief in the potential of the youth and all of them have valid reasons in believing so and not merely going through their motions or emotions. Gates said things like, ‘the most privileged like you and I should be solving the problems of the least privileged’. ‘Pick out one global issue, make use of the technology available to understand it and then focus your career in solving the issue. Don’t let complexity to get into your way’. See, as I mentioned before, reading this takes the whole tangible aspect out of this. But when I heard it I almost got chilled in my nerves. Because I was just thinking on how the global issues have become a global fashion statement. Somehow the rich were the only ones seem to be speaking about it and I also wondered if anything could possibly be done on it. The solutions for those problems look overwhelmingly complex, totally unpractical and can take a life time of effort out of you. Sometimes you wonder if it is worth pursuing it. But Gates said something like this, ‘It is not possible to provide a holistic solution, but by thinking about the issue and working towards it we can make a difference that people can feel and touch. And that is all is required. Again don’t let the complexity to stop you from working. Few years ago malaria or rabies are incurable. They took life in millions. But now there is no malaria or rabies in America. But still millions of children are dying of diseases that we can cure’. Surely the more you gain in the society the more is expected and the powerful you become to implement it.
Clinton was more melodramatic. He seems to be short of words in the beginning. He was even dismissive of him being invited for such a glorious occasion. But as time passed by he made a stunning build up of passion, drama that made a narration look like a movie script. What helped was that he was spontaneous, didn’t read any prepared speech and more down to earth and related himself with the students. He spoke about how a tsunami took him to make a visit to people whom he would have otherwise never met and about the brave family who took the loss of their entire family members in stride and was looking for a new beginning. The intent was clear. People are suffering elsewhere. See what you can do for it.
Steve Jobs spoke none of this sort. No fuzz, no frills. He just said he wanted to tell three stories. Filled with emotions that he refuses to reveal, he narrated stories from his own life on how he was thrown away from his own company and how he clawed his way back into the top. ‘Love your job and don’t bother to think of the defeats or success or events. Because ultimately the love you have on your job will sail you through any passage of life’. It’s amazing how the life of the most successful people isn’t necessarily a fairy tale. They had rocked their boat, lost their names and got abused. Definitely not a fairy tale!
Jack Welch is in a league of his own. There are no grey areas for him in his life. For him management style is dramatically simple. He has a simple philosophy and work the hell out of it in his own words. I have read some of his books before and unlike most other books I cannot find a difference in reading him and listening to him. He kicks ass. Make your whole management effort to nurture people and the people will nurture your business. How I wish he should be my manager! He conducts appraisals 4 times a year in his own admission. No sophisticated tools, manipulative methods or frills. Just a piece of paper is all it’s enough to convey your message. He looks too aggressive for his age and I wondered how he would have acted when he was young.
By the time I finished listening to all this it was already 3 AM. I was so excited that I can go out at that time and can hit a hell out of a cricket ball or run all my way through to the office. With some help from no traffic of course! But when the excitement fused away and when I started retiring to bed I realised, it’s not just the half hour of speech or rhetoric, but a whole new paradigm of thinking beyond accumulating wealth and a thought process beyond your needs. Obviously some wealth in your kitty will help.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Women in china
There is a popular saying that, when friends bumped into each other in the past in streets of china, they greeted each other saying, 'Chi le ma?' (Have you eaten?). But now they greet each other saying, 'li le ma?' (Have you divorced?). While the social significance of this saying with respect to divorce rate is a subject on its own, what the saying signifies is that women in china are enjoying freedom and right for expression of thier opinion. The other day, when I was walking down the road, I happened to see a wedding procession. It was an elegant display of the occasion with pools of long and luxurious cars swishing behind, the bride elegantly dressed with long red gown; her dress carefully and sophisticatedly dressed and made to bounce. The parents of the bride and bride groom were equally elegantly dressed, supplimenting pride to thier ornaments. The whole occasion reflected luxury and eloquence. This setting is a strong semblance of the equality women possess in this modern society, atleast in the urban ambience. But is this what was experienced by girls in the past? Lets rewind a bit to history.
In the past, the parents of the bride were not allowed to enter the wedding of thier own daughter. In most cases there were no wedding ceremony at all. The bride was just sent to the home of her husband and therefore supplimenting thier mother in law and working like a slave. Most men in ancient china were allowed to have 4 to 5 wives. Women had no freedom of expression and led a humiliating life throughout. When the men were asked about the number of members in the family, they normally exclude women from the count. Women were just considered as the being to satisfy the men's needs.
Perhaps the most blatant symbol of suppression of women in the ancient society was the practice of 'Foot Binding'. In mandarin it was termed as 缠小脚 ( chan xiao jiao). It was practice imposed on women to bind thier foot to make it smaller which was considered to be admirable and sexy to the men at those times. Perhaps the picture in this blog might emphasise the cruelity of the practice. Women suffered enduring pain through out thier lives. The permamant bind of thier toe meant that thier finger nails grew long, swirled back and start penetrating back into thier feet and spread infection alll around. Feet of even teen age girls started smeeling foul and felt decayed. The pain was something they had to live with.
