Life is what our thoughts make it !

Some days ago ,I was asked to answer this question ‘What is the biggest lesson you have ever learned ‘.And my answer was importance of what we think.If I know what you think ,I would know what you are.Our thought makes us what we are.Our attitude determines our fate .

A man is what he thinks about a day long .How could he possibly be anything else?Yes if we think happy thoughts we will be happy .If we think miserable thoughts ,we will be miserable.If we think failure we are certainly going to fail.

Milton in his blindness discovered the truth three hundred years ago :

The mind is in its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell,a hell of heaven.

Napolean and helen Keller are the perfect example of Milton Statement .Napolean had everything  men usually crave -Glory,Power,Riches.Yet he said ‘I have not known six happy days of my life ‘.While Helen Keller -blind,deaf,dumb declared “I have found life so beautiful”.

Really speaking If life has taught me anything at all,It has taught me that “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself”.

Straight from the gut

Always be a good student !
A teacher can become good only when he teaches from the heart and good student is good as long as he is disciplined and willing to learn always under all circumstances. Respecting the teacher is one quality of good student.It prevails since the ages. Eklavya story of Mahabharat could be one example.

Some other good qualities are as follows:
“Kak cheshta,bako dhyanam,shwan nidra tethaivcha
Alpahari,grihatyagi,vidyarthi panch lakshanam”

Good student should also read Karna & Scorpio bite story in Mahabharat where his Guru Parsuram cursed him.
One should aspire to become good student. Arjun and Duryodhan both were the students of Guru Dronacharya in Mahabharat,but Arjun became hero as he was good learner and always respected his Guru while Duryodhana became evil for the society nevertheless both had the same teacher.
Much has changed since Mahabharata but some values like” Students should respect all the teachers “ ” Guru is known by the success and deeds of his students “,are still prevailing at large in our society..

Management Wisdom

People are often afraid to ask for help or to accept it because they believe that somehow this will show that they are inadequate in their job. If they would think about that for a moment, they would realize that vibrant and professional system is always set up for getting and receiving help. The whole corporate assumption is that certain task and effectiveness in accomplishing these task are sometimes better achieved by groups than by individuals.Employee who insists on being a lone Arranger never involves anyone else thinking he wont be able to get all the credit. On several occasions he and the company both would have been far better off if he had taken the help and used some of talent available to him.
Not asking is such a narrow and shortsighted view. Asking for help is the way to learn , the way to expand your knowledge ,your expertise and your value to the company. It also demonstrate a willingness to work with others.Equally important is knowing ,when asked how to give help. People who are reluctant to share their knowledge ,information , skills with others within their own company are simply not going to have a very strong support system, when they need one.

Policy leads the Leader

A person perplexed about what to do what action to take is a work blind .He does not see his way to effective action. Policy at such time acts as a lantern. It shows the way to act. When in doubt whether to take one action or the other or when quite foggy about what to do the next. The policy help the Manager to decide .A Manager needs to take effective actions : action which produce the desired result with a high probability and which are likely to produce undesired consequences with a probability. Without a policy to guide him, he can readily be in the blind spot. He would not be in a position to discern or to asses what the result of his actions can be. Using the established policy or if necessary developing a new policy for the use will help him take more effective actions. So one more reason for setting down policies is given here and one more use of policy is indicated .

Use of project plan as a lantern for the work blind is two fold . When the task on which the Manager is engaged has already strategies earlier .He can to refer the various planned actions and the type of discussion that went into crystallizing them .This type of reference will help him decide upon the right action to take

Learning made Easy

Objectives of any training progamme can be achieved  if trainees have  positive  attitude ,motivation and an open mind to learn and reinforcement,retention,transfer of skills and knowledge take place from trainer to trainee.Besides this ,tools that trainer use plays crucial role in fulfillment of the objectives of training .

Edgar Dale’s cone of experience helps the trainers decide the best possible resources  which may applied in training progamme.

