Saturday, August 30, 2008
A quick one
Hi All- I know it's been over two months since I posted. WIll try and be more regular in future. In the meantime, for those of you who are interested, ISABS Western region is doing their event in the month of September in Lonavala. It includes Basic and Advanced Labs. Do make it if you can and contact me at sameer.nagarajan@gmail.com for further details or info, should you require them.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
Continuing with my series of inspirational books, here's one about and by a Professor of Computer Science in Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August 2007 and given 3-6 months of quality life left. So what you might say - it's not a very rare disease and once metastasized, incurable.
Prof Pausch however chooses to fight back ... by living life the way it is meant to be lived. The book derives it's name from an old practice in some US univs where a professor delivers a lecture as if it were the last of his life, thus getting more into the values and philosophy of what is important - really - in life. Except that in this case of course he is really heading down that road. The book brings smiles, laughs, cheers, tears, fears and aspirations to life as you begin to empathise fully with the man. And no he is not full of sympathy for himself. He's obviously in love with life - both the notion of life and the various experiences it offers him - yet in a very philosophical way, accepts what it tosses at him and goes for the best that it can offer under the circumstances.
Taught me a lot about managing hardship, that book. You think you got a problem in life? When you see what this guy is up against, you'll realise pretty much how insignificant some problems can be. Read it and enjoy.
Incidentally if you are interested you can also access www.thelastlecture.com Lots of background material also there. And on youtube, search for Randy Paugh to hear one of his lectures a month or two back at Carnegie Mellon.
And yes, the prof is still alive, 9 months after the prognosis ... and quality of life seems quite good ... here's praying the good professor never gives up the fight.
Prof Pausch however chooses to fight back ... by living life the way it is meant to be lived. The book derives it's name from an old practice in some US univs where a professor delivers a lecture as if it were the last of his life, thus getting more into the values and philosophy of what is important - really - in life. Except that in this case of course he is really heading down that road. The book brings smiles, laughs, cheers, tears, fears and aspirations to life as you begin to empathise fully with the man. And no he is not full of sympathy for himself. He's obviously in love with life - both the notion of life and the various experiences it offers him - yet in a very philosophical way, accepts what it tosses at him and goes for the best that it can offer under the circumstances.
Taught me a lot about managing hardship, that book. You think you got a problem in life? When you see what this guy is up against, you'll realise pretty much how insignificant some problems can be. Read it and enjoy.
Incidentally if you are interested you can also access www.thelastlecture.com Lots of background material also there. And on youtube, search for Randy Paugh to hear one of his lectures a month or two back at Carnegie Mellon.
And yes, the prof is still alive, 9 months after the prognosis ... and quality of life seems quite good ... here's praying the good professor never gives up the fight.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
On a more philosophical note, I read the book "One More Day" by Mitch Albom. For those of you who have not read him, his earlier book "Tuesdays with Morrie" is a classic. One More Day postulates that if you could spend another day with someone who was no more (the protagonist's mother, in this case), what would you do? Speak? Hear? Learn? The book is a page-turner while it takes the reader through a terrific roller coaster of emotions. BTW it is not a very long book, just about takes 90 minutes to run through.
The way to establish a link between the book and the HR function is of course to understand that the book emphasises the value of doing in the present what we need to do, rather than living in the past or future. Part of HR is emphasising the Here and Now of what we do. Of course at one level this translates into superlative execution of what we take on as deliverables. At another level, it also implies that the more we focus on our relationships and empathise with others, the richer our lives become. Being less obsessed with ourselves is unhealthy. I know what you are thinking :I'm not neurotic, maybe Sameer is for suggesting something like this, is he externalising his problem" ... No not at all. I am aware that in fact most people are sensible and sane. The challenge comes in dealing with strong personalities who excite strong emotions and hence can cloud judgment occasionally.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Making the big leap in understanding group processes continues to be a challenge for a lot of HR professionals, especially those who are very action-oriented. Need not be so!! In fact in every interaction - even a simple greetings transaction - there can be multiple processes, and what behavioural specialists choose to focus on is one or two out of these several processes that exist. The process specialist then chooses to focus on these processes and tries to extract meaning from them, with the active support and participation of the group. In fact depending on the style of the facilitator the argument could even be that the specialistt does not derive meaning himself or herself, instead only helping the group arrive at some learnings. There are also underlying processes that come to light, for example the relationship of individuals and groups to the specialist, defense mechanisms, power and political relationships within the group and with the specialist, etc.
A good way of observing these processes is T groups. T groups are experiential learning processes where members share information and data on how they experience each other in the here and now. The fact that team members do not know each other from before - typically strangers at the start of the process - adds credibility to the feedback and the process. As the group evolves, the processes become more transparent and insights begin to emerge.
In India some agencies that offer T group training are ISABS (the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences) and Sumedha.
A good way of observing these processes is T groups. T groups are experiential learning processes where members share information and data on how they experience each other in the here and now. The fact that team members do not know each other from before - typically strangers at the start of the process - adds credibility to the feedback and the process. As the group evolves, the processes become more transparent and insights begin to emerge.
In India some agencies that offer T group training are ISABS (the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences) and Sumedha.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Creativity Enablers
While there's enough literature available on creativity enablers at the individual level, I wonder why there is a shortage of literature about creativity enablers in organisations. There are countless examples of organisations that are creative - such as 3M, Toyota, Microsoft, - but the insights you get, by and large, are anecdotal. For example, that 3M mandates a certain percentage of revenue to come from new products every year, or Toyota's institutionalisation of group behaviour. However that gives only half the story.
The other equally interesting half is that organisations initially become creative through the styles of an influential person, who may or may not be the founder CEO. This person's style - more typically expressed in the following situations, intially embeds the creativity seed in the organisation:
1. the push for creative solutions and products
2. the desire to seek alternative solutions even when the evident solution seems acceptable
3. responses to failure
4. ability to see connections between vague ideas, or even concrete ideas and a business outcome.
And when the founder CEO initially creates this culture, s/he also smartly embeds it through the use of artifacts in the workplace - the use of posters, mailers, reminders, colour, materials, the "feel" of the workplace, clothing, etc. - to drive the message consistently and clearly. It is this process that embeds creativity and I am looking for insights/ studies on how CEOs have done it in the past. ...
The other equally interesting half is that organisations initially become creative through the styles of an influential person, who may or may not be the founder CEO. This person's style - more typically expressed in the following situations, intially embeds the creativity seed in the organisation:
1. the push for creative solutions and products
2. the desire to seek alternative solutions even when the evident solution seems acceptable
3. responses to failure
4. ability to see connections between vague ideas, or even concrete ideas and a business outcome.
And when the founder CEO initially creates this culture, s/he also smartly embeds it through the use of artifacts in the workplace - the use of posters, mailers, reminders, colour, materials, the "feel" of the workplace, clothing, etc. - to drive the message consistently and clearly. It is this process that embeds creativity and I am looking for insights/ studies on how CEOs have done it in the past. ...
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