All Entries Tagged With: "Decision Making"

I see so many children in the park coming out to play with their servants continuously admonishing them, don’t run – you will fall, don’t do this and don’t do that – you will get hurt. As by shouting from far they have done their duty. What kind of upbringing is this?

The CEO of a large company asked me to meet with his HR manager to discuss the possibility of conducting workshops on Lateral Thinking for his colleagues. I sought an appointment with the HR manager only to find the man was not interested in meeting me. I suspected that he did not like the idea of being told whom to meet.

Meta decision should take place before you frame the issue. ‘Plunging’ into
the various stages of decision making can lead to disastrous consequences.
Not devoting sufficient time and effort to this phase may lead to you solving
the wrong problem thereby exacerbating the actual problem.

Many productivity books have a drill sergeant running between the lines. Panic! So much to do to organize all that I have to do. The Power of Less is a sweet exception to that. Babauta’s energy is gentle and kind. No whistles. No drills. Just a zen-like understanding of what it takes to honour what’s essential.

There is a new found optimism in air. “Green shoots” are appearing all over the parched land and dead woods. Fewer hearts palpitate now when the swiping of access cards results in a loud beep accompanied by the door not opening. One waits patiently while the security politely presses the switch to let one in. [...]

Should the mobile phones be allowed in schools? Whatever for? There is nothing wrong in owning a phone and having it alongside for emergencies but to have one alive and in use when one goes to school or college; isn’t it rather self defeating? I mean, you are at school to study and learn new [...]

Almost every organization I know is seriously into cost cutting triggered by the downturn. In most cases this has led to instances which are funny, hilarious to downright stupid. Here are a few examples for you to contemplate: A meeting is on and an important vendor has come to the office. The pantry is called [...]

I came across a very simple but interesting game that soft skills trainers use to demonstrate effect of hidden agendas in a team. Assume that there are three teams named red, blue, and green. Each team has three boxes or cubes – the same colour as of their team names. The teams are supposed to [...]

Here are a few sparks of The Burning Questions that I ask my Fire Starter clients: 1. What do people thank you for most often? What do they come to you for, or say about you most frequently {“positive” or “negative”}? Gratitude leads you back to your strengths. The greatest leverage you have for a [...]

Do what you believe in, and the rest will follow. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard this statement. For someone who is constantly trying to balance the spiritual path along with a practical approach, life sometimes throws questions that are not always easy to answer. Working for a passion [...]

Looking at the pink papers for the past 9 months have left me depressed. The saving grace however is the economists and financial gurus  are now seeing bamboo shoots of recovery. The focus of this article is not about why or how it happened; there are many experts who can do a better job explaining [...]

Strategy in business, primarily marketing is derived from the military lexicon. Hence there is no better book that teaches strategy than The Art of War by Sun Tzu written 2500 years back. Yet today its contents still hold true in military. Since marketing is a war of the mind, the strategies hold true in marketing [...]

Last week end I took a break at a sea side resort in Pondicherry (aka Puduchery, as it is called now). Much to the chagrin of my wife and kid, I anchored myself for a few hours in the comfortable pool side chairs placed alongside the beach and indulged in my favorite activity – gazing [...]

Last year, BA reported a sharp rise of operating profit to ￡883 million, which in view of the rising fuel price and their falling market share, seemed to be bucking the downward global trend. This year they reported a loss of ￡401 million. Somewhere between the two, reality probably lies, but when has reality ever [...]

Some very cool things happen when I’m jamming with Fire Starters. Aha’s, elevated perspectives, connections. But my favourite phenomenon is when someone decides, with a nudge, to give up on what’s not working. Throw in the towel. Close shop. Call it quits. In the last month or so, I’ve witnessed two store closings, three blog [...]

Amidst conflicting news of the downturn having bottomed out, while yet another company is sacking employees and the more optimistic of the lot talking about leveraging the turnaround – one point seems to be falling between the tables. What about the fallout from this downturn and how will it affect employers, employees and the overall [...]

Businesses today have to act and react faster than ever before as they are impacted by increased competition and global changes. Hence the need for enhanced effectiveness and productivity at work so as to help the business grow in this increasingly competitive and changing arena. Being productive is about achieving our goals while making optimal [...]

I happened to watch this movie “Gone Baby Gone” recently. The story line is about a kidnapping which is shrouded in mystery. A private detective, the protagonist, who is hired to help out the investigation, finds out that the kidnapper is none other than the just-retired, honorable sheriff who had lost his child in a [...]

“The ideal that marriage aims at is that of spiritual union through the physical. The human love that it incarnates is intended to serve as a stepping stone to divine or universal love.” ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi~ Simply stated, traditional marriage is grounded in a legal association between a male and female who agree to [...]

A friend of mine is an auditor whose job it is to audit the accounts of government departments and companies. She complains that her audit reports are consigned to dusty cupboards a minute after she has handed them and left the office building. I asked her what really transpired at her final meeting with the [...]

In a given situation, we all don’t think alike. Since childhood, our unique experiences, environments and relationships make us behave differently. Sometimes, it is quite difficult to interpret our actions and conclude if we are right or wrong. One of my professors had an interesting interpretation that is easy to understand and effective to improve [...]

At the beginning, I felt slightly astonished. Glancing at my life, I realized that it was all gone, in a matter of instants. I thought about it for more than what seemed an endless second and the result wouldn’t change. I lost my job. Funny how fast I became an actual victim of this worldwide [...]

“A person with half volition goes backwards and forwards, but makes no progress on even the smoothest of roads.” – Thomas Carlyl The secret of success is known to both successful and unsuccessful. Then why do we have to be told how to succeed? By one and all? Have you ever pondered and mulled over [...]

Have you ever faced a situation when you had to choose between a place of work where you heart was and another which offered you status and money? It sure is a difficult choice and even though I chose the latter four months ago I know my heart is somewhere else. Like thousands of others [...]

I was involved in a husband finding spree 2 years ago. It was truly like swimming in the Dead Sea, you think you are swimming well, and little did you know that there was hardly any buoyancy! The buoyancy mainly being the inflated heads of most these men! Dates and days came and went. Coffee [...]

Who is a winner? To me a person, who decides to do something and then does it, is a winner. At the same time someone who decides not to do something and doesn’t do it, is equally a winner. A loser on the other hand decides to do something and doesn’t do it or decides [...]