The Cone of Experience

An educator named Edgar Dale, often cited as the father of modern media in education, developed from his experience in teaching and his observations of learners the “cone of experience” . The cone’s utility in selecting instructional resources and activities is as practical today as when Dale created it.

Management Wisdom

Here are the life transforming thoughts that will change the way we think and work.These are true nuggets of wisdom shared by Chanakya. Chanakya was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and architect of his rise to power. Kautilya and Vishnugupta, the names by which the political treatise Arthaśhāstra Some scholars consider Chanakya to be “the pioneer economist of the world”. He is known as “The Indian Machiavelli” in the Western world.professor at Taxila University identifies its author, are traditionally identified with Chanakya. Chanakya was a and is widely believed to be responsible for the first Indian empire.

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“A person should not be too honest.
Straight trees are cut first
and Honest people are screwed first.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC 75 BC)

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“Even if a snake is not poisonous,
it should pretend to be venomous.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

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“The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody.
If you cannot keep secret with you , do not expect that other will keep it. ! It will destroy you.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

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“There is some self-interest behind every friendship.
There is no Friendship without self-interests.
This is a bitter truth.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

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“Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions –
Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply
and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

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“As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC)

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“Once you start a working on something,
don’t be afraid of failure and
don’t abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

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“The fragrance of flowers spreads
only in the direction of the wind.
But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

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“A man is great by deeds, not by birth.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

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“Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years.
For the next five years, scold them.
By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend.
Your grown up children are your best friends.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

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“Education is the best friend.
An educated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth.”
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)

Basis of Ethics is Resources

Neither following ethical path nor performing one’s duty to others is a behavioral pattern which is possible until the individual concerned has the money or the means or resources to fulfill the minimum needs of the food,clothing & shelter .

Therefore while telling the needs for the ethics ,the managers are told the profound truth that they should not expect employee to practice ethics unless they satisfy minimum needs i.e food clothing and house .

One must be given the minimum resources for satisfying three basic needs .

I remember the story of Deewar ,A blockbuster Bollywood movie where Shashi Kapoor (Police Officer) while chasing, killed one poor teenage boy mistaking him for thief. Latter on he came to know that poor teenage boy actually stole bread for poor starving family .

It is utter foolishness to expect ethical and good action in the society where poor people are not able to get two square meals a day. Govt ,companies and employers should emphasize that wealth generated by them shared evenly to create happiness for themselves and others.

WE Shall Overcome !

Here is wonderful song. Such a simple and beautiful song about peace. Woodstock, wish I was there ! People knew how to live without killing everyone.Every time when I meet problem, I just sing this song to myself & feel much better & everything seem easier to be solved.

Management Wisdom From Bhagavad Gita

Commitment to Work !

A popular verse of the bhagavad Gita “Karmanye Vaa Adhikaraste, Ma Phaleshu Kadachana “asks for “detachment” from the outcome of actions performed while discharging duty. Being committed to work has to mean “working for the sake of work, generating excellence for its own sake.” If we are always concerned about the date of promotion or salary hike from employers before putting in our efforts, then such work is not detached. It is not “generating excellence for its own sake” but working only for the extrinsic reward that may (or may not) result.

Working only with the myopic attitude of anticipated payback, means that the quality of performance of the current job or duty suffers – through mental agitation of worries for the future. In fact, events do not always happen as per our desired expectations and hence expected results may not always be the same. So, the Gita advises us not to mix up present work to an uncertainties of future.

Some persons might say that not expecting the result of work and actions, promotes unaccountabilty. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita is full of advice on the principle of cause and effect, making the person responsible for his deeds. While advising detachment from the greediness of selfish gains in discharging one’s accepted duty, the Gita does not absolve anybody of the consequences arising from discharge of his or her responsibilities.

Thus the best means of effective performance is the work itself. “Nishkama karma” is the right attitude to work because it supresses the ego, the mind, from diversion of attention from speculation on future gains or losses.

Note : Above article is an Excerpt of book “Answers that matter in management” being authored by Santosh Kumar Mishra.

Gyan Ganga :A name to be proud of !