Curious, I asked him about the killer tsunami that struck Chennai in December 2004. He vividly described how a huge wall of waves enveloped the beach and the land beyond, submerging his small fishing hamlet together with men, women and children. Later on, I contemplated one point that struck me most during our beach chat.The fisherman had mentioned that several hours before the tsunami, the sea had receded far from the land and the waves were very subdued – this was a phenomenon he had never seen in his lifetime. In hindsight, he concluded that this was nature’s way of warning about the upcoming disaster.

In work and life, we fail many a times, to notice the small but visible and obvious changes. We do not observe them and if we do, we prefer to ignore them. By the time we notice, they take on an ominous presence and acquire the momentum of a tsunami – and all we can then do is to run for cover.

Thankfully, not all small changes lead to life-changing, cataclysmic events. While it is good not to be paranoid, it is better to have a Plan B, so that when the inevitable life tsunamis are on the far horizon, we are well prepared.

No one is exempt from life’s polarities.

Sometime ago I read a Jewish folk tale about the wise king, Soloman. The king had asked his ministers to find a magical ring which could make a sad man instantly happy and a happy man instantly sad. One of his intelligent ministers gave him a simple ring with the following words engraved – This too shall pass. He then asked the King to look at this ring at moments when he is either happy or sad.

In our life, we encounter happy or sad moments daily. When it happens we get swept away by the moment, feeling elated, angry, sad or overwhelmed and we lose our sense of balance or inner equilibrium.

The right approach at this transient time would be to maintain our balance, accept and learn from the moment, take it in our stride while remaining detached. Become an observer instead of being a victim of circumstances – remember this moment too shall pass.

Yudishtir answers, “The greatest wonder is that although people see living beings die every day, they still try to live for ever”.

This was one statement that slapped me hard – all of us will die one day – we are not invincible. What would happen if suddenly we all knew the day we are destined to die? Would we conduct ourselves the way we do today? With this in mind, I have become more mindful, more introspective about living life fully and appreciating the gifts and challenges that are packaged as my karma.

As I wake up today, I promise to:
Enjoy the early morning chirping of birds, the dew in the leaves and the hum of an occasional insect.
Not to get angry or upset at anything.
Go for a walk and sweat for at least half an hour.
Be moderate in my eating.
Enjoy my breakfast as if it is my last meal.
Give my spouse and child a big hug before I leave to work and wish them a good day.
Greet the people in my office cheerfully starting from the doorman.
Adopt a 60/40 ratio between listening and speaking.
At work, plan the day and work the plan.
Call up a long forgotten friend or a relative and say, “Hello, it has been too long…”
In the evening, spend some time with my child and wife and ask them how the day went.
Switch the television off to chat and have dinner with my family.
Ponder over things that went wrong during the day.
Listen to some soulful music while reading a book before calling the day off.

Let me ‘live today and die another day’.

Beyond the trillion dollar bail outs and band aids that have gone to contain  the fallout and reboot the economy, some questions keep popping up again and again:
- Are we all too short term in our focus?
- Did we forget that we must  endure short term pain for a long term gain?
- Do we adopt difference yard sticks in our personal and professional lives?

In life, we postpone many immediate enjoyments for a bigger goal– like putting aside money for our retirement, education of child, etc. However in our professional lives we tend to look at a majority of things from a short-term perspective.  Is this because, we live in an age where companies go belly up on one quarter’s bad performance?

It is a classic “catch-22” situation.

While I believe that is preferable to replace short term with long term thinking, in today’s situation this appears utopian. Today, short term thinking is a prerequisite of survival –  not necessarily a sign of greed or impatience!

At times I wonder if this economic tide will turn but it is worth waiting to see the consequences in the months and years ahead. Or, perhaps we need to look at a new way where both these perspectives are simultaneously taken care of without a long span of uncertainty and anxiety.  It is probably time that we adopt a “right term” focus of long term sustainability, while still achieving short term results we need to survive.

The air was crisp and pollution free and the waters clean. Being a full moon day, the waves were bigger than normal. A few catamarans were returning to shore after the day’s catch. I observed men with oars battling the power of the waves as they attempted to manoeuvre their boats toward land, but with little success. Despite their best efforts, they found it tough moving and they appeared stalled in one place for quite some time.

