Category: Everything else

Musings on the news

– I’ve been keeping tabs on the Japan situation over the last few days. For obvious reasons, this is on the front page of every news paper. There are lots of disturbing pictures, stories etc.

Those didn’t really ‘disturb’ me as much as 1 piece of news did. The cyber scam industry has boomed post disaster. Suddenly all domains with ‘japan’ and ‘tsunami’ on them have been taken and millions of dollars of ‘donations’ have basically been whisked away by scammers.
It disturbs me that this is the extent to which people can go to for easy money.
– Suddenly, the many dying in Bahrain and Libya don’t seem to matter as much
– God save the Japanese. The nuclear reactor situation looks bad. My prayers are with them..
– As I read the news papers every morning on the tube, I can clearly see why I decided to go for a newspaper less diet for many months. Life seemed more positive without pictures of amputated people and the like. That isn’t to say there is NO positive press but hey, positive press is not ‘sensational’ and that doesn’t make money.
– Money.. scams, bad press, banks, recession. Root of all evil? That, I can’t say but definitely the cause of many evils.
– This disaster has reminded me once again that there are so many things that are just WAY beyond our control.. and has reminded me of the quote –
‘Do what you can with what you have where you are’

True, so true.

The Flower Vase

(At my new place)

Daily morning ironing due.
Yawn.
Put shirt on the table like area and iron.
My travel iron hasn’t got a long cord.
And darn, there’s a flower vase which restricts the area.
I’m sleepy.
Let’s get it done.
(Done with some discomfort)
Ironing time again.
Darn that flower vase.
If only it wasn’t there.
If only..
—
And then I moved it.. and ironed in a peace
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It sounds like a simple thing but it was a breakthrough of sorts when it happened this morning. It illustrated to me how easy it is to build a mental barrier (you just have to be lazy and a tad sleepy) and how hard it is to break it post that because you ‘slip’ into a routine.
And you only seemingly break it if you dream of a scenario without the problem itself!
Dream. Act. Discover. Learning of the day.

Seven questions for leaders – Seth Godin

Another piece of genius from Seth Godin with my answers..
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Do you let the facts get in the way of a good story? (Yes, sometimes!)

What do you do with people who disagree with you… do you call them names in order to shut them down? (No)

Are you open to multiple points of view or you demand compliance and uniformity? [Bonus: Are you willing to walk away from a project or customer or employee who has values that don’t match yours?] (Yes, more open these days..) [Bonus: YES]

Is it okay if someone else gets the credit? (Yes – though I still hope I would still get the credit sometime..)

How often are you able to change your position? (Often)

Do you have a goal that can be reached in multiple ways? (Yes)

If someone else can get us there faster, are you willing to let them? (Yes)

No textbook answers… It’s easy to get tripped up by these. In fact, most leaders I know do

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Tough questions. Long way to go! :)

On saying ‘No’

This week’s book learning is from ‘The 4 hour workweek’ by Tim Ferris.

There were many aspects of ‘The 4 hour workweek’ that did not resonate with me. Having said that, Tim Ferris did have few very valid pieces of advice. One piece of advice that stuck was ‘Learn to say NO!’

The idea is simple. We are bombarded by information, requests and interruptions. These can be in the form of colleagues, email, phone calls or meetings. And Ferris’ simple advice is to say ‘No’. 3 ideas he had were –

1. Say ‘no’ to email. Check email at certain fixed times in a day and ensure you give yourself a time limit.

2. Say ‘no’ to meetings. A normal day in the office often involves hours of unproductive meetings. The next time you are invited to a meeting, consider just calling the organizer up and checking if the meeting is entirely necessary. And if you really have to go, ensure you go in with an agenda and a desired outcome!

3. Say ‘no’ to interruptions. If you have colleagues who constantly disturb you, think of creative ways so you can enforce ‘Do not disturb’ hours so you can get productive.

The more we say ‘no’ to things we don’t like, we spend time on things we actually like doing and increase our happiness at the very least. Easier in theory than practice of course.

Do you have any best practices on how you minimize activities that you don’t like spending your time on? Do write in.. I would love to hear from you.

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I had (still have) issues with the ethics behind some of Ferris’ proposed solutions. Having said that, I’m learning to accept the ideas I like and ignore those I don’t. There’s lots to learn from the guy after all! And I’ve found the ‘never say yes when you want to say no‘ advice very very helpful!

Another station, another guitar player and Breakfast at Tiffany’s

I had written just a few days ago about the guitar player at Liverpool Street Station.

I remember getting on the train and wondering why I didn’t spend some time to listen to him. I guess I was ‘following the crowd’. Everybody seemed to be in SUCH a tearing hurry to get to god-knows-where. And I followed.
Today, the scene was different. I was just getting home rather late. As I ambled towards the Central Line at the Tottenham Court Road (Harry Potter fans alert) station, I heard a beautiful voice singing a tune I didn’t know. He was at the end of a corridor and had a deep captivating voice.
This time, I stopped right in front of the singer. I leaned by the side wall and enjoyed his song. He soon stopped for a break and I learnt he was from the Czech Republic and he sang for a living on tube stations. ‘It keeps me going’ – he grinned. He began another slower song but stopped soon as he didn’t feel it suited my mood.. and I requested him to repeat the song he’d just played. And he did..
I enjoyed those 5 minutes. The setting couldn’t have been better. A wonderful acoustic guitar, a superb voice, the end of a nice week.. I’ve always enjoyed live music (makes me wonder why I barely manage to sit down and enjoy it more) and I did this time. I was that weirdo who seemed to not be in any hurry to catch a train. It was almost amusing as I caught masses rushing past, some glancing wondering what I was really upto..
I also realized how tough it is to be a performer in a tube station as appreciation is limited. Even if people like your music, they don’t necessarily tell you as they’re in a hurry to catch the next train.
I made sure I did tell him I enjoyed his music.
I ended up tipping him a little more than a pound. Least I could do. I hope he brightens up many a day.. And what’s more, I got a ‘new all time favorite’ song!
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(The day wasn’t without it’s ups and downs. I had a grouchy man push me because I paused for a moment in front of him on a busy street. But, it’s amazing how big a difference it makes to our mood when we react less and respond more. And then, of course, there are guitar players all around that only help our cause of course! :))