The Circle of Happiness & Continuous Engagement
Posted by: udaygosain on: 27-October-2009
- In: Management| Thoughts
- 1 Comment
Some thing that has kept me happy all the while. For the last so many years, I have never been bored. There have been times which were definately low, however, life has been happy.
Normally people only have 2 quadrants in life – Personal and Professional. The joys and sorrows of one gets taken to the other. In today’s globalized world, the job pressures are such that they impact our behaviour in the personal sphere. A bad day at work translated to a free-bad-day for the family, for no fault of the family members.
On insertion of another quadrant in your life – of a hobby or a passion, one intervenes with the flow of emotions and tensions between the 2 quadrants. This would add a constant newness to your life, giving one a time and space to renew, be what one wants to be or at time what not one can be.
All one has to do is to maintain a balance amongst the three quadrants. Never let any one go either below or above a threshold (The thresholds are for one to define). Anyway, one will know the threshold values are being reached when one is either less happy or bored or both.
Yes, it is okay to have the Hobby or the Passion become your profession, till the time you have another hobby picked up 
Adding Respect Love & Care (RLC) to Strategies
Posted by: udaygosain on: 16-October-2009
Having been introduced to Strategy as a subjet – it gives me quite an insight that why is the world as it is today. It is for the subject of strategy which, for the last 3-4 decades, talks about out performing competition by applying various models and approaches – Porter’s Five Forces, The Breakhrough, Blue Ocean Strategy, etc.
It’s about making Competition Irrelevant, knowing the 5 “threatening” five, being an Inner Circle or an Ourer Circle company. Yes a company has to be better than another however in this process there is a lot of “breakneck competition” – which turns out to be bloody, all means are established to establish ONEself.
While this happens and the social impact is forgotten, a department called CSR comes into being – which goes to say that – it is okay to destroy the environment or be unsustainable in operations on one hand and run a social welfare project for the education of the underprivileged on the other.
I would recommend that another component be added permanently in making strategies – Respect, Love & Care (RLC) for all stakeholders. Which I would go further and call the “Strategies of RLC” - a discipline for further research. The enviornment and society (or community) also become key stakeholders.
These 3 if added in all strategies made in the Board Rooms, will ensure that the world is a better place.
A Different ‘Balance Sheet’?
Posted by: udaygosain on: 1-October-2009
Today the companies cannot just be looking at Financial aspects. The Balance Sheets of the Future should maintain ‘Balance’ in the whole – The Social Impact, Environmental Impact, the Impact on Poverty Alleviation, etc. For E.g. maybe the Millenium Development Goal (MDG) set by UN can become the part of Balance Sheets – of both the Governments and the Corporates.
By the action of the company, how was the enrvironment impacted, and what did the company do to to negate the impact of it. Say on the usage of Fossil Fuel by the company to run its operations: How did the company compensate or give back to the Environment for the usage of Diesel for powering the offices, usage of vehicles by the employees, running office cabs, using Aircrafts, etc. The Assets are the Compensatory Efforts, Liabilities is the destruction.
Treat People as People not as Resources
Posted by: udaygosain on: 8-September-2009
Stop calling employees ‘resources’ on whom a client can make a ‘purchase order’, it makes them a neuter gender and negates their thinking mind, emotions and the fact that they also have a heart. Call them, thinkers, humans, individuals what ever, but not a ‘resource’ – and then treat them appropriately.
Does Toyota (in India) not get upset?
Posted by: udaygosain on: 27-July-2009
- In: Roads| Thoughts
- 2 Comments
…seeing the Qualis become infamous for being a killer on the roads?
Or for that matter, the entire Automobile Manufacturers with products in India should be not ashamed of adding so much chaos on the roads and abetting killing.
For the number of people killed on the roads in India must be far great than those killed knives, guns, bombs, etc. The usage of these known-to-kill devices can be positive and negative, here I am looking at the negative side of a Vehicle – especially how it is used in the Indian Context!
Is it not time for the Automobile Manufacturers to take responsibility of stop manufacturing products which abet murder?