Then suddenly, one catamaran caught on to a mighty big wave and reached shore in no time. One by one I saw, the other catamarans following suit. It was then I realized that the oarsmen were waiting and biding time to catch a one big wave and ride the crest to reach ashore.

This set me thinking – what does it take for us in life to catch and ride the crest of a wave?

My ancestors of this land have been master navigators who travelled across the Bay of Bengal to reach and conquer distant places in South East Asia. This happened at the time when there was no navigating equipment. How did they manage it? They learnt to find reach their destinations using the position of the sun, moon, and stars and by observing the patterns of wind and waves. They learnt to use the forces of nature to augment their efforts.

To go back to the catamaran story, the past wave patterns do not give a hint of the one forthcoming. One needs to analyze the external environment, be patient, agile and adept to figure out which waves to ride.

And patience here is an extremely important virtue.

In life too, in addition to putting in one’s best efforts, one needs to wait some time to catch the right wave. It is all about making right choices, putting the key factors into place and then waiting for right favorable external environment to manifest our desires. Only then can we ride the crest of a wave to reach ashore.

Etymologically speaking, William Shakespeare used the term ‘sea change’ in The Tempest to mean the change of Ferdinand caused by the sea. Shakespeare used the word to mean a transformation of form while substance remains the same. However today we use this term to mean a change which is large and sudden.

Ignoring the confused usage, I set about thinking about change and what it means to us. We resist any change that disrupts our routine and time- tested ways of doing things. Change makes us anxious and disoriented. We resist change by being passive and cocooning ourselves. And as change stares at us, we adopt tactics like offering resistance, criticizing and being cynical about it.

Given the turbulent environment of the days, can the waves of personal sea change ever leave us untouched? The answer is ‘no.’ So, how do we cope with this?

Here are the five A’s of managing sea change:

a) Accept – Change is here to stay. Remember in the evolution chain, we human beings started off by sharing a common ancestor with the apes. Look at how far we have come since then.

b) Adapt – Our forefathers had a wonderful capacity to live through sea changes in their times. They had the resilience to face and survive change under extremely harsh circumstances. If they were unable to manage change, we wouldn’t be here today. We share their DNA and are created to be flexible so we can adapt to change.

c) Analyze – Change brings in both good and bad. Initially things could turn out to be bad, but we must believe that the final outcome will be good. See the woods, not the trees or the shrubs.

d) Act – Having analyzed the situation, the next step in change management is to work out a plan to meet change, manage it without trauma and then implement the conditions.

e) Await – Last but not least, await and prepare for the next wave of change.

And as the old saying goes, “Change is the only thing in life that is permanent.” Let us stop being a change-phobic and remember that we are all masters in change management.

Starting from the crowded marina and Eliot’s Beach to the less crowded and secluded ones that dot the East Coast Road (or ECR as it is called), I have always found my visits to be a learning and inspiring experience.

Every one of my visits thus far, has revealed new concepts in management and new ways of looking at life.

I am always amazed by the waves continuously beating the land and threatening to envelop it – with occasional success in the form of a tsunami. The unswerving perseverance of the waves is one admirable quality that any manager would wish to have along the obstacle path we call marketing in the world of business.

Sometimes one gets to see catamarans and the fishing trawlers venturing in or out of the sea. The persistence of the men who can outmaneuver the mighty power of the waves and still keep moving forward is another example in perseverance worthy of emulation.

In the crowded sections, one can often see the excited faces of children holding their parents’ hands while standing at the water’s edge waiting for the angry waves to splash and scatter their foamy surf. The trust of the onlooking child who knows that the firm grip of a parent’s hand will keep him securely anchored to the shore during this awesome experience, reminds me of the relationship that should exist between a subordinate and a boss.

And looking at the people taking their walk, oblivious to what is happening around them illustrates that we must be mindful at all times that “our health is our wealth” regardless of what is being demanded of us by others.

Last but not least – the joy of sitting silently at the water’s edge – simply looking at the magnificent ocean with its roaring waves puts us into an introspective mode. A mood that is necessary for objective self-evaluation and re-prioritizing our personal and professional goals.

With my frequent trips to the beach, and the inspiration gleaned, my wife may have justification to begin commenting on my new role as a thinker and philosopher. Move over Socrates here I come!