The birth of Value Ideas January 1, 2011
Posted by aglakadam in Inspirational Story, Management.Tags: aglakadam, change, guidance, inspiration, life, Management
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Recently I was invited as a guest speaker at a social function. The programme was organized at a distant rural location called Sihawa in Dhamtari district of State of Chhattisgarh. I was addressing a gathering of 5000 students and parents. The subject on which I spoke was -career guidance.
Wherever I visit my endeavor is to try and capture something new to learn. This has been my attitude all through. What I noticed and learnt at a small place like Sihawa was really very interesting.
In the two days event, there were six speakers lined up. As I went up to the dais, I saw there were three low voltage light bulbs of different colors, smartly hidden at the corner of the podium. These color bulbs were placed in such a manner that only the speaker could see the bulbs and not the audience.
I enquired about the purpose of these bulbs and the secret revealed was very interesting. The green bulb was a welcome indication for the speaker to start delivering his/her lecture. The glow of orange bulb meant that only 5 minutes were left – an indication for the speaker to conclude his speech. Finally the red would mean that the time is over and the speaker should not speak any more! Wonderful mode of communication – isn’t it? No pinpointing involved, the speaker gets the message without any commotion on the stage. I asked the organiser’s, with a pun, what if the speaker doesn’t stop even after the red bulb is on! The organizer smiled at me and said : sir you have seen the three bulbs, but not the four corresponding switches in the hands of the event manager. If the speakers does not respect the red bulb, he looses his prestige .. the fourth switch is pushed down which powers off the mike!
How innovative? I had seen such a system for the first time. Even at larger forums and state / nation level events, the chairperson or the even co-ordinator has to send a “time-over” / “cut short” slip to the speaker while he is still in process of the speech. Worst, at times I witnessed the guest on the dais even got a rude shock when the organizer announced through mike in front of the audience that time was over and the speaker should conclude!
Lessons to be learnt :
While speaking on the stage and addressing an audience, managing the length of speech is very important. If you do not manage the speech time, either the organizers or the audience will ensure that you get humiliated!
Its must to plan your speech well in advance as per the time lines provided, lest you end up finishing without communicating certain key points of your presentations.
A time bound rehearsal will surely help to ensure that there is no such imbroglio at the time of actual performance.
Be innovative, it works wonders. Innovation is not necessarily a costly affair.
At times small innovations do serve major purposes. To arrive at such solutions the need is to think out of the box.
Placing three bulb’s on the podium with three different colors indicating different messages is surely a great concept. A “value idea” can be economic & easy to implement, but its results could be far reaching. One should always look for such value ideas in every wake of life.
Value Ideas are not the patent of the old and the seniors. The birth of a value idea can happen anywhere, from people of any age & any location. Valuable thoughts can come from children, friends, family members, colleagues, spouse, boss, nature etc. In fact value ideas are best delivered by those who can think freely like a child. Our mind is the chemical laboratory where the thoughts react to synthesize and deliver solutions! Some call this a chemical locha! As we grow up our thought process gets biased, whatever we think is an extrapolation of our past learning’s & experiences. Convictions are more dangerous enemies than lies. We tend to over apply the under intelligence and as such conclude even before experimenting with thoughts!
At work or at home it’s a good idea to explore solutions for any situation from the thoughts of people who may be distantly related to the subject. Such people can think without any restrictions in their thought process & contribute value ideas. Newton got his value idea when he saw the fall of an apple. The eureka of value idea is omnipresent and can come from anywhere.
Never stop thinking, do not conclude fast, keep your eyes & ears open, you may find a “value idea” falling from a tree!
Ajit Varwandkar
Managing Director
http://www.aglakadam.com
Author can be contacted on : info@fsindia.in
Sachin – the record maker in failure’s! December 26, 2010
Posted by aglakadam in aglakadam, Inspirational Story, Management, Motivation.3 comments
Failure is nothing but the state of unachieved success!
Recently at Centurian, South Africa, Sachin Tendulkar made a history. He completed his 50th test century. A whole lot of appreciations and accolades is being spoken & written about this legend in the media. From Prime Minister to past Presidents, from Sania Mirza to Saina Nehwal, from veterans like Lata Mangeshkar to Amitabh Bachchan, from the man on the street to the one in the discotheque.. one and all is feeling proud to belong to the country to which Sachin belongs to! Zahir Abbas said Sachin you are lucky to be born in India – you get so much of love there! Arjuna Ranatunga, captain of Shri Lankan cricket team addresses Sachin as the real ambassador of the game in today’s era!