The “A1 Condition”: Xls Preparation Guidelines
Posted by: udaygosain on: 13-July-2009
1. Have you ever had to scroll sheets, and looked across tabs to find what you were to see.
2. Have you ever seen xls with all sort of colourings and fonts?
Below I announce the A1 Condition – which makes the xls Top Class (A1):
| Some simple check points below make an Excel workbook easy to read and manage: |
| Standard first page. Title template used (wherever applicable). |
| Section No is updated. |
| Dates updated. |
| Serial No updated. |
| Status updated. |
| Text/response is self explanatory. |
| Bordering and colouring is appropriately done. |
| The size is set between 75% and 90% |
| If scrolling is needed to read the xls ensure the Window Panes are appropriately Frozen. (Example in the ‘Doc Preparation’ worksheet in this TQC, select Col A, Row 3 -> from Menu: Window->Un/Freeze Pane). |
| While saving the xls make sure that the Cursor is at Column A, Row 1, for ALL Worksheets (This makes the Worksheet easier and neater to view – all coloumns and rows are visible). |
| If there are multiple worksheets: Final save should be on the first sheet. If a worksheet other than the first is relevant, then Final save should be on this sheet. |
| Filters set appropriately. |
| Similar colouring scheme used across worksheets. |
| Hyperlinks to relevant pages added for ease of browsing. “Back to Summary/Index” kind of should be added at the top left corner and windows should be frozen such that “Back to Summary/Index” should always be visible. (As in this xls). |
| All hyperlinks should be checked. |
| Keep Row1 and Column 1 empty. Gives a better view. |
| Proper borders used. It is advisable not to use thick bordering in a table as any additions makes the whole table go out of sync. |
| Colouring used in all shading tables should be consistent. |
| Macros should be properly validated and checked. |
| Formulas should be checked for null reference and divide-by-zero errors. |
| Graphs if used should have proper source data. This should be properly validated. |
| If auto-filter is enabled in the sheet, then set it to ALL, or else clearly specify the set filters in email or sheet itself, else the other viewer needs to check each and every filter |
| By default Excel creates 3 sheets in a workbook. If you are using just one sheet, delete the other two. Change the default number of sheets to 1 in your MS-Excel. This will ensure that you’l add a sheet only when you need one. |
| Protect the sheet, if you are using complex formulas and macros. |
What is a System?
Posted by: udaygosain on: 4-July-2009
We all know that we live in a world of many complex systems. Much has been said on what is a System. I have another view, developed 4 yrs back.
We can possibly divide most systems into 3 components:
- Active Part
- Passive Part
- Rules and Enforcement
Map these to the various systems we have:
Educational System:
- Participating people – teachers, students, parents, govt officials etc (society)
- School infrastructure
- Educational Acts and Rules. Their implementation.
Transportation System:
- The people driving, different types of vehicles
- Road network, traffic lights, markings -
- Traffic Laws and rules, and the Traffic police to enforce the laws
Judicial/Legal System, etc
Breaking down systems in these 3 components, would help put together a systematic approach to “system correction”.
[Thought] Regarding “Anti-reservation” Protests
Posted by: udaygosain on: 11-June-2009
This is an old story, very much alive in my mind.
People might remember the weeks of vehement protest at AIIMS, New Delhi against reservation. I think a couple of them laid down their lives too.Then I know a couple of doctors who left AIIMS or who would not practice in India due to “lack of facilities” (a fact which we all have gotten used to listening and reading).
I, as usual, wonder - rather than protesting against reservation – not letting the underprivileged be a part of the system – they might have protested for world class facilities, infrastructure, exchange programmes and all those reasons for which Doctors leave India, and the reasons the Medical facilities are wanting.
I have posed this question to many IITians too who particiapted in the protests – Is IIT R or D a world class institute, with competitive infrastructure and research facilities – the answer was always a NO. My next question was – “Then why don’t you protest so badly for these – the buildings are old, campus is unkempt, research is done for US journals and even your hostel and canteen bathrooms stink”.
Anti-reservationists, protest for world class facilities in your campus, not to keep anyone away from the existing India Class facilities!
Sustaining your volunteer spirit & fervour
Posted by: udaygosain on: 21-April-2009
Here’s a mindset tip:
While volunteering, due to the nature of work and problems, don’t look for results [and NEVER immediate results], for they rarely come. And if they come – take it as a BONUS
Take this as a principle, keep walking, you will see the changes in some years. You will survive your self too.
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