In the past, the parents of the bride were not allowed to enter the wedding of thier own daughter. In most cases there were no wedding ceremony at all. The bride was just sent to the home of her husband and therefore supplimenting thier mother in law and working like a slave. Most men in ancient china were allowed to have 4 to 5 wives. Women had no freedom of expression and led a humiliating life throughout. When the men were asked about the number of members in the family, they normally exclude women from the count. Women were just considered as the being to satisfy the men's needs.
Perhaps the most blatant symbol of suppression of women in the ancient society was the practice of 'Foot Binding'. In mandarin it was termed as 缠小脚 ( chan xiao jiao). It was practice imposed on women to bind thier foot to make it smaller which was considered to be admirable and sexy to the men at those times. Perhaps the picture in this blog might emphasise the cruelity of the practice. Women suffered enduring pain through out thier lives. The permamant bind of thier toe meant that thier finger nails grew long, swirled back and start penetrating back into thier feet and spread infection alll around. Feet of even teen age girls started smeeling foul and felt decayed. The pain was something they had to live with.
This cruelity and helpness was experienced by a billion of women for over 100o years. But things later started to transform over periods under different regimes.
Since the wake of twentieth century, women equality started taking more realistic turns. Chairman Mao was a big supporter of women equlaity. One of his popular quotes, "
妇女能顶半边天" (Women can hold half the sky) indicates his sheer confidencen is women. Many rules and laws had become astionized during his regime. Labor law was passed on to ensure women get equal wages compared to men. Divorce law was passed on to hear the say of women to terminate wedding. All this and many more made the transformation of women's status in the society become the reality.
And the transformation shows. In 1940, womens contribution to thier families income was meagre 10%. But now its nearly 40% and all set to sky up. More and more women go to schools, universities and get white collar jobs. Women are found as truck drivers , taxi drivers, software professionals, hospitality professionals and many more. It will not be exagerrating to say women in china are becoming the dynamic force in modern chinese society. To add up to this, the ratio of men to women in china is 117 to 100, which means women are msking the calls for marriage. Getting married is becoming extremely hard for men. They have to ensure good eduction, good job, home, car and other comforts to ensure they get married let alone finding the girl they like. And more and more women in china have beeome inspired by western society and customs and it shows. To put it simply, the transformation of women in china from the state of being suppressed to become the dynamic force in chinese society is remarkable. There are still plenty of transformation that has to be spread out to the rural area but that will happen eventually with time.
The next time I happen to see a chinese wedding, it will not only displays the elegance of the occasion but also the path women has to endure all the while to reach the position they are.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
My First Infopath Project
woh.. what a week! I have just completed my First project in my job. Unlike most others i am quite thankful that i had quite a challenging and interesting project to work with. I worked with Infopath as the front end and Share point portal as the back end. I have to deliver an online form which when submitted gets stored in a sharepoint site. Quite a simple task.
But as usual this project is not devoid of challenges though. For me, who learned infopath just days four days before the project i found it quite easy to learn. yet very powerful and flexible. Just like any office product, Infopath is easy to use and knowledge would evolve the more one uses it. forms which otherwise would have been made with c sharp .net code can now been made with a very simple and flexible environment. different views can be made just like that and a print view can be madevery easily. all validations and rules can be made easily without necessarily going to the code part. pictures and templates can be made very easily.
however i would have liked it, if the following feautures where there in infopath.
i) A feature which automatically fills up all the controls which can make the testing easier. otherwise the developer has to go through the painful job of filling up all the controls each time of testing. i know this feauture is there in desin mode. i would be better if it was there in preview mode.
ii) one of the client requirement was ofline filling of forms without connecting to sharepoint potal. so the dropdown box should not be populated from custom list in sharepoint. there was a feauture in which dropdown boxes can be looked up from datasource. but i want to know can a datasource can be made solely or the purpose of populating dropdown box. just like populating drop down box from a sharepoint custom list.
hoping for comments and answers and suggestions from all of you.
But as usual this project is not devoid of challenges though. For me, who learned infopath just days four days before the project i found it quite easy to learn. yet very powerful and flexible. Just like any office product, Infopath is easy to use and knowledge would evolve the more one uses it. forms which otherwise would have been made with c sharp .net code can now been made with a very simple and flexible environment. different views can be made just like that and a print view can be madevery easily. all validations and rules can be made easily without necessarily going to the code part. pictures and templates can be made very easily.
however i would have liked it, if the following feautures where there in infopath.
i) A feature which automatically fills up all the controls which can make the testing easier. otherwise the developer has to go through the painful job of filling up all the controls each time of testing. i know this feauture is there in desin mode. i would be better if it was there in preview mode.
ii) one of the client requirement was ofline filling of forms without connecting to sharepoint potal. so the dropdown box should not be populated from custom list in sharepoint. there was a feauture in which dropdown boxes can be looked up from datasource. but i want to know can a datasource can be made solely or the purpose of populating dropdown box. just like populating drop down box from a sharepoint custom list.
hoping for comments and answers and suggestions from all of you.
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