………………….. Complete write-up in my forthcoming book…. for announcement on the book title and launch, pl keep visiting www.aglakadam.com ………………………………………
Ajit Varwandkar
Managing Director,
FS Management (I) Pvt. Ltd.
The author can be contacted on : info@fsindia.in
Kaon Banega Decision Maker? December 17, 2010
Posted by aglakadam in Inspirational Story, Management.Tags: aglakadam, greed, guidance, lesson, Management, prepare, psychology, raipur
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KBC 4 had many lessons to teach. In fact two most important learning’s have been
1. Beware of greed, it should not over take desires
2. Decision making has to be a science, not a gamble.
………………….. Complete write-up in my forthcoming book…. for announcement on the book title and launch, pl keep visiting www.aglakadam.com ………………………………………
Ajit Varwandkar
Managing Director,
FS Management (I) Pvt. Ltd.
Can be reached at info@fsindia.in
What are you selling today? October 5, 2010
Posted by aglakadam in aglakadam, EQ, Fun Reading, Inspirational Story, Management.6 comments
This article published in Central Chronicle : http://bit.ly/dgLKhx
One evening I was returning home after a hectic day schedule when my car wizzed past a fruit vendor. I suddenly remembered my daughter had demanded fruits early morning. I stopped, wriggled back in the traffic and straight way went to the apple basket. After sorting a few apples I asked the fruit vendor to pack & parcel 2 kg apple for me. While in the process of weighing the apples, the fruit vendor asked me to take out two apples which I had selected and suggested to be replaced by two new apples from the basket. I asked him the reason for this change. He said “Sahab isme andar se keeda hai” ( these two apples are rotten inside). Probably with his experience as a fruit vendor he knew to judge the apple content from the outward skin colour & appearance of the fruit.
By all means this was a great gesture by the fruit vendor Sunil. What if the apple perished from inside had been given to my daughter n school tiffin! Even if she discovered the perish while eating and decided not to eat it further, she would be left without adequate tiffin for the day in her school. In any case the fruit vendor will actually incur loss by not being able to sell perished apples at the end of the day! He could have very well managed to let go off the two rotten apples and reduce his sales damage! Neither I was a regular customer at that fruit vendor stall that he should have bothered to care about me! I was totally zapped at the honesty of the fruit vendor & I could not resist asking him the reason why he did so? The answer which he gave me was quite revealing and enlightening.
He said : We are in the business of selling edible fruits ( not just fruits). At home when the fruit purchased by the customer is not found suitable to be eaten the complete family will curse me. Not only this much they will never ever purchase any fruit from my shop. They may also brand me a cheap retailer. Even if it is a natures process to rot the fruit plum after some time, the customer will not blame God, they will charge me! I know this. Hence I always try to ensure that my customers get the right fruit. It’s the same for my regular customers as well as one time customer. I do not differentiate from customer to customer in quality. Yes for regular buyers I offer a price discount, that’s for sure.
I was pretty satisfied with the reply & I had all adorations for the fruit vendor. No wonder the fruit seller had grown from our wheel trolley based fruit seller to decent fruit shop owner in a few months. There was still one part of the query unanswered – what does he do with the semi perished / rotten fruits!
This was his reply : We as well purchase the fruits from some one else sir! See there is a supply chain in this business. I segregate the unsalable goods, quantify it and have worked out a discount formulae against this demurrage from the supplier. In my next purchase I get this price discount adjusted by the whole seller. The bunch of unusable fruits is then segregated into partially usable, so –so and absolute dirt. The absolute dirt is chucked into the municipality waste bin, the so so ones are offered to the wandering birds & animals & the partially eatable’s are chopped off the rot & distributed free of cost to the poor and the beggars.
What a policy, what an amazing vision! Never knew so much of a thought process goes behind the working of a fruit vendor! I learned that business is done from the heart not just by the head. One has to involve in the complete process of the business only then will he/she be successful. I have since then been a regular customer for that fruit vendor and also have recommended many to only stop at that particular vendors shop! A dedicated & loyal customer now!
In our corporate world as well we have seen many such similar parlances. Few months back Nokia had called back a particular batch of mobile batteries. As per one recent news, South Korian major Hyundai Motor has called back almost 140000 Sonata Sedans (of 2011 model) from the US markets for the reasons of steering fitment issues. As per the news, Hyundai in an email statement said that it was acting voluntarily to ensure customer safety. It said that it knew of a fewer than 10 vehicles with improper steering fitment and that no accident had yet occurred due to this.
Business strategist’s predict that the damage caused to the company’s reputation for the incorrect product in the market will be grossly covered up by the companies’ intentions to ensure customer safety. After all they are not just in the business of selling cars, they are actually selling safety on roads!
Business is business, be it a local fruit vendor or an international car major. The marketers and the business persons have to realize what product or service they are actually selling in the market? A tooth paste company can claim it is selling a tooth paste branded into various colors & forms! No they are actually selling a belief that by using their product the customer will be sure of healthy tooth! A soap company is not just selling soap, it is selling a hygiene, a watch company may not just be selling a time piece, it may be selling time discipline to some one, a medicine shop is not selling medicines, it is selling health, an apparel company may not be selling shirts or trousers only, its selling comfort and confidence, so on and so forth for any product or service that is made available in the business place!
If you are an employee of a company you are selling proper reporting, proper systems, correct documentation, right information, proper processes to your management! If you are a decision maker, your may be selling justice and need fulfillment to the deserving. Each one of is selling something some thing, some where today; it may be in cash or in kind! Its important to actually understand what business we are into and this realization will decide our success or failure. So what are you selling today?
Ajit Varwandkar
Managing Director
http://www.aglakadam.com
Can be contacted on : info@fsindia.in
Modern Multitasking Men September 2, 2010
Posted by aglakadam in Inspirational Story, Life and all, Management.Tags: aglakadam, belief, change, guidance, lesson, life, Management, Motivation, multitasking, skill, success, varwandkar
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Modern Multitasking Men
In today’s fast-paced world, it may seem impossible to only focus on one thing at a time. You answer a phone call while in discussions with your team and also simultaneously respond to email queries! With mobile hand phone the fashion of multitasking has become more wide spread. You run down a lift and find 10 different people speaking on ten different subjects to ten different receivers! Multitasking isn’t it? Multitasking is a much revered skill at the workplace today.
The question is – how do we define multitasking? Does it mean doing several things at the same time? Is it the eureka of time management that we have discovered off late? Does it entail juggling several jobs or assignments? Does it mean having diverse skills and making optimum use of them?
Managers in this corporate world are supposed to learn multitasking else there growth gets restricted. Gone are the days of specialists working & focusing only on one job at a time. Today only researchers and scientists do so, rest of the world is compelled to multitask to survive. Attempts to multitask can be honed and polished into a fine skill by some and could just backfire with others.
The best & the most productive example of multitasking ever observed is that of a mother & a housewife. Just visualize her role in the household every morning. Husband has to go on work while kids have to go to school. If there are elders at home, they have their set of needs and demands coinciding at the same time.
This lady cooks food & prepares breakfast for husband and kids simultaneously, she listens to some music and simultaneously helps the children arrange their school bags and other necessities, in the meanwhile if there is any vendor on the front door say the milk man or the laundry guy, she responds to them as well… All this she does while maintaining a magical equipoise! Not that multitasking is supposed to be only for women but I feel it comes more handy for her to do so!
Effective multitasking :
1. I feel that Multitasking can actually be a fruitful tool only when the work does not demand constant observation & when the information needs to flow fast. Answering a phone call or responding to email while you’re working on something else can be important, especially if the information sought by the other party is critical in nature.
2. Multitasking comes handy when you are doing a routine job. You have gained thorough expertise to perform even with the lowest of your concentration. Example you are running some automated machine where the instructions are preset, you can aswell venture into any additional job role simultaneously.
3. Multitasking can also be a useful strategy when you get stuck. Sometimes it can be useful to focus on a difficult task. But when you reach a roadblock, it can be equally valuable to walk away and do something else while your mind ponders the issue. When you return to the task with fresh focus, you’re more likely to be able to get along.
However there are a few example of wrong application of this concept of multitasking :
• Once I observed a physician ( a doctor) while he had glued the stethoscope on the poor patients heart , he was actually finalizing a deal over phone simultaneously!
• Students while studying put on the radio or their Ipod, yes the sms factory keeps working seamlessly
• We can see people in engrossed communications while driving a car or a two wheeler
• Offering Puja to God while your eyes are on the newspaper or the cooker on the stove in the kitchen!
• A cashier counting notes with eyes on the television screen in front of him.
• A gentle man takes his laptop to fresh room while potty time! Oops multitasking at its worst!
Friends like very good habit, multitasking could as well be fruitful provided you execute it tactfully. Honesty this is the key to doing more than one thing and being present in more than one place at the same time. It is YOU who has to make the decision & the choice to set simultaneously into action!
Ajit Varwandkar
Author is Managing Director FS Management (I) Pvt. Ltd.
Can be contacted on info@fsindia.in
