Vaishnavi
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THE GREEN MILE
060915: A question I frequently ask my juniors and people looking at some advice from me, is "what are your hobbies". Interestingly, eight in ten would be stumped with the question and start searching for a response - basically they don't have any hobbies. One in ten responds with the humdrum lines of music, net surfing, watching TV, "playing". Barely even one would actually state something interesting or meaningful or even relevant for the expected maturity levels. I believe, a healthy and evolving mix of hobbies is important to strike the right mental sanity in the monotony of what one faces day in and day out. Hobbies are that virtual cozy corners that one likes to slip-in at the first available opportunity, where everything you do excites you and rewards with instant and immense satisfaction, irrespective of 'progress' or lack thereof!
COLLECTIVE CONUNDRUM SYNDROME
181013: For long, I have been fascinated by an old saying – “If you live long enough with horses, you start looking like one!” Question is how long does it take? Modern management and sales initiatives rely extensively on workshops and brainstorming sessions to collectively collate the best presentation.
In reality however, what is described as the “best” is merely a belief from a set of persons, who after repeated hammering across of their points, at some point fall in line with the rest and believe that their point is inclusively made. What it means is that collectively, the set of persons have merely managed to polarize themselves into the group belief. It is not surprising hence that it is possible to tear apart almost any such supposedly “best presentation” if independently reviewed by a third person. The articulation turns out to be putrid, topics garbled, customer interest inevitably missing and everybody seems to forget to spellcheck ! This is what I call, “the collective conundrum syndrome”.
The “best” is defined by the sum-product of team’s collective intellect, with law of diminishing return applied – that is, longer the duration of workshops or sessions, lower the value add, lesser the incremental innovation. Long enough sessions tend to bring in “binding” amongst team members, a natural human instinct to huddle perhaps. As a result, the disruptors get lesser and lesser effective and team members increasingly begin agreeing with each other. This can prove catastrophic if the end presentation is not independently reviewed.
Independent reviews are a must, if the presentation really needs to be the best of the best. Kabir, the famous Indian poet said, “Nindak niyare rakhiye aangan kuti chhawaye , bin pani sabun bina, nirmal kare subhaye!” -- keep a critique handy, build a hut for him in your garden if you have to – but ensure you have someone who is able to reflect back the imperfections in you, so you can improve! However, independent reviews are not entirely out of danger. Sometimes, the third person may not be entirely up to speed on the dynamics and fail to connect with the ground realities, which only the immediate team is in a position to appreciate. The ability to sift through useful review comments still vests with the primary team. But it is important that the team is open minded to seek and evaluate the observations from the independent reviewer.
So, have you today planned for an independent review activity in your project plans?
For previous articles, please go to : "Daily Cranium"
"Trust in God and Live One Day at a Time